Scotland’s new BBC TV channel is a welcome step in the right direction, but must be properly resourced, Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said yesterday.
Ms Hyslop was responding to the announcement that a new TV channel for Scotland will begin broadcasting next Autumn and an additional £20m will be made available for Scotland to make UK-wide programmes.
In a statement yesterday, the BBC announced: “The BBC needs to reflect the UK and the people it serves. The new Charter emphasises the importance of this.
“The BBC has reviewed its programming and services in the nations. As a result of this, the BBC will be making significant changes and major investments in the nations. An announcement for Wales was made yesterday and further announcements will be made shortly.
“The BBC is the national broadcaster for Scotland. The BBC wants to do even more to reflect Scotland on screen and to recognise the need to spend more of the licence fee raised in Scotland on Scottish content and services.
“That is why the BBC is making the biggest single investment in broadcast content in Scotland in over twenty years.
“From Autumn 2018, the BBC will be broadcasting a new TV channel – BBC Scotland. We will invest £19m in the channel and in digital developments.
We are also putting another £1.2 million into BBC Alba – which takes the total new commitment to services for Scotland – in Scotland – to £20 million.
“We are also currently making major investments in Scottish programming across the BBC’s Network TV output, with a particular focus on the commissioning of drama and factual programmes. Compared to 2015/16, this means we will be spending around £20m extra, per year, over the three years to March 2019. This will support the delivery of our network production targets and put a greater emphasis on portraying the Nation.”
The new channel, BBC Scotland, will:
- Broadcast from 7pm every evening;
- Provide a full mix of content to inform, educate and entertain – including its own integrated hour-long news programme at 9pm (15 mins at 7pm weekends), edited and presented from Scotland (this will lead to the creation of around 80 new journalist posts);
- Work in close partnership with the creative sector, other national institutions and other broadcasters to produce and acquire content;
- Work in collaboration with other BBC television channels to offer additional content;
- Have its own prominent EPG slot on broadcast channels in Scotland;
- Be available online and in iPlayer in HD in Scotland and across the UK;
- Support the delivery of extra programmes for BBC Alba as well including weekend news in Gaelic;
- Together with existing funding, the channel will have an initial budget of over £30million.
Tony Hall, BBC Director-General, said: “I said at the beginning of the year that the BBC needed to be more creative and distinctive. The BBC is Britain’s broadcaster but we also need to do more for each nation just as we are doing more for Britain globally.
“We know that viewers in Scotland love BBC television, but we also know that they want us to better reflect their lives and better reflect modern Scotland. It is vital that we get this right. The best way of achieving that is a dedicated channel for Scotland. It’s a channel that will be bold, creative and ambitious, with a brand-new Scotland-edited international news programme at its heart. The BBC has the luxury of having first-class creative teams and brilliant journalists, who I know will make this new channel a huge success.
“The additional investment in Scottish drama and factual programming rightly recognises both the need to do more across our output and the huge pool of talent available in Scotland. We do make great programmes here, such as Shetland, Britain’s Ancient Capital – Secrets of Orkney, Two Doors Down and the brilliant Still Game – but we do need to do more.
“All of this combined amounts to the biggest single investment by the BBC in broadcast content in Scotland in over twenty years. This will be a huge boost for BBC Scotland and for the Scottish creative industries. This is an exciting time for BBC Scotland and for the millions of Scots who love TV.”
Scotland’s new BBC TV channel is a welcome step in the right direction, but must be properly resourced, said Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop.
Responding to the announcement that a new TV channel for Scotland will begin broadcasting next Autumn and an additional £20m will be made available for Scotland to make UK-wide programmes, Ms Hyslop said: “This is a real shift in the right direction from the BBC and responds to calls we’ve made for some time for a new TV channel for Scotland. While the increased investment in both journalism and wider production in Scotland is long overdue, this is a very positive development.
“The Scottish Broadcasting Commission estimated in 2009 that a similar channel would cost around £75 million a year – more than double the £30 million announced today. It’s vital that the new BBC Scotland channel has complete commission and editorial independence, and is provided with the funding needed to match ambition.
“The new channel will increase the proportion of the licence fee raised in Scotland that is spent in Scotland in years to come – but sadly will still fall well short of the proportiate share being spent in Northern Ireland and Wales. We continue to call for the BBC to put Scotland on an equal footing with other devolved nations.
“I welcome the additional £20m for Scotland to make BBC network programmes, which will strengthen growth in our vibrant creative industries. We want to see this investment continue to increase so that Scottish content on the wider BBC network is not sidelined.
“Investment in 80 new journalism jobs is fantastic news, and goes to underline that Scotland has the talent and skills to produce an hour-long news and current affairs programme covering issues from home and around the world.
“In the intervening 18 months before the new TV channel is established, the BBC must invest in quality news and affairs programming so that they deliver content that is relevant to the people of Scotland as we move through Brexit, the triggering of Article 50 and beyond.”
North and Leith MP Deirdre Brock has also welcomed the announcement. The local MP said: “A new channel for Scotland is a good first step – it’s great to see some investment in the creative industries in Scotland and some new money for BBC Alba. There’s no shortage of talent here but we’ve been starved of resources for far too long so this is good news as far as it goes.
“The new channel will need proper funding and support to be a success so I’ll be looking carefully at the proposals, and I’ll be looking to make sure that it’s not just focused on Glasgow but lets the rest of the country get a share. It’s exciting to see more programming opportunities opening up in Scotland, though, and we should grab the opportunity with all the hands we can muster.”
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