BBC Scotland channel - service to also launch in HD

Like the BBC2W thing... which lead to BBC 2 Wales having to stay on analogue after DSO until it stopped.

What they could have done is drop the repeats on BBC 2, move the new programmes (or some of them) to BBC 1 (or post-midnight on BBC 2), and then move the regional programmes from BBC 1 to BBC 2.

I realise this would have resulted in less regional programmes than what they are getting with BBC Scotland, but it would have been a much more cost effective option.

In tonight's BBC 2 schedule for example, between 7pm and 12:30am, there is 3 hours and 15 minutes of repeats, which is more than half the schedule.

Yes though that was the initial trial DSO area, not the main national switchover.

2W came from the closure of the BBC Choice national opt outs. A nice idea but at a time when the aim was to promote digital, forcing those who want to watch BBC2 in the evenings back to analogue waan't a great idea.

The service 'BBC TWO Wales (analogue)' does still pop up on bbc.co.uk

They should have taken the decision to remove all opt outs with the exception of Reporting Scotland from BBC One, as well as BBC Two when they decided to launch this channel. I’ll put money on BBC Scotland shifting programmes like The Beechgrove Garden etc onto BBC One and not having them move onto the Scottish channel ( despite it being repeated nationally on BBC Two ).

Perhaps they could show us the 31st December concert the rest of the U.K. get leading up to midnight on BBC Scotland if we’re going to get the usual Hogmanay tosh on BBC One... or vice versa?

Eh what? I don't even understand that, let alone the average viewer

Doing less of something isn't being 'cost effective'... it's just cutting back


But there's two issues with that. Firstly most of those repeats are post Newsnight therefore they'd be marginalising Scottish content into late night slots where no one will be able to watch it.

Secondly, what about evenings when there's no repeats? They'd have an irregular service scheduled irratically


And of course what about the flagship programme of the whole scheme - the national news? Chuck that on after closedown?

Can we look forward to hearing promotions on BBC Two for BBC One again with the classic words “ Except for viewers in Scotland, who are getting their own programme “? 😆

I think NorthTonight we are on the same wavelength on this one. Reading the schedule so far it looks like classic BBC Scotland, obsessed with Glasgow and hills.

The launch night Glasgow theatre thing is a classic of this. They would say where else would you have the launch night, I'd say ANYWHERE.

Always amused when people claimed BBC network is London focussed, maybe but absolutely nothing compared to the Glasgow focused output of BBC Scotland for the last 50 years. And the BBC London stuff was always higher quality.

Can I just check something, and it may have been answered but given so much of this thread is barcode and I Can't Believe It's Not James Martin having their meltdowns over the existence of the channel I may have missed it.

I understand why regional opts are leaving BBC2 Scot but would it not be possible to maintain regional continuity to avoid the Except Scotland problems with promos coming from BBC2 Network? Or are Red Bee going to be clever enough to schedule only promos / annos relevant to England and Scotland (harhar).

Is there a technical reason for this or can they just not justify the extra cost?

I think that would only be a problem where BBC 2 trails or cross promotes something on BBC 1 network that Scotland is opting out of.

So no different to scheduling trailers on BBC Four really.

They can't keep BBC Two Scotland continuity, the new service is using the pres suite, distribution and bandwidth that it used.

Bit of both really, There are 3 presentation suites at PQ. Pres A (BBC One) Pres B (BBC Scotland) and Pres C (Disaster Recovery).

Pres C must be able to be used whenever, in case of one of the other pres suites failing. Or even another nation such as Wales or Northen Ireland can use the suite if something drastically goes wrong at their end. And as others have said there isn’t enough bandwidth to keep the two channels on air.

How does BBC Alba TX? Do they use a more cut-down solution?

Doesn’t BBC Alba come out from Stornoway in its entirety, with inserts from Glasgow for news and other live events?