"BBC Must Learn From Mistakes"

Sorry but I can't resist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGrjP8ltFgw

The BBC Scotland and Alba channels could be merged. The latter is mostly repeats but has a couple of first runs and the former needs more new content. Getting rid of them altogether would be madness as programmes that are popular would have nowhere to go. It's easy to say they could go on BBC One/Two but they would replace equally popular shows.

Keep the Alba name as having BBC One Scotland AND BBC Scotland is confusing. I often hear radio presenters saying "the BBC Scotland channel" even after they have let slip in the past that they were told not to refer to it as that because it's still not easily understood by the public which particular channel "BBC Scotland" is.

Without being disrespectful to Scotland it does seem odd to me that the BBC created a new channel for the country. I said in an earlier post why I thought why it happened.

The problem as I see it it that if The bbc in Scotland scrapped BBC Scotland and alba (this is getting confusing) and reallocated programmes to BBC 1 and 2 the question would be which programmes would go?

(Takes aspirin and goes for a lie down)

It's not a one size fits all solution for the nations.
England gets local radio, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland get national radio - in two languages for two of those.
Scotland gets an additional two TV channels, Wales has S4C, with BBC involvement.
NI doesn't have an additional channel.
England doesn't even get it's regional programmes in HD.
When you consider the relative populations of the English regions, and the three other nations, are some being super served?

I can't speak about NI or Wales as I don't watch them but based on your quote it seems to me that there is an imbalance. The issue I feel has its roots in the political complexion of the UK in 2020 whereby there has been a split into 2 groups:

Group 1 is comprised of NI, Scotland and Wales. Three nations that have their own governments and sporting associations etc
Group 2 is England (this also covers the IOM and Channel Islands) which is what i call a "nation of regions". By this I mean each area eg Yorkshire, the Northwest etc don't on their own have the "clout" to have the same kind of focus that the BBC have given the nations.

The issue of a second channel for NI could be contentious because of the delicate political situation.
As regards HD for the English regions I have to ask if its worth it? Look North Leeds et al at the moment seem to provide the bulk of the regional output and by their very nature are "talking heads" programmes. Just seeing Amy Garcia etc in HD wouldn't in my opinion make the news any better.

It should be fairly obvious why Scotland got it's own channel, but it's worth remembering that apparently a Scottish national news bulletin was what everyone was wanting for years.

Alba is a different matter, worth remembering that it's not solely a BBC channel.


But then why is this thread still a fantasy cuts thread?

From my view is clear why BBC Scotland was created. The relative closeness of the referendum gave the BBC a wake up call from north of the border.

Alongside the BBC who runs BBC Alba?

As regards the fantasy bit my last couple of posts have ben focused on making the BBC more relevant.

MG Alba

Hmm. Just had a look at their wikipedia page. Sounds like a pretty impressive operation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MG_Alba

Thanks for telling me

Starting with the easy first, Alba has the Gaelic news, children's programming from 5-7pm and one Scottish Premiership match per week. If merged with BBC Scotland these could probably stay but doubtful they would remain if BBC1+2 were the only options.

For BBC Scotland, some programmes e,g. Guilt and Inside Central Station have been shown on BBC2 so these could survive the switch, but most would have to go because I'd imagine there would be complaints if viewers were denied even a repeat of Eggheads for Flour Power.

Trying to get back on topic, a common denominator in fantasy discussions and why people seem to want channels shut down etc is repeats. Maybe just maybe if the number of repeats on BBC1+2 had been drastically reduced over the years they could have fitted in more new programmes from all the different regions, more people would be happy and the licence fee wouldn't be that much of an issue?

NI doesn't have an additional channel but it is in a different situation, as there is a mux carrying programmes from the Republic in Northern Ireland (and you can receive RTE and TG4 etc. direct in many areas). This changes the dynamic somewhat.

You also have to separate English language programming from non-English language content. The BBC has evolved into a situation where BBC One and Two in England and the Nations broadcast domestic shows pretty much entirely in English. S4C carries the BBC's Welsh language programmes, and BBC Alba carries Gaelic content made by the BBC. Keeping the non-English language content away from BBC One and Two avoids a massive number of problems for the BBC...

This has come as result of a real focus on reforming the organisation whilst holding onto the values we believe in. I don’t need to remind you, seven years ago we were an organisation in crisis. It was in the wake of the Savile scandal, there were failings over executive pay-offs, there were fundamental questions hanging over our future.

I must admit to be disappointed over the brevity of Lord Hall's referring to the Saville scandal. To me it seemed to be the start of the BBC's current drop in support. I'm not going to go into the specifics of the horrible business but to me again it seemed that the corporation didn't investigate as much as they could and indeed should have done. The dropping of the Newsnight investigation being the obvious example.

Now while Lord Hall can't be blamed directly for what happened as the head of the organisation he might have spent a bit more time on the issue to not necessarily bring closure but to restate how vitally important it is for the corporation not just to re-establish trust but to keep it.