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BBC Scotland to launch new channel

(February 2017)

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SP
Steve in Pudsey
m7891 posted:
The posts asking "when will such-and-such a region get their own TV station" completely miss the point.

Scotland is not a region; it's a country within the UK that is in many, many areas distinct from the rest of the UK.

So yes, the population of the North West of England might be more than 5m. But those 5m are already widely catered for in the "national" BBC output.


Ok I'll bite. How is Scotland less well catered for than the typical English region already?

I don't begrudge the extra service, but I question how justifiable it is that the rest of us will have to pay for it.

Audiences in Scotland and Wales already get more for their money than the rest of us with BBC Alba and S4C. Putting a big chunk of money into this project at a time when regional broadcasting elsewhere is being cut back seems very unfair.
GL
globaltraffic24
So technically BBC1, BBC2, BBC Alba, new BBC Scotland and STV2 (in part) will be funded by the licence fee. I'm sorry to say but they've only done this to shut up the SNP, surely they cannot justify running a separate BBC2 service once the new channel launches?

It's made more ridiculous by the fact that they had to close BBC3, again to please the Daily Mail by the sounds of things.

I don't object to more regional broadcasting but at a time of cuts within the BBC, I don't think this is the way to go about it.


The decision to launch a dedicated channel is, naturally, partly due to political pressure. However, it's also a natural, logical step by the BBC. Most federalised European nations have devolved broadcasting operations. This includes Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. With greater federalisation comes greater separation in the news agenda. The SNP lobbied hard and backed up its case with a factually correct argument that BBC spending in Scotland actually grossly under-represents the amount raised by the license fee - so hopefully that answers a previous question about 'Who will pay for this? The Scottish Government?'

In terms of politics, I'm a fairly neutral individual. I have family spread throughout the UK, have lived in both England and Scotland, and care not for endless constitutional debate. However - and I hate saying this - some of our English forum members are falling right into the trap of the right-wing populist media by chastising the Scottish Government for doing its job. It is there to represent the interests of Scotland - and that includes lobbying hard for a robust, healthy Scottish media. Today's announcement means 80 more journalists and prime-time slots for future independent productions. The SNP is also widely expected to lobby on behalf of commercial radio staff who now face mass job losses amid Tory plans to network all output from England under a major deregulation push.

Sometimes politicians are working on our side. It's about time people realised that.

PS - If you're from the North West, Yorkshire, or anywhere else regional in England, and you're a bit miffed about this happening, can I suggest something? Rather than bashing Scotland, lobby your own politicians to fight the case for regional channels in England. If they ignore you, vote them out and put in place MPs who GENUINELY want to fight for their constituents. Just a thought!
:-(
A former member
I have to agree, Its a waste of time and money. I would rather take the Scottish six over this. Overall i would be happier if STV and BBC would just invest in a few hours more programming a week. more Docs on STV, Even BBC Ni has its own chat show.
CA
Cando
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-39042666

Excellent breakdown here. 30m budget is 11m from BBC 2 opt out and 19m of new money.
Interesting line about how just 55% of the Licence Fee collected in Scotland was spent there on local and national programming compared to 95% in Wales.
globaltraffic24 and scottishtv gave kudos
M7
m7891
m7891 posted:
The posts asking "when will such-and-such a region get their own TV station" completely miss the point.

Scotland is not a region; it's a country within the UK that is in many, many areas distinct from the rest of the UK.

So yes, the population of the North West of England might be more than 5m. But those 5m are already widely catered for in the "national" BBC output.


Scotland used to be a sovereign nation in the same way Yorkshire used to be.


So? This is the here and now. And in the here and now, Scotland and Yorkshire are incompatible. One is a country within the UK, with distinct legal and political systems and its own health service, while the other is a region with a political and legal systems and health service shared with the rest of England (and, in some cases, Wales).
Rijowhi and scottishtv gave kudos
M7
m7891
m7891 posted:
The posts asking "when will such-and-such a region get their own TV station" completely miss the point.

Scotland is not a region; it's a country within the UK that is in many, many areas distinct from the rest of the UK.

So yes, the population of the North West of England might be more than 5m. But those 5m are already widely catered for in the "national" BBC output.


Ok I'll bite. How is Scotland less well catered for than the typical English region already?

I don't begrudge the extra service, but I question how justifiable it is that the rest of us will have to pay for it.

Audiences in Scotland and Wales already get more for their money than the rest of us with BBC Alba and S4C. Putting a big chunk of money into this project at a time when regional broadcasting elsewhere is being cut back seems very unfair.


Bite? What is there to "bite" on? Facts?

BBC Alba is for a niche audience; not everyone speaks Gaelic, you know.

Scotland is less well-catered for because while the English regions only have regional news, we need to accommodate national news in those same timeslots.
RO
Rofters
If you haven't already read the article on BBC News, here's some of the key points of the channel:

1. A "prominent" slot on the Electronic Programme Guide (the exact slot will be subject to discussions with providers such a Freeview, Sky and Virgin)

2. Available on iPlayer in HD in Scotland and across UK

3. Broadcast from 7pm to midnight every evening

4. A £30m budget for the new channel - £19m new money and £11m from current BBC2 opts

5. Integrated hour-long news programme at 9pm, edited and presented from Scotland with 80 new post for journalists
DV
dvboy
If they merge it with BBC Alba to create one channel with English and Gaelic language programmes, at the same time ditching BBC One and Two opt-outs, I can just about see the justification for it, but to launch another new channel for what will be a small-ish audience (after all, I assume there are people in Scotland who want to watch more than just what's made there), seems a bit too much for me.
SC
scottishtv Founding member
I think it should be welcomed.

Whether people agree with devolution or not, there's huge amount of devolved power that is not being adequately scrutinised up here and I'm impressed that the BBC seems to acknowledge this. To be honest, it took me a while to come to this view but only realised it fairly recently.

Whilst the BBC is to be commended for it's recent coverage of problems with the NHS in England (led the Ten every night last week), I simply don't know how that relates to the Health Service here, run by the Scottish Govt. No-one's reporting this. Prisons in England seem to be experiencing real problems with overcrowding, understaffing etc. No-one's reporting what's going on here, where my income tax (now set by the Scottish Govt) is paying for the prison service in Scotland. Are things just as bad? worse?

That's before we get on to the different legal system, policing and justice policies, school system and curriculum, further and higher education, local govt, housing, transport, environment and so on. It's not simply an issue of population. There's a lack of political coverage of these devolved and diverging policies and issues, especially with even more powers (including income tax) now being decided at Holyrood. (For the record, I think there is probably a case for devolution for parts of England, but that's another topic).

I suspect there are all sorts of practical reasons why a Scottish Six would not work. You just have to look at the recent Facebook Live of behind-the-scenes at NBH to realise how close some of the deadlines are met for network. Trying to juggle a service for Scotland in amongst it all there too would likely lead to quality issues. Newsnight Scotland was a mess, and I suspect the pilots may have shown the same thing for a Scottish Six. Anyway, STV2 will be doing one, so good for them.

Finally, on other programming - the separate channel sounds like a good idea for that too. There are currently a number of network programmes or Scottish programmes that are worthy of prime time that currently get shunted into the 22:45 slot (or later) because there's not enough space to show them.

To give a couple of examples, this week's Holby City is on tonight in Scotland at 22:45 when it's usually on a Tuesday at that time, (and shown on network at 20:00 Tuesday when we get soap River City). For some reason it was deemed important to show Imagine at 22:45 last night UK-wide. In Scotland, Sportscene SPFL football highlights frequently run over midnight on a Sunday night when there's a MOTD2 on, and everyone's long gone to bed.

There's also some really good Scottish documentaries and nature programmes currently shown on BBC Two Scotland that I often miss or don't realise they are on because I'm watching the HD network variant. It sound like all of this existing programming (NOT new) will be moved to the new channel and we'll get a more 'networky' version of One and Two.

The whole thing seems like a sensible compromise that won't screw up viewing habits too much.
Last edited by scottishtv on 22 February 2017 3:07pm
SC
scottishtv Founding member
If you haven't already read the article on BBC News, here's some of the key points of the channel:
2. Available on iPlayer in HD in Scotland and across UK.

Oh, it will be a real shame if it's not HD on the linear platforms, but I guess they have to start somewhere.
:-(
A former member
Sportscene SPFL football highlights has a an early time slot of 18pm on BBC two Scotland. The Sunday night is a repeat.
SC
scottishtv Founding member
Sportscene SPFL football highlights has a an early time slot of 18pm on BBC two Scotland. The Sunday night is a repeat.

Ha. I did not know this.
(PS. It's 6pm or 18:00, can't be both.)

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