RE
I hope this is just some sort of speculative flyer rather than an actual proposal...
And now for viewers in Scotland... a full-time BBC channel
EDDIE BARNES POLITICAL EDITOR (ebarnes@scotlandonsunday.com)
SCOTLAND will get its own digital BBC channel showing exclusively Scottish programmes including news, entertainment and drama under a radical plan being developed by broadcasters and ministers.
Under the plan, digital TV viewers would switch to a new channel every night, with all content sourced from the BBC's headquarters in Glasgow.
The opportunity has arisen as a result of the BBC's 'change-over' from digital to analogue, which will free up more digital channels from 2010 for the national broadcaster to fill.
Both the new Nationalist government and TV executives in Scotland are now pressing for BBC Scotland to claim one of the new digital slots, so that a new channel can go on air.
Such a separate channel already exists in Wales, where, every evening, BBC2 is switched to Welsh-produced programmes on the digital network.
However, in Scotland, the BBC has opted to slot its own programmes within the British-wide BBC network. Critics argue that this leaves viewers short-changed when it comes to providing a service that reflects Scotland adequately.
Under the envisaged system, viewers would be able to choose between the UK BBC channels as they are seen across the whole of Britain, or would have the choice to switch to a Scottish channel that could go into greater depth on Scottish news.
It could, for example, provide the setting for the 'Scottish Six' - a half-hour news programme to be broadcast at the same time as the main early-evening BBC news programme.
It could also provide a new venue for the much-criticised Newsnight Scotland programme, which currently takes the London-based Newsnight off air at 11pm.
An SNP spokesman said last night: "The digital revolution is opening up all sorts of exciting possibilities, and Scotland needs to be at the forefront of these developments."
He added: "A Scottish digital channel would enable broadcasters to reflect the world to Scotland and Scotland to the world, and provide more quality jobs and skills in this country."
The new move reflects the SNP's wider plans to shake up the controls over TV in Scotland. It will press Westminster to devolve powers over broadcasting, and is demanding, at the very minimum, that the BBC present a dedicated Scottish news service.
Its call follows several years of dispute over whether the BBC adequately represents Scottish affairs on its main channels.
Backers of a separate Scottish channel argue this would be the way of resolving the row. They believe a figure of around £100m a year would be needed to ensure a new Scottish channel was of sufficient quality to attract viewers. They also claim that a new channel would massively strengthen the commissioning power of TV executives in Scotland, which in turn would boost confidence in the country's artistic and production community.
Ian Ritchie, chairman of the Interactive University and a board director of Channel 4 from 2000-2005, said: "The switch to digital is coming up
in two years time. And more digital channels will become available as a result."
He added: "In Wales, they have used the digital channels to create a Welsh channel that runs from 7.30 to 10. This could easily be done in Scotland if they put their minds to it. This is the time to do it because there are spare channels available."
He went on: "Radio Scotland was created in the 1960s as a Scottish service, and the opportunity now exists with digital to do the same: to have a BBC Scotland television service."
Nigel Smith, a former member of the BBC Broadcasting Council in Glasgow and a campaigner for the 'Scottish Six', added: "The debate has moved way beyond the Scottish Six. The BBC needs to be more responsive to Scotland and to Scotland's place in the Union.
"We still have this major problem where viewers in Scotland watch more and know more about English education than in Scotland."
However, executives at BBC Scotland are understood to be cool on the idea of a separate channel, believing it will be difficult to persuade the Corporation to hand over one dedicated digital channel to Scotland.
The Glasgow-based Corporation is now focusing more efforts on its online output, pointing out that on election night earlier this month, it received more than one million hits.
A BBC Scotland spokesman said: "We have regular meetings with all the political parties, and we are always willing to discuss new ideas with them."
EDDIE BARNES POLITICAL EDITOR (ebarnes@scotlandonsunday.com)
SCOTLAND will get its own digital BBC channel showing exclusively Scottish programmes including news, entertainment and drama under a radical plan being developed by broadcasters and ministers.
Under the plan, digital TV viewers would switch to a new channel every night, with all content sourced from the BBC's headquarters in Glasgow.
The opportunity has arisen as a result of the BBC's 'change-over' from digital to analogue, which will free up more digital channels from 2010 for the national broadcaster to fill.
Both the new Nationalist government and TV executives in Scotland are now pressing for BBC Scotland to claim one of the new digital slots, so that a new channel can go on air.
Such a separate channel already exists in Wales, where, every evening, BBC2 is switched to Welsh-produced programmes on the digital network.
However, in Scotland, the BBC has opted to slot its own programmes within the British-wide BBC network. Critics argue that this leaves viewers short-changed when it comes to providing a service that reflects Scotland adequately.
Under the envisaged system, viewers would be able to choose between the UK BBC channels as they are seen across the whole of Britain, or would have the choice to switch to a Scottish channel that could go into greater depth on Scottish news.
It could, for example, provide the setting for the 'Scottish Six' - a half-hour news programme to be broadcast at the same time as the main early-evening BBC news programme.
It could also provide a new venue for the much-criticised Newsnight Scotland programme, which currently takes the London-based Newsnight off air at 11pm.
An SNP spokesman said last night: "The digital revolution is opening up all sorts of exciting possibilities, and Scotland needs to be at the forefront of these developments."
He added: "A Scottish digital channel would enable broadcasters to reflect the world to Scotland and Scotland to the world, and provide more quality jobs and skills in this country."
The new move reflects the SNP's wider plans to shake up the controls over TV in Scotland. It will press Westminster to devolve powers over broadcasting, and is demanding, at the very minimum, that the BBC present a dedicated Scottish news service.
Its call follows several years of dispute over whether the BBC adequately represents Scottish affairs on its main channels.
Backers of a separate Scottish channel argue this would be the way of resolving the row. They believe a figure of around £100m a year would be needed to ensure a new Scottish channel was of sufficient quality to attract viewers. They also claim that a new channel would massively strengthen the commissioning power of TV executives in Scotland, which in turn would boost confidence in the country's artistic and production community.
Ian Ritchie, chairman of the Interactive University and a board director of Channel 4 from 2000-2005, said: "The switch to digital is coming up
in two years time. And more digital channels will become available as a result."
He added: "In Wales, they have used the digital channels to create a Welsh channel that runs from 7.30 to 10. This could easily be done in Scotland if they put their minds to it. This is the time to do it because there are spare channels available."
He went on: "Radio Scotland was created in the 1960s as a Scottish service, and the opportunity now exists with digital to do the same: to have a BBC Scotland television service."
Nigel Smith, a former member of the BBC Broadcasting Council in Glasgow and a campaigner for the 'Scottish Six', added: "The debate has moved way beyond the Scottish Six. The BBC needs to be more responsive to Scotland and to Scotland's place in the Union.
"We still have this major problem where viewers in Scotland watch more and know more about English education than in Scotland."
However, executives at BBC Scotland are understood to be cool on the idea of a separate channel, believing it will be difficult to persuade the Corporation to hand over one dedicated digital channel to Scotland.
The Glasgow-based Corporation is now focusing more efforts on its online output, pointing out that on election night earlier this month, it received more than one million hits.
A BBC Scotland spokesman said: "We have regular meetings with all the political parties, and we are always willing to discuss new ideas with them."