The Scottish population accounts for over 8% of the UK population as a whole. The BBC only spends 3% of it's budget for new programmes is Scotland(admittedly this will be rising to 6% soon, so they tell us), but virtually nothing of what is made in Scotland is transmitted UK wide.
In terms of population, Yorkshire isn't far behind Scotland.
Currently in Yorkshire, the only programmes the BBC makes are Look North, The Politics Show (regional opt), Inside Out, The Superleague Show and Helicopter Heroes. Only the final one of these is networked across the whole of the UK.
I would seem clear that Scotland is actually represented much more on UK-wide television than many English regions which have almost as little in common with London.
Exactly.
I often read Scots whinging that London means nothing to them. Well I'm sorry, but Scotland means nothing to me either.
Perhaps the Scottish parliament could start their own version of the BBC? ie. The Scottish Broadcasting Corporation, or something. Then they could indulge in as much Scottish news and programming as they like.
I often read Scots whinging that London means nothing to them. Well I'm sorry, but Scotland means nothing to me either.
Perhaps the Scottish parliament could start their own version of the BBC? ie. The Scottish Broadcasting Corporation, or something. Then they could indulge in as much Scottish news and programming as they like.
Surely you are in favour of equality in programming? Or not?
No-body's whinging here incidentally. Surely your own knowledge/awareness of all the nations within the UK can only be enriched by a more diverse approach by the BBC. I think it would be of benefit to us all.
No-body's whinging here incidentally. Surely your own knowledge/awareness of all the nations within the UK can only be enriched by a more diverse approach by the BBC. I think it would be of benefit to us all.
What makes you think I'd want to raise my knowledge and awareness of Scotland any more so than an English county with a similar population? To put this in a broader context, Belgium has a population of 10 million people - but am I bothered about Belgium? Do I really want to learn everything there possibly is to know about that country? No, I'm afraid I don't.
Would equality in programming including BBC Alba being axed, given that the rest of the UK doesn't have its own extra BBC channel?
Still 3% of budget versus 8% of population, still a deficit.
Anyone would think you don't want to see Scottish programmes in England. Perhaps River City twice a week UK wide on BBC1, or dramas based on the lives of Robert the Bruce or Robert Louis Stevenson. Would that really hurt so much?
Would equality in programming including BBC Alba being axed, given that the rest of the UK doesn't have its own extra BBC channel?
At the moment, BBC Alba isn't actually an extra channel for Scotland - it's an extra channel for satellite. It's specific not to a region, but to a platform.
I think the ratings-chasing attitude (as demonstrated by the tennis) of Network schedulers explains quite well why they're wary of showing programmes of primarily local interest in primetime - whether that's right or not.
All of the Nations already show an awful lot of local programming on their own channels - yet back in the days of BBC 2W there were complaints to Points of View over the way it would move about popular programmes (notably the Thursdays Are Funny strand) to show Welsh-interest programmes on a "first-look" basis that would subsequently be repeated on BBC One the same evening; and those complaints were coming from the Welsh viewers at whom those programmes were being aimed. That's not to say that local programmes aren't interesting and don't have an important educational value - just that general entertainment programmes for a national audience are more popular than documentaries about the local history and culture of one region.
What makes you think I'd want to raise my knowledge and awareness of Scotland any more so than an English county with a similar population? To put this in a broader context, Belgium has a population of 10 million people - but am I bothered about Belgium? Do I really want to learn everything there possibly is to know about that country? No, I'm afraid I don't.
You forget Scotland isn't a county it's a country. You may not want to learn anything about any other country but your own, but not everyone is so inward looking. I'd like to think most people would be interested in other cultures and countries. Particularly with those other countries who pay the license fee.
I'd like to think most people would be interested in other cultures and countries. Particularly with those other countries who pay the license fee.
So would I - but ratings say people are not, which is why they're not *usually* shown in primetime on a regular basis on BBC One and Two.
:-(
A former member
Firstly back in the day all that was made for ITV, by stv was : high road, Taggart, fun house, wheel of fortunes. so this is nothing new!
also the same also happened on point of view, a number of Scottish viewers complained about programmes just disappearing in to space and never to be seen again. This whole situation could have been resolved if BBC scotland were able to operate its own schedules.
But why so people in Kent and cornwall or yorkshire care about scottish programmes? I don't want to see them any more than there want to see my programmes like chewin the fat,
You forget Scotland isn't a county it's a country.
Yes I'm well aware that Scotland is a country
Your original argument started out on the basis of population density in the UK.
The population of East Anglia is the same as Scotland, so do you reckon that 8% of programmes on the BBC (that's 14 hours per week) should be about the region of East Anglia?
You may not want to learn anything about any other country but your own, but not everyone is so inward looking. I'd like to think most people would be interested in other cultures and countries. Particularly with those other countries who pay the license fee.
I love learning about other countries. Geography, travel and exploration are my main interests, particularly when it comes to the TV programmes I enjoy most. Scotland, however, just isn't a country that interests me very much. Watching a programme about Scotland would be more or less like watching a programme about Cumbria, for example. It just isn't far away or different enough.
