BBC Scotland (Gaelic: BBC Alba) is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who are advised in Scotland, by the Audience Council Scotland. Its Scottish headquarters and studios are at BBC Pacific Quay on the south bank of the River Clyde, beside the STV headquarters and the Glasgow Science Centre.
BBC Scotland also has offices including a newsroom, large television studio, and radio studios near to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, plus an office inside the Parliament building itself. There are also broadcasting centres in Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Dumfries. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra was resident at BBC Scotland's Queen Margaret Drive base until 2006, when it moved to new premises in the city centre. The orchestra performs regularly throughout Scotland and around the world.[1]
BBC Scotland's main rival is STV (formerly Scottish Television and Grampian Television), which, despite the name, does not in fact broadcast throughout the country. STV's transmissions are confined to the main population centres of central and northern Scotland, while Border Television covers the south.
Television
BBC Scotland co-ordinates two of the country's five public television stations: BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland
- BBC One Scotland is the broadcaster's flagship station and offers a mixture of home-grown comedy, drama, news and current affairs programmes, as well as providing viewers with the main output from the BBC's UK network.
- BBC Two Scotland is an opt-out of the UK's BBC Two network. Daily opt-outs include regular news bulletins and a variety of Gaelic children's, youth, current affairs programming and coverage of the devolved Scottish Parliament.
BBC Scotland (BBC Alba) is also be responsible for the BBC Alba. The channel is funded by the BBC and the MG Alba.
Programming
As well as producing programming for Scotland, as the largest of the BBC's "Nations & Regions", BBC Scotland also produces television programming intended for the UK network.
Flagship programmes for Scotland include the nightly news programmes Reporting Scotland and Newsnight Scotland, drama in the form of River City and Monarch of the Glen, and sports programming in the shape of Sportscene, Grandstand from Scotland and The Adventure Show. BBC Scotland also produces Gaelic programming, such as Eòrpa and Dotaman, under the banner BBC Alba.
Eòrpa hit the headlines in May 2008, specially mentioned in the Scottish Broadcasting Commission's report. 'It was intriguing to note that without fail at every one of our public events BBC2 Scotland's Eòrpa programme was raised, unsolicited, and by non-Gaelic speakers, as an example of a positive, well-respected programme' - Blair Jenkins, Chair - Scottish Broadcasting Commission[1]
BBC Scotland also produces the Scottish opt-out sections of UK-wide programmes such as The Politics Show and Children in Need. Output for the UK network has included such recent high profile dramas as Monarch of the Glen, 55 Degrees North and Sea of Souls.[2]
Selected BBC Scotland programming for Scotland
The following are selected BBC Scotland-produced or -commissioned programmes shown in Scotland only:
Selected BBC Scotland programming for the UK
The following are selected BBC Scotland-produced or -commissioned programmes networked across the UK:
Selected BBC Scotland programming for Europe
Studios
- For the BBC Scotland head quarters, see BBC Pacific Quay
BBC Scotland has 11 television and radio studios in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Portree, Stornoway, Inverness, Selkirk, Dumfries, Kirkwall and Lerwick. BBC Scotland's HQ in Glasgow, opened in 2007. Pacific Quay has the largest studio in the UK outside London.
BBC Scotland's drama productions are based at Dumbarton on the site of a disused whisky distillery. It is the main Scottish drama facilities where programmes such as River City and Hope Springs are filmed. [3]
Radio
BBC Scotland also operates the national radio networks:
- BBC Radio Scotland on 92-95 FM and 810 MW, broadcasts across Scotland and sometimes splits frequencies, with other programming, usually sport, broadcasting only on MW.
- BBC Radio nan Gàidheal on 103.5-105 FM is the Gaelic language station broadcasting across parts of Scotland, and is often used as an extra frequency for Sportsound's coverage of multiple SPL football matches.
There are also regional news opt-outs broadcasting from Aberdeen (North-East), Inverness (Highlands and Islands), Selkirk (Borders), Dumfries (South-West), Lerwick (Shetland) and Kirkwall (Orkney), with the latter two also providing extra programming for their area.
BBC Scotland also takes part in the 'Regionalisation' of some of the UK-wide BBC's radio output. One example of this is on Thursday nights, when Radio 1 splits the home nations with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland broadcasting their own shows showcasing local talent. The Radio 1 Session in Scotland is presented by Vic Galloway.[4]
Online
BBC Scotland also provides a large amount of online content specifically aimed at the Scottish user, whether they be from within Scotland, or for Scots from further afield.
- They are responsible for the Scottish News, Sport and Education portals in the main bbc.co.uk website, along with their own sections such as History, Music and information about their television and radio programmes.
- Also, BBC Scotland have begun to stream a variety of television and radio content via the BBC Scotland Player on their website. Examples of this include news and current affairs programming available on demand, live Scottish sport and trailers for upcoming programmes.
- BBC Scotland also produces the first - and still the only - video news download from within the Nations & Regions division. Called "BBC Scotland News Weekly", it contains five stories from television news across the week. It can be accessed on the BBC Scotland news website and via the podcast section of iTunes.[5]
Controllers and heads
Controllers of BBC Scotland:
- Ken MacQuarrie (Apr 2004 - present)
- John McCormick (Jan 1992 - Apr 2004)
See also
References
External links
