BBC to launch new TV channel for Scotland with £30m budget
The BBC is to create a new channel, named BBC Scotland, as part of a plan which will see the "biggest single investment" in the corporation north of the border for more than 20 years.
It rejected calls for a so-called “Scottish Six”, but the channel will include an hour-long news programme, combining Scottish, UK and international news, at 9pm every weekday.
Lord Hall of Birkenhead, the BBC's director-general, said it would begin broadcasting in the autumn of 2018 and would have a budget of £30 million, similar to the amount spent on BBC4.
The news programme will be edited and presented in Scotland, will lead to 80 new journalist posts, and the channel is due to broadcast from 7pm to midnight. It will also be available in iPlayer in HD in Scotland and across the UK.
Nicola Sturgeon, who has previously called for a new channel and a Scottish Six, took to social media to say there was "lots to welcome" in the announcement, adding that the new channel was progress and hopefully a "sign of new thinking".
However, questions may be asked over the level of funding, with previous calls for a new channel suggesting a budget of £100 million was necessary.
The director general also used a visit to Glasgow to announce an increase of about £20m a year for Scotland to make UK-wide programmes, focused on drama and factual programming.
He said Scotland should receive about £40m in new funding annually - £19m for the new channel and digital developments, and £20m for making network programmes. The corporation anticipates that spending on network programmes made in Scotland for a UK-wide BBC audience will rise from about £65m this year to closer to £90m over the next three years.
1/3 Lots to welcome in today's @bbcpress announcement. @scotgov has long argued for new BBC Scotland channel. Vital that it is funded well.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) February 22, 2017
Lord Hall told staff: “All of this combined amounts to the biggest single investment by the BBC in broadcast content in Scotland in over 20 years.
"This will be a huge boost for BBC Scotland and for the Scottish creative industries. This is an exciting time for BBC Scotland and for the millions of Scots who love TV."
He added: “I said at the beginning of the year that the BBC needed to be more creative and distinctive. The BBC is Britain's broadcaster but we also need to do more for each nation just as we are doing more for Britain globally.
"We know that viewers in Scotland love BBC television, but we also know that they want us to better reflect their lives and better reflect modern Scotland. It is vital that we get this right. The best way of achieving that is a dedicated channel for Scotland.
"It's a channel that will be bold, creative and ambitious, with a brand-new Scotland-edited international news programme at its heart."
2/3 Commitments to new investment and 80 additional jobs for journalists long overdue and very positive.
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) February 22, 2017
The new channel will show drama, factual, comedy and news programmes made north of the border.
On the issue of the Scottish Six, which was backed by the SNP, and would have replaced the existing UK news programme at 6pm and the Scottish bulletin at 6.30pm, the BBC said its current UK-wide show had "performed strongly in Scotland in recent years".
It added that the new hour-long bulletin would offer viewers "choice and quality”. STV has already announced plans for its own flagship hour-long news programme to begin this year.
The development of a nightly news hour at 9pm means that the news output on BBC One in Scotland will remain in its current form. The proposals for a Scottish Six were in response to criticism that the Six O'Clock News often features stories - for example on education and health - with little relevance to Scottish audiences.
