09/07/2008

The BBC has been told by its own 'audience focus group', the Audience Council for Scotland, that two key priorities for next year should be increasing network commissions from Scotland and improving coverage of Scottish affairs on the BBC networks.

It follows the publication yesterday of BBC Scotland's Annual Review.

 “The Trust focussed on issues which matter to audiences in Scotland, authorising the launch of new services and holding the Executive to account for the performance of existing ones. Members of the Audience Council worked hard to gather and reflect upon audience views, and to transmit them to the Trust.”

This last year has seen the official opening of BBC Scotland’s new headquarters at Pacific Quay, in Glasgow; the approval by the BBC governing body, the BBC Trust, of a new Gaelic service to be run by BBC Scotland, with the Gaelic Media Service; the adoption of more stretching targets for network production in the UK nations; and - following the publication of the Trust’s Impartiality Review on BBC news coverage - an admission that network news is too London-centric.

Key priorities for the year ahead in broadcasting, say the Council, are:

*An increase in network commissions from Scotland on BBC TV and radio, with a significant proportion culturally relevant to Scotland;

*Improvement in coverage of Scottish affairs in a devolved UK;

*A successful launch of the new Gaelic digital service; and

* Investigate ways of improving radio reception, particularly in the Highlands.

The Council also considered sports coverage for audiences in Scotland and suggests that the qualifying stages of international football tournaments of all the home nations could be added to the Government’s list of sporting 'crown jewels'. Events on the list, which is drawn up by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, must be offered to free-to-air terrestrial broadcasters.

Says BBC Scotland Controller, Ken MacQuarrie: “An important part of our work has been to focus on increasing the amount of our network programming, while raising the quality of our output. Such an approach is also central to the BBC’s overall plans to build vibrant, sustainable production centres outside of London.

“I firmly believe that BBC Scotland is entering a period of production growth. It has an important contribution to make to Scotland’s creative sector and for that reason I very much welcome the public debate which is currently focussed on broadcasting."

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* Send your Scottish media news and gossip, in the strictest confidence, to  info@allmediascotland.com