Green light for BBC’s £32m Scots channel
THE BBC has been given the go-ahead to launch a controversial new Scottish television channel.
The £32million-a-year channel will go on air early next year after a ‘careful review’ by broadcast watchdog Ofcom.
BBC chiefs say the plans will see 140 jobs created in Scotland over the next three years and a £4million digital design and engineering hub set up at BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay base in Glasgow.
But concerns have been raised that the number of new staff needed for the channel will ‘distort’ Scotland’s media industry.
Corporation chiefs said it will include a flagship hour-long news bulletin covering ‘international, UK and Scottish stories, told from a Scottish perspective’.
Around half of the shows on the channel, which will be on air between 7pm and midnight every day, will be repeats. BBC directorgeneral Tony Hall said: ‘Ofcom giving the green light for the new channel is great news.
‘The new service has huge potential and I’m excited about what it can achieve.’
It is proposed that the new channel will take the place currently occupied by BBC Four on TV electronic programme guides (EPG) in Scotland. BBC Four would move to a less prominent slot.
The BBC unveiled plans for the channel in February last year, sparking fears it would give the corporation an unfair advantage over other news outlets. John McLellan, director of the Scottish Newspaper Society, said: ‘It’s a very disappointing outcome which ignores the legitimate concerns of commercial news providers and, despite months of investigation and consultation, amounts to just accepting the BBC’s assurances that its plans do not encroach on private operations.’
The BBC dominates viewing in Scotland, with a 32 per cent audi- ence share. It has often come under pressure from SNP figures including ex-leader Alex Salmond to increase Scots programming.
Matthew Postgate, BBC chief technology and product officer, said: ‘We know there is a huge amount of technological and creative talent in Scotland. We’re looking forward to creating a digital hub in the heart of this thriving community, which will use that talent and expertise to transform the BBC, not only in Scotland but throughout the UK.’
In April, Ofcom said the service ‘will deliver public value for the audience’ and found that it is ‘unlikely to have a substantial effect on competition’. The announcement comes weeks after Nicola Sturgeon said Glasgow would be the ‘perfect place’ for the new headquarters for Channel 4. It is searching for a base and two hubs outside London, with plans to relocate hundreds of jobs to the new sites.
An STV spokesman said: ‘We welcome the BBC’s commitment to the creative industries sector in Scotland and hope the new Scottish channel will succeed in delivering additional public value as well as enhanced services and choice for Scottish audiences.’
‘Legitimate concerns’