£80k is ‘wasted’ plugging failing Gaelic channel
TENS of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ cash is being shelled out on media experts in a bid to boost ratings for the BBC’s ailing Gaelic channel.
Launched in 2008, BBC Alba is funded to the tune of around £13 million a year by the Scottish Government – and also receives £9 million in licence fee contributions.
Yet despite offering a uniquely Scottish programming schedule, the channel has struggled to attract viewers.
Recent figures show just 3 per cent of adults use BBC Alba to get their daily news. That is likely to be helped by the fact Gaelic is only spoken by about 1.1 per cent of the Scottish population – or 57,375 people, according to the 2011 census.
Now, this newspaper can disclose that bosses at BBC Alba’s parent company MG Alba are spending more than £80,000 on media and public relations experts to help expand the channel’s audience.
According to a contract posted online, the Edinburgh-based firm 3X1 Group – also in charge of handling PR for the Scottish Government’s trams inquiry and the recent hospitals inquiry – will be tasked with raising ‘brand awareness’.
The notice says the group will help the channel to ‘reach new, younger audiences with a multiplatform, digital-first approach’.
The budget will also go towards promoting various Gaelic brands MG Alba oversees including FilmG, SpeakGaelic and LearnGaelic.
Critics last night claimed the move was a waste of taxpayers’ cash. Rebecca Ryan, campaign director of Defund the BBC, said: ‘Alba has a pitiful number of people watching it, yet the BBC continues to waste licence fee cash on it.
‘The decision by the Scottish Government to waste tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money to promote a failing channel is another slap in the face.’
According to the latest MG Alba report, budgets are tight at the channel it controls. It states that despite ‘aggressive management of costs and minimal organisational investment’, its latest operational plan sees a ‘significant real-terms reduction of content contribution to BBC Alba and a halving of the training budget’.
However, MG Alba believes comedy and drama will ‘be key to the channel’s efforts to engage with younger audiences’ on iPlayer and social media.
A BBC spokesman said: ‘This contract is being awarded by MG Alba for a range of services to promote and raise awareness of brands including FilmG, SpeakGaelic, LearnGaelic and BBC Alba.
‘Although it is a new contract, MG Alba has traditionally used the a PR consultancy to fulfil this function.
‘This competitive tender process was carried out to choose a supplier for the next two years.’