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Annex G
Broadcasting
Broadcasting in Scotland
The context of broadcasting
Public service broadcasting should be aligned with the shape of contemporary society and should work in sympathy with the nation without prejudice to the proper enquiring stance of its journalism.
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of Scottish culture. It is both participant in the nation's affairs and it is an important ambassador in offering versions of Scotland to the British network. BBC Scotland paints the picture of the nation that influences both the casual viewer and the potential investor or immigrant from elsewhere in Britain.
There are bound to be continuities of strategy, development, talent, and ambition between the programming developed for the home audience and material sent to network. Strong national services for Scotland underpin the Scottish contribution to the network and produce a stronger BBC. If there are deficiencies in the funding of domestic services in Scotland, then there are bound to be weaknesses in the development matrix for creating successful offers to the British network.
A new society
BBC Scotland has flourished by engaging with its audiences, sometimes reinforcing their beliefs and ideals and ambitions and at other times challenging Scottish society to examine itself. The BBC carries out its work through its programme services. It is vital that they are responsive to the main currents in their society.
There are institutional and programme consequences of nationhood that the BBC has traditionally observed through, for example, governance, in the Broadcasting Council for Scotland. The BBC has over the last ten years observed a policy of devolution to the regions and nations of the UK. The latest proposals from BBC promise further devolution with some benefits to Scotland.
Yet the structure of the Scottish television industry - BBC and ITV - has not substantially changed since becoming established 50 years ago. All Scottish television is essentially an opt-out service sustained by a UK-national schedule.
These changes however have not been calibrated against the changes in Scottish society but in line with BBC corporate policies. BBC has, of course, made provision for Parliamentary broadcasting in Scotland in the best traditions of its distinguished history of carrying Westminster affairs to the UK audience. However, the changes in Scottish society are deep and broad and go beyond Holyrood. Changes in Scottish society culminated in the restoration of Parliament. The new constitutional arrangements in Scotland are not in themselves the change in society; they are the political arrangements to cope with that change.
The country has new ambitions and new levels of performance. For example, in science, the city of Dundee is host to two universities with outstanding British records in scientific and entrepreneurial achievement. In the arts, Edinburgh leads the world as the first UNESCO city of literature and the country has a new National Theatre based in Glasgow. Scotland needs programming to feed those levels of ambition and achievement. Actors and playwrights, for example, succeeding in the National Theatre should expect to work on BBC Scotland as part of the nation's talent management. The Artistic Director of the NTS should be part of BBC Scotland's strategic discussions when planning programmes for home and network
Television and radio from BBC Scotland
BBC1 and BBC2 are managed in Scotland as channels that have local continuity and the power to substitute Scottish programming within the basic British network service. Because BBC Scotland operates this opt-out system, the overall tone and configuration of the networks are set in London and are unalterable. BBC Television in Scotland produces and transmits culture-specific programmes to reflect the separate institutions, traditions, climate, and social posture in Scotland. Scottish news and politics are obvious examples. The Beechgrove Garden is broadcast because this country has a climate different enough to warrant different horticultural advice. Soccer, rugby and many other sports are specific to the nation.
Scotland has a new political and cultural context and urgent claims on the BBC licence fee to make high grade programmes aligned with its circumstances. As Ofcom frees ITV companies from their obligations to provide non-news programming for local consumption, BBC Scotland's importance to the nation grows.
Radio Scotland
Radio Scotland is commissioned managed and broadcast from Scotland. The shape, tone and content of the network are all within the gift of BBC Scotland but subject to the funding available from network. Of course it might be said that BBC Scotland has the power to configure its budgets to favour any policy derived from the Broadcasting Council for Scotland. In fact such change can only ever be marginal within the proportion of the BBC Licence Fee allocated to Scotland and between the urgent claims of an increasing number of BBC Television channels and other new platforms.
Radio Scotland was set up as the national network 30 years ago. It has concentrated on high-grade news coverage together with conversational programmes, extensive sporting coverage, and niche broadcasting of musical forms popular in this country. The higher-value programmes forms such as features, documentaries, drama, story and other narrative forms are available on Radio Scotland sporadically or not at all. The network is simply not financed at a level that would allow consistent commissioning of these expensive genres. Consistency is the essence of radio. Speech radio listeners in particular gravitate to and accumulate around regular, trusted, high-quality programming.
Traditional BBCUK policy placed Radio Scotland as part of the totality of BBC speech radio in Scotland, offered in portfolio with Radio 4 and Radio 5 to provide complementary aspects of the UK service. In fact Radio Scotland is still financed in line with policy adopted in Scotland to promote a Scottish version of the local radio being set up in England thirty years ago. There are new social, cultural, scientific, and economic features of Scottish life that need to be examined and explained regularly on air on Radio Scotland and the feature and narrative forms need to available to programme makers. Scotland's playwrights poets, prose-writers, historians, musicians, actors need regular and frequent outlets for their talents in Scottish public broadcasting.
Radio Scotland must be re-positioned within the BBC and given higher priority for funding that will allow it to provide a richer programme mix suited to the needs of the nation in this new century. This will need new funding from BBC Radio UK.
A new programme portfolio for Radio Scotland may have to be developed across a number of years but, nevertheless, programming ambition needs to be in kilter with the nation's ambitions.
News on television and radio
Very many consultations held by the Commission involved spontaneous discussion of the media in Scotland. The Royal Society of Edinburgh held in a seminar in 2004 to discuss the matter. The widespread perception is that the media - and the press figures largely in this judgement - is divorced from the people and their ambitions. There is marked disillusion and indeed disaffection from the Press in Scotland. It is vital that BBC keeps in touch with its audience.
There should be an appraisal of news reporting across all platforms in tandem with the necessary revision of programme services. BBC Scotland is the nation's agenda setter. It makes sense to ensure that the correspondents and the general expertise of the News services are appropriately configured in line with Scottish society's intellectual and social currents as well as the political vectors. It also makes sense to extend the BBC's reputation for being close to its audience by consulting about this matter in the wider community.
Gaelic
BBC Scotland responded with appropriate vigour when Gaelic culture was in danger of irretrievable decline. It has served the Gaelic audience, and thus Scotland, well with astutely scheduled programmes of high quality. Indeed some programmes, such as the Television series Eorpa, have led the UK in exploring new subject matter and providing a new focus for the audience. Scotland adopted exceptional measures to inject much-needed monies into Gaelic broadcasting.
There is now a parallel need to for an urgent and radical re-assessment of Scotland's needs - including those of Gaelic culture. There should be no separation of the two.
Music from Scotland - a new radio channel
Among the many cultural flowerings in the last decade has been the burgeoning of wide interest in traditional music forms. Often these span Scots, English and Gaelic culture. They are part of Scotland's heritage and identity. This music has cultural and economic value. What they do not have is room to flourish on the air. BBC Scotland has been quick to exploit new technology and that is applauded.
There is surely an unanswerable case for at least one digital radio service devoted to music in contemporary Scotland. This music is ours alone. It will not be promoted elsewhere.
The ambition of music producers ought to be to "explode" Scottish musical talent on air. BBC Scotland is a champion of Scottish culture. It is proper that there should be close working relationships with other agencies that advance arts and culture.
Television for the networks
Britain will benefit from more commissioning from Scotland to fill the terrestrial and digital television networks. The different perspective from this country is important to Britain. It is also important for Britain that public service broadcasting root itself in the communities of the UK. The Commission approves the devolution of BBC production to Manchester.
In that context, there is surely no argument against a fairer share of the licence fee being spent in Scotland too, both on intellectual tasks such as commissioning and in the location of resources and production.
Where the large network production centres can expect talent to be thrown up in the flux of sheer numbers, Scotland can capture the best talent only by turning over more programmes with fresh talent each time, in some cases disobliging those who have tried but have not made enough of a mark. Intolerance of the average is bold but can also be de-stabilising. However, selling into the networks is very, very difficult and it will take exceptional measures to change that situation.
BBC Scotland has a new Controller with a distinguished track-record in encouraging programme quality and embracing new technology. He will recognise that Scottish content on all British networks is at a low level. Network expectations of Scottish programming it has to be said are also low. One part of the solution is the deserved increase in funding for more, high-grade programmes on radio and television to serve the Scottish audience. That is the demand by the Scottish audience but in itself that increases patronage by Controller BBC Scotland and helps with turnover. Thus, in meeting Scotland's needs, BBC can also ensure better contributions to network from Scotland.
There is another vital matter at stake here. The main series drama programmes BBC Scotland has made for network have been family material for Sunday evenings. These have been high in entertainment and low in artistic risk. It is only when there is a critical mass of high value material commissioned for broadcast in Scotland that programme makers will be able to exercise their talents to the full.
ITV, Channel 4 and the Independent sector
SMG has produced Scotland's longest running television drama, Taggart. This a network show of great importance in Scotland as a source of work for writers, actors and production crew. It has shown remarkable resilience but in time will come to an end. It is vital that drama production remain in Scotland. Both BBC and Scottish Television have mined formulae that have proven lastingly successful with network. It may be significant that an incomer, an American, has written more adventurous short series drama on Channel and set in Scotland. There are very few outlets for new ideas in the expensive programme genres. That has been a contributory factor in Scotland's talent drifting to London, the centre of the television industry.
Scotland has a number of independent television production companies. These share the same problems as BBC in drawing commissions from network centres. Gaining a regular place at the discussion tables and in front of the London-based commissioners is the most important task; maintaining that position is entirely dependent on quality product. The struggle is intense and much depends on the energy and willingness of Scottish managers to shuttle back and forth to London weekly. Channel4 has made a good contribution to the industry in Scotland by siting the Nations and regions office in Glasgow. There is also the prospect of a cluster of companies joining BBC, SMG and some Indies on Pacific Quay in Glasgow.
Nevertheless, commissioning remains in London. In this broadcasting economy, Scotland does not fare well. With over 9% of the UK's population, Scotland wins around 1.5% of the UK's television production. As a result, the Scottish public has a very limited amount of its own culture reflected back to it with almost minimal coverage on television of artistic and creative activities in Scotland, or of essentially Scottish interest topics such as traditional music.
It is not defeatism to remark that talent alone will not change the situation in Scotland. Any raft of high value commissions that accrue to Scotland are part of economic calculation in a UK based company that has to balance obligations to other deserving parts of the UK. There will always be limits.
The only thing that will transform the scene in Scotland is an element of devolution of broadcasting. There is a case, recognised partially by OfCom, to protect public service broadcasting as multi-channel television takes over during the next few years. In this context, there is a strong case for the establishment of at least one channel based in Scotland. The experience of Channel 4 and Five, which commission all of their programmes from independent producers, shows that it would be possible to build such a channel rapidly, but also that such a development would inevitably lead to the creation of a strong indigenous television production industry. Some of the resulting production companies could then be expected to build the production capacity to begin to win commissions from national or international sources, building a strong Scottish production sector.
With the switch to digital it will be possible for one or more channels to be brought into existence. The Scottish Parliament would have to be given responsibility and might wish to subsidise the venture. S4C has a government subsidy of £85m. That is of course money voted from the public purse for cultural rather than economic purposes, though there are of course economic effects. In Scotland, the principal drive would again be cultural but any channel set-up ought to be calculated for its economic influence too. It is difficult to estimate an appropriate channel budget because the variations are considerable according to purposes: More4 is receiving £35m at start-up and E4 budget is about £50m.
The Commission recommends that Scottish Ministers should consider how a separate channel for Scotland might be financed and set up.
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