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Gaelic Broadcasting Task Force Report

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Conclusions and Recommendations

Considering the future of Gaelic broadcasting in the context of the convergence of broadcasting, communications and information technology, and recognising the need for clarification of arrangements for effective transfer from analogue to digital, the Gaelic Broadcasting Task Force has concluded that a dedicated Gaelic television channel is a practicable proposition and recommends that the government include measures for the normalisation of Gaelic broadcasting provision within the forthcoming UK broadcasting legislation.

The conclusions and recommendations in this report provide a practical means of meeting the requirements of Section 31 of the European Parliament and Council Directive 97/36/EC of June 1997 with regard to the need to protect lesser used languages of the European Union in regard to the Gaelic language in Scotland, within the developing broadcasting regulatory framework of the UK.

The proposals are in line with the Government’s social inclusion policies, enabling peripheral communities and an often marginalised linguistic minority to participate actively in the Information Society and to be at the forefront of the transition from analogue to digital technology to the benefit of language, culture and the economy.

1. The Task Force has concluded that the weaknesses in the present arrangements for Gaelic broadcasting are structural, and that measures are required to ensure a coordinated approach to the implementation of policies and strategies that will guarantee a more effective provision and use of resources.

Recommendation
The establishment of a Gaelic Broadcasting Authority to be appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and operating within the UK regulatory framework. The Authority’s prime responsibilities should be to:

1. oversee the establishment of a Gaelic Service embracing the converging media of the 21^st century;
2. administer the funds which the service will receive;
3. appoint the senior staff who will run the service;
4. have overall responsibility for the scheduling and the broadcast of the service;
5. designate the sustaining services which will broadcast when Gaelic programmes are not being transmitted

2. The Task Force has concluded that the current sharing of responsibility for Gaelic broadcasting between public and commercial broadcasters is not conducive to the delivery of a balanced range of programmes nor to the effective monitoring and control of consistency of quality and content.

Recommendation
The Gaelic Service should be designated a public service, should be available ‘free to air’ on all digital platforms and its coherence should be the responsibility of the Gaelic Broadcasting Authority. The Gaelic Service should broadcast three hours of original programmes per day in peak time. The output over the week should be of wide range and high quality.

3. The Task Force has been advised that the extension of Digital Terrestrial Transmission to all parts of the United Kingdom can be achieved and that the further release of analogue frequencies can eventually permit the establishment of new Multiplexes. The current legal requirement to carry half an hour on Multiplex A (a commercial Multiplex) is inadequate and inappropriate.

Recommendation
The Gaelic Broadcasting Authority should be allocated guaranteed spectrum sufficient for the operation of a Gaelic channel on the digital terrestrial system, but until such time as DTT coverage is maximised, priority should be given to the establishment of a Gaelic service on Digital satellite which currently offers superior coverage.

4. The Task Force believes the current arrangements for the funding of Gaelic television to be of such instability that no strategic planning can be undertaken. Programme budgets at the BBC and particularly ITV are vulnerable. The Gaelic Broadcasting Fund is subject to fluctuations, not being index-linked nor protected at a fixed level.

Recommendation
The securing in law of a funding formula designed to produce a prescribed annual amount of £44m at 2000 prices, in cash or kind, to support an agreed level and quality of service with provision for retail price indexation and discretion to allow the Secretary of State to increase the basic prescribed amount where he is satisfied that it is appropriate to do so.

5. The Task Force believes that the role and commitment of the BBC in Gaelic Broadcasting, Television and Radio nan Gaidheal is important, but should be strengthened.

Recommendation
The participation of the BBC in the Gaelic Service, through providing to the Gaelic Broadcasting Authority for broadcast on the Gaelic Channel, a minimum of one hour a day of quality, original Gaelic television programming funded from the licence fee, together with access to the daily output of Radio nan Gaidheal.

It is also our view that the language will be significantly helped if BBC Radio nan Gaidheal’s hours were extended and transmission achieved throughout Scotland.

6. The Task Force understands the pressures brought about by increased competitiveness within the commercial television sector. Nevertheless, in return for the removal of franchise obligations on Scottish Channel 3 companies to transmit Gaelic programmes, the ITV sector as a whole should contribute through the Treasury to a Gaelic service by way of a sum based on a percentage of its total revenues.

Recommendation
The DCMS should secure for the Gaelic Broadcasting Authority, from the Treasury, a sum, incorporating the amount of the current Gaelic Broadcasting Fund and the contribution of the ITV sector, sufficient to provide the balance of funding required to produce two hours a day.

7. The Task Force believes that the task of managing the transition from a fragmented analogue provision to a daily digital service with all the infrastructural implications involved requires an incremental approach that would be best served by the establishment of the new Authority immediately, but, if necessary, initially, on a shadow basis, remitted to take responsibility for coordination and policy planning.

Recommendation
That arrangements are made to ensure a constructive transition for Gaelic Broadcasting by the establishment of a Gaelic Broadcasting Authority remitted to ensure that audiences are not deprived of existing analogue and digital viewing, and to plan a management, programme production and delivery infrastructure for the future.

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