Television in Scotland

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Television in Scotland mostly consists of UK-wide output, with some national variations. Though there have been calls for such, Scotland still has no major television channel of its own. In particular, there have been claims that British television news does not cater to Scottish needs; Dr Douglas MacMillan, of the geography and environment department at the University of Aberdeen says he has found that Scottish news was "peripheral" compared with English stories. His six-month study into the BBC showed 34% of all news focused on England while just 2% was dedicated to Scotland, despite having 10% of the population.^[1]

Scotland will be the first country of the UK to become totally digital.

Scotland has its own BBC Scotland services. Much of the output of BBC Scotland Television, such as news and current affairs programmes, and the Glasgow-based soap opera, River City, are intended for broadcast within Scotland, whilst others, such as drama and comedy programmes, aim at audiences throughout the UK and further afield. Sports coverage also differs, reflecting the fact that the country has its own football and rugby leagues and national teams, separate from those of the other United Kingdom constituent nations.

Three Independent Television stations (Scottish TV, Grampian TV and Border) also broadcast in Scotland. Although they previously had independent existences, Scottish TV (serving the Central Lowlands) and Grampian (serving the Highlands and Islands) now belong to the same company (The Scottish Media Group) and resemble each other closely, apart from local news coverage. Indeed, the two brands merged in May 2006 to become stv, a name already commonly used as an abbreviation for Scottish TV. The number of local news programmes under the stv brand will be increased providing separate news content for sub-regions such as Tayside. "Border" has had a more complex position, as it also has to serve neighbouring areas across the border in England, as well as the Isle of Man, and it now has separate news programs for each side of the border. Most of the independent television output equates to that transmitted in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the exception of news and current affairs, sport, cultural and Scottish Gaelic language programming.

1 The Scottish Six
2 Personalities
3 References
4 See also

[edit] The Scottish Six

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One of the longest running controversies regarding news broadcasting in Scotland has been over proposals for an early evening, weekday BBC television news programme, containing international, UK and Scottish items, produced and edited in Scotland. This proposed show is referred to as the Scottish Six.^[2]^[3]^[4]

In May 2006 Mark Thompson, the Director-general of the BBC, ruled out any prospect of a Scottish Six news bulletin to replace that produced in London.^[5]