BBC Radio Scotland
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| City of license | Glasgow |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Scotland |
| Frequency |
FM: 92.8-94.7 MHz |
| First air date | 23 November 1978 |
| Format | News, music, sport, talk |
| Audience share | 8.6% (December 2012, ) |
| Owner |
BBC, BBC Scotland |
| Webcast | Listen Live |
| Website |
www |
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 1978.
History
BBC Radio Scotland was founded as a full-time radio network in 1978, although the name had been used since 1974 for the Scottish opt-out version of BBC Radio 4. The establishment of a separate network was only made possible when Radio 4 became a fully UK-wide network and moved from medium wave to long wave. The most famous and controversial head of Radio Scotland in recent years was James Boyle.
Programmes
The station broadcasts a wide range of programming, including news, debate, music, drama, comedy and sports.
News and current affairs
News and current affairs programming has always constituted the dominant part of BBC Radio Scotland's schedules, especially on weekdays. In addition to regular, mostly hourly, news bulletins, the station broadcasts a wide range of longer, more in-depth news and current affairs strands.
Good Morning Scotland (weekdays, 0600–0845) is Scotland's longest-running radio programme and one of the most popular in the country, providing regular news, sport, business, travel and weather bulletins along with interviews and in-depth reports in a manner similar to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, but from a Scottish perspective. It also features the daily religious slot Thought for the Day, again similar to that broadcast on Radio 4's Today programme.
The other daily news and current affairs strands are the Morning Call phone-in with Kaye Adams and Louise White (0850–1030), John Beattie (1200–1315), Newsdrive (1600–1800) and the political programme Scotland at Ten (2205–2230). BBC Radio Scotland also air live First Ministers Questions from the Scottish Parliament (Thu,1200-1230 (MW)) and Brian Taylor's Big Debate hosted by BBC Scotland's political editor and is in a similar format to Question Time (Fri, 1215–1300).
Weekend current affairs programming includes Newsweek Scotland (Sat, 0800–0900), Shereen (Sun, 0900–1000) and The Business (Sun, 1000–1030).
Music
Radio Scotland's music output is designed to cater for a wide range of tastes. Daily programmes include The Tom Morton Show (1400–1600), Get It On (1800–2000 (FM)) and The Iain Anderson Show (2230–0030).
From Monday to Friday, the 2000–2200 slot on FM is held by various music programmes through the week. On Monday, Vic Galloway hosts new bands and new music. Tuesday is home to Mary-Ann Kennedy's Global Gathering with music from around the world. The Jazz House on Wednesday presents a range of jazz music and from September 2010, Bruce MacGregor presents Travelling Folk every Thursday evening which features traditional music old and new, as well as The Music Cafe that he broadcasts from the studio in Inverness on Wednesday afternoons. The week is rounded off with The Music Bed, with modern music and interviews.
Weekend programming includes The Greetings Programme (Sun, 0700–0800) with a lively mix of music, past and present, Janice Forysth (Sat, 1000–1130) with music and celebrity guests, Take the Floor (Sat, 1900–2030) and Reel Blend with cèilidh music, Pipeline (Sat, 2100–2200) with piping music and Classics Unwrapped with a classical mix.
Sport
As with BBC Radio 5 Live nationally, BBC Radio Scotland carries most of the major sporting events linked to its coverage area, holding non-exclusive rights to the Scottish Premier League and producing several editions of its Sportsound programme on a multitude of frequencies on Saturdays during the season. The station also broadcasts live commentaries from both of Scotland's domestic football cup competitions, Scotland football internationals and European games affecting Scottish teams and the rugby union Six Nations championships.
Alongside the main live coverage, Radio Scotland also produces popular sporting magazine shows such as football fanzine Off the Ball and the multi-sports programme Sports Nation, presented by former Scotland rugby player, John Beattie. Every weekday evening, Sportsound also broadcasts on MW, 1810–19.00, looking at different aspects of Scottish football in tandem with live games.
Local opt-outs
BBC Radio Orkney and BBC Radio Shetland both air a half-hour daily news programme - Around Orkney (0730–0800) and Good Evening Shetland (1730–1800). During the winter months, this is supplemented for both areas by an hour-long programme, broadcast Monday-Friday, between 1805–1900.
Local news and weather bulletins are broadcast from news studios in Selkirk, Dumfries, Aberdeen and Inverness on weekdays at 0630, 0730, 0830, 1230, 1630 and 1730.
Presenters
Radio Scotland presenters include:
News
Travel
Sport
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Music
Lifestyle, features and documentaries
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Past presenters
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Heads of Radio, Scotland
Controllers of BBC Radio Scotland hold the title "Head of Radio, BBC Scotland" on account of BBC Scotland's radio productions for other BBC networks.
| Years served | Controller |
|---|---|
| 1978–1979 | John Pickles |
| 1980–1983 | Christopher Irwin |
| 1983–1987 | Stan Taylor |
| 1987–1992 | Neil Fraser |
| 1992–1996 | James Boyle |
| 1996–2000 | Ken MacQuarrie ("Head of Broadcast") |
| 2000–2005 | Maggie Cunningham |
| 2005–present | Jeff Zycinski |
External links
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