Inquiry Says Scotland Needs Its Own Digital Channel
The Scottish Broadcasting Commission has said that Scotland should get its own publicly funded digital television channel.
The independent inquiry said that Scotland needs its own news and current affairs programmes, with budgets to also produce its own entertainment and drama series, similar to the S4C Welsh channel.
The commission, which was set up 13 months ago by the Scottish first minister Alex Salmond and chaired by former BBC news boss Blair Jenkins, made a total of 22 recommendations.
Jenkins said: “It will meet the clear demand from people in Scotland for a greater volume and range of Scottish programmes; and it will help to fulfil the economic, cultural and democratic imperatives of Scottish broadcasting.”
The inquiry also said the BBC needed to substantially speed up its plan to spend 8.6% of its programming budget in Scotland in order to deliver this target by 2012.
Although the commission failed to support Salmond’s suggestion of a Scotland-only evening news programme to replace BBC One’s main evening TV news slot, Salmond was said to welcome the report and recommendations.
Salmond said: “It represents nothing less than a blueprint for a revolution in Scottish broadcasting, containing a range of very positive and exciting proposals.”
Scottish Broadcasting Commission: www.scottishbroadcastingcommission.gov.uk