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BBC Scotland is a division of the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
and the main
public broadcaster Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...
in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
. Its
headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...
are in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotland operates television channels such as the
Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
variant of
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
, the
BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...
channel and the Gaelic-language channel
BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day. The name ' is the Scottish Gae ...
, and radio stations
BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...
and Gaelic-language
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal BBC Radio nan Gàidheal is a Scottish Gaelic language radio station owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. The station was launched in 1985 and broadcasts Gaelic-language programming with the simulcast of BBC Radio Scotland. ...
. It is one of the four BBC national broadcasters, together with the
BBC English Regions BBC English Regions is the division of the BBC responsible for local and regional television, radio, World Wide Web, web, and teletext services in England, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. It is one of the BBC's four "nations" – the ...
,
BBC Cymru Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...
and
BBC Northern Ireland BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. BBC Northern Ireland is one of the four BB ...
. Some £320 million of
licence fee A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...
revenue is raised in Scotland, with expenditure on purely local content set to stand at £86 million by 2016–2017. The remainder of licence fee revenue raised in the country is spent on networked programmes shown throughout the UK, with BBC Scotland producing over 880 hours worth of programming for UK–wide broadcast on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
,
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
,
BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...
,
CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...
and
CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...
. BBC Scotland output reached on average 94% of Scottish audiences in July 2013.


History


Radio services

The first radio service in Scotland was launched by the
British Broadcasting Company The British Broadcasting Company Limited (BBC) was a short-lived British commercial broadcasting company formed on 18 October 1922 by British and American electrical companies doing business in the United Kingdom. Licensed by the British Gener ...
on 6 March 1923. Named 5SC and located in Bath Street in Glasgow, the services gradually expanded to include the new stations 2BD, 2DE and 2EH, based at Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh respectively. Around 1927, the new Corporation, as the BBC now was, decided to combine these local stations into regions under the generic banner of the
BBC Regional Programme The BBC Regional Programme was a radio service which was on the air from 9 March 1930 – replacing a number of earlier BBC local stations between 1922 and 1924 – until 1 September 1939 when it was subsumed into the BBC Home Service, two day ...
. Regional programmes throughout the UK were merged to form the
BBC Home Service The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4. History 1922–1939: Interwar period Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
in 1939, and, with a break for the Second World War, national opt outs remained on the station and its successor
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
until the establishment of a separate
BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...
in November 1978.


Television services

Television in Scotland began formally on 14 March 1952 using the
405-line television system The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. The number of television lines influences the image resolution, or quality of the picture. It ...
broadcast from the
Kirk o' Shotts transmitter The Kirk o' Shotts transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site at The Hirst which lies just outside the village of Salsburgh which is near the town of Shotts in North Lanarkshire central Scotland. (Kirk o' Shotts means 'Chu ...
. In the beginning, all programmes came from London but some with Scottish content were made using an outside broadcast unit. By 1962, there were plans for television news interview studios in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. Eventually, BBC Scotland established the right to "opt-out" of the network more and more. When BBC Two arrived in Scotland in 1966 (having begun in London two years earlier and spread across the country), broadcasts began in black and white on 405-lines from the Black Hill transmitter. BBC Two upgraded to
PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
colour in 1967 (including Scotland) across the UK, with BBC One (network programmes only at first, with local output still in black-and-white) and STV following in December 1969, and in 1971, BBC Scotland's Queen Margaret Drive Studio "A" in Glasgow became one of the first regional studios in Britain to upgrade to colour. In September 1998, BBC Choice Scotland was launched as BBC Scotland's first digital service.


Recent years

For many years, BBC Scotland has tried to increase the number of programmes it makes to be shown on the networks. This ambition was greatly aided by the move of BBC Scotland's headquarters in 2007 from Queen Margaret Drive to
BBC Pacific Quay BBC Pacific Quay is the headquarters of BBC Scotland, serving as its main television and radio studio complex, situated at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, Scotland. Opened by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 20 September 2007, the building was des ...
where state of the art digital studios were built. In March 2021, a decision was taken by the BBC to relocated jobs and departments from London to other parts of the BBC network, including BBC Scotland. As part of the restructure, the technology team for the BBC moved from London to Glasgow. Productions by the BBC such as ''
The Weakest Link ''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...
'', ''
Newsnight Review ''The Review Show'' is a British discussion programme dedicated to the arts which ran, under several titles, from 1994 to 2014. The programme featured a panel of guests who reviewed developments in the world of the arts and culture. History ''T ...
'' and "at least one Saturday night primetime show" would be relocated to Scotland, produced by BBC Scotland in Glasgow. The BBC's flagship political and debating programme, '' Question Time'', had its permanent base moved to Glasgow in 2009. The relocation of ''Question Time'' to Glasgow sparked some controversy, with former executive producer of the programme, George Carey, claiming the move from London to Glasgow would "editorially weaken the show and increase costs".


Current services


Television

BBC Scotland broadcasts three television services to Scottish audiences.
BBC One Scotland BBC One Scotland is a Scottish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Scotland. It is the Scottish variation of the UK-wide BBC One network and is broadcast from Pacific Quay in Glasgow. History The BBC Television Service sta ...
is a separate channel able to opt out of the network feed of BBC One to broadcast its own schedule of regional programming in addition to networked productions. The flagship news programme ''
BBC Reporting Scotland ''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the headquarters of BBC Scotland in Pacific Quay, Glasgow. The programme usually followed after the nationwide bulletin f ...
'' is presented by Laura Miller and Sally Magnusson. Additionally, BBC One Scotland broadcasts several Scottish specific broadcasting, such as ''
Sportscene ''Sportscene'' is the name of a range of Scottish sports television programmes produced by BBC Scotland. History ''Sportscenes predecessors were ''Sports Special from Scotland'' and ''Sportsreel'', which was broadcast every Saturday at around ...
'', ''
BBC Scotland Investigates ''BBC Scotland Investigates'' is a current affairs programme broadcast in Scotland by BBC Scotland. It is broadcast regularly on BBC One Scotland on weekday nights, currently with varying timeslots. Previously known as ''Frontline Scotland'', t ...
'' and ''
The Sunday Show ''The Sunday Show'' is a British entertainment show that was broadcast on BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is ...
''. BBC Scotland operates
BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day. The name ' is the Scottish Gae ...
, broadcasting programming in
Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
for up to seven hours a day. The channel is a joint partnership between BBC Scotland and
MG Alba Gaelic Media Service (), operating as MG ALBA, is a statutory organisation created by the UK Parliament and funded by Scottish Ministers via Ofcom as a result of the Communications Act 2003, which gave it a remit to "secure that a wide and ...
and is available across the UK on satellite and cable services and
Freeview Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...
in Scotland only. During downtime, BBC Alba simulcasts Gaelic radio station
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal BBC Radio nan Gàidheal is a Scottish Gaelic language radio station owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. The station was launched in 1985 and broadcasts Gaelic-language programming with the simulcast of BBC Radio Scotland. ...
with an in-vision graphical overlay. Prior to
digital switchover Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...
, some Gaelic programming was carried on
BBC Two Scotland BBC Two Scotland is a Scottish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Scotland as a variation of the BBC Two network. It was broadcast via digital television and was the sister Scottish channel of BBC One Scotland and Gaelic-l ...
, however this ceased following the switchover. Thirdly, the
BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...
channel commenced broadcasting at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday 24 February 2019. On 22 February 2017, director general Tony Hall announced plans to launch a dedicated English-language BBC Scotland channel in 2018, which would replace the BBC Two Scotland opt-out. It would broadcast from 7:00 p.m. to midnight nightly, and feature a lineup composed entirely of new and archived Scottish programming, including a new hour-long 9:00 p.m. weeknight newscast that will be produced from Scotland. The proposed newscast been considered a response to the perennial proposals for a local opt-out of the ''
BBC News at Six The ''BBC News at Six'' is the BBC's evening news programme on British television channels BBC One and BBC News (British TV channel), BBC News (UK feed), broadcast weeknights at 6:00pm and produced by BBC News. It is normally broadcast for 30 ...
''. Hall also announced that the BBC would increase its overall spending on factual and drama productions in Scotland by £20 million annually. The BBC Scotland channel was approved by
Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...
in June 2018, and subsequently launched on 24 February 2019. The channel is allocated £32 million in annual funding, and its SD variant has displaced
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
on the Freeview EPG. Programming for the BBC Scotland channel include ''
Debate Night Debate Night is BBC Scotland's flagship current affairs debate show, hosted by Stephen Jardine, which airs on Wednesdays nights. History Stephen Jardine was named as the host on 15 February 2019 ahead of the launch of the new BBC Scotland chan ...
'', ''
The Entertainment Mix ''The Entertainment Mix'' is a Scottish entertainment chat show hosted by Michelle McManus which is broadcast in Scotland on the BBC Scotland television channel. The programme began airing on 24 October 2024, and features celebrity interviews in t ...
'' and '' Scotland's Home of the Year''. The stations flagship news programme, ''
The Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...
'', was broadcast from February 2019 until December 2024, when it was replaced by a new shorter programme, '' Reporting Scotland: News at Seven'', which airs directly following its sister programme, ''
Reporting Scotland ''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the headquarters of BBC Scotland in Pacific Quay, Glasgow. The programme usually followed after the nationwide bulletin ...
'', which is broadcast on BBC One Scotland.


Radio

BBC Scotland also operates two radio stations covering Scotland:
BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...
and
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal BBC Radio nan Gàidheal is a Scottish Gaelic language radio station owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. The station was launched in 1985 and broadcasts Gaelic-language programming with the simulcast of BBC Radio Scotland. ...
. The former broadcasts English programming 24 hours a day on the frequencies 92–95 FM and 810 MW. The station has specific programming opt outs for
Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The plural name the Orkneys is also sometimes used, but locals now consider it outdated. Part of the Northern Isles along with Shetland, ...
and
Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...
in addition to regional news opt outs for four additional sub regions – North East, Highlands & Islands, South West and Borders.
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal BBC Radio nan Gàidheal is a Scottish Gaelic language radio station owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. The station was launched in 1985 and broadcasts Gaelic-language programming with the simulcast of BBC Radio Scotland. ...
in contrast is a Gaelic-language station broadcasting for the majority of the day on 103.5–105 FM and simulcasting Radio Scotland's MW service at other times.


Online and interactive

BBC Scotland operates a mini site on
BBC Online BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...
consisting of a portal to Scottish news, sport, programmes and items of cultural interest through BBC Online. The department also provides content from Scotland on these subjects to the website and for the
BBC Red Button BBC Red Button is a brand used for digital interactive television services provided by the BBC, and broadcast in the United Kingdom. The services replaced Ceefax, the BBC's analogue teletext service. BBC Red Button's text services were due to cl ...
interactive TV service. BBC Scotland previously offered a podcast download of the top news items of the week and the online streaming of several key sections of output. However following the widespread introduction of the
BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...
service, which allowed the streaming and download of nearly all BBC programmes including news, these services were discontinued as defunct.
BBC The Social
is a digital content stream from BBC Scotland aimed at 18–34 year olds. Working with new and emerging talent, The Social develops daily content on a range of subjects including issues, comedy, music, lifestyle and gaming. Launched in December 2015, The Social won a Royal Television Scotland award fo
Best Digital Innovation
in 2016 and another in 2018 for the shortform drama Kidder. In June 2018, the BBC announced the formation of a third "digital hub" in Glasgow, which will facilitate design and engineering of BBC digital platforms.


Studios


Early studios

BBC Scotland began broadcasting in Scotland on 10 October 1923 from the Aberdeen studios in Belmont Street,
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
. The first broadcast for the station was at risk of being impacted by severe gales which resulted in telephone wires being damaged, however, following extensive work by engineers to resolve the damage and associated issues, the broadcast went ahead as planned with minimal issues.
Stonehaven Stonehaven ( ) is a town on the northeast coast of Scotland, south of Aberdeen. It had a population of 11,177 at th2022 Census Stonehaven was formerly the county town of Kincardineshire, succeeding the now abandoned town of Kincardine, Aberd ...
did experience issues with the broadcast however, which was later accredited to issues relating to climate. When the new commercial broadcaster,
Scottish Television Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...
(STV), was about to arrive in 1957, BBC Scotland managed to produce slightly improved news coverage by a complicated arrangement involving the newsroom in Queen Margaret Drive in the west of the city and the former Black Cat Cinema in Springfield Road in the east where '' The White Heather Club'' was made.


Rex House

Upon the launch of the BBC in Scotland in 1923, the service originally occupied Rex House at 202 Bath Street, Glasgow, before moving to properties in Blythswood Square and subsequently in West George Street. In 1929, the decision was made to move the headquarters operation to Queen Street,
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, where the Edinburgh station had been based since 1924 following a move from the original 79 George Street premises. However, in 1935 the BBC acquired Queen Margaret College at North Park House, Queen Margaret Drive, Glasgow, near to the
Glasgow Botanic Gardens Glasgow Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden located in the West End of Glasgow, Scotland. It features several glasshouses, the most notable of which is the Kibble Palace. The Gardens has a wide variety of temperate and tropical flora, a ...
, and the headquarters operation moved back to Glasgow in 1936 accompanying the Glasgow radio station. BBC Scotland remained based at these premises until the move to Pacific Quay in 2007. The Edinburgh operation remained on Queen Street until the move to The Tun in April 2002. The Tun building is near to the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...
building and contains television and radio studios in addition to a newsroom. The college closed in 1935 and principal architect James Miller began adapting the Glasgow site for BBC Scotland in 1936, allowing for the site's buildings to be used in the production, administration and broadcasting of BBC Scotland's radio and television.(RCAHMS) In the early 1960s, the BBC acquired land adjacent to its Queen Margaret Drive base and eventually three colour studios were built together with significant radio facilities and a Film Unit with its own film processing. The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra had access to a large sound studio – Studio 1, from 1937 until 2006 when it moved from Studio 1 to the newly-rebuilt City Halls in
Merchant City The Merchant City, a new name introduced through urban renewal by the Scottish Development Agency and the city council in the 1980s is one part of the metropolitan central area of Glasgow. It commences at George Square and goes eastwards reachin ...
area of Glasgow.


Pacific Quay

BBC Scotland's headquarters are currently located at
BBC Pacific Quay BBC Pacific Quay is the headquarters of BBC Scotland, serving as its main television and radio studio complex, situated at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, Scotland. Opened by then Prime Minister Gordon Brown on 20 September 2007, the building was des ...
on the banks of the
River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...
in
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. The BBC had outgrown their old headquarters in Queen Margaret Drive, Glasgow. The need to move to a new location was also in part due to changing technology, with the network having a "desire to move with the times beyond a less than fit for purpose HQ to a new building which would avail us of the latest digital technology to offer improved quality to audiences". In July 1999 the BBC announced that around 800 staff would be moving to a new building that would be located at Pacific Quay. The BBC held a competition to design a new building with more than seventy companies attracted. By March 2001 there was a shortlist of seven entries. The studio centre was constructed between July 2004 and August 2006 and was opened in September 2007 by then-Prime Minister
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
. Designed by
David Chipperfield Sir David Alan Chipperfield, , (born 18 December 1953) is a British architect. He established David Chipperfield Architects in 1985, which grew into a global architectural practice with offices in London, Berlin, Milan, Shanghai, and Santiago d ...
and reportedly costing £188 million, the studio contains three television studios and five radio studios as well as the first HD newsroom used by the BBC.


Other locations

In addition to the Glasgow and Edinburgh bases of the broadcaster, BBC Scotland also has offices and studios located in
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
,
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
,
Portree Portree (; , ) is the capital and largest town of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.W.H. Murray, Murray, W.H. (1966) ''The Hebrides''. London. Heinemann. Pages 154-155. It is a civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish and lies ...
,
Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...
,
Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...
, Selkirk,
Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
,
Kirkwall Kirkwall (, , or ; ) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. First mentioned in the ''Orkneyinga saga'', it is today the location of the headquarters of the Orkney Islands Council and a transport hub wi ...
and
Lerwick Lerwick ( or ; ; ) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. It is the northernmost major settlement within the United Kingdom. Centred ...
. Of these, the latter two locations operate radio opt-outs from BBC Radio Scotland with
BBC Radio Orkney BBC Radio Orkney is a community radio station and local opt-out service of BBC Radio Scotland, covering the Orkney Islands. The station is based in Castle Street, Kirkwall, Orkney, in Scotland. Depending on the time of year, there are either tw ...
and
BBC Radio Shetland BBC Radio Shetland is a radio station and local opt-out service of BBC Radio Scotland, covering the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The station's studio is located in Pitt Lane, Lerwick. Programming For much of its broadcast day, BBC Radio Shetland ...
while the Aberdeen, Inverness, Selkirk and Dumfries newsrooms produce local radio bulletins for the North East, Highlands & Islands, Borders and South West respectively. In addition to these premises, BBC Scotland operates a drama productions studio at
Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
on the site of a disused whisky distillery. It is the main Scottish drama facilities where programmes such as ''
Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scotland, Scottish sitcom produced by Effingee Productions, The Comedy Unit and BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis (Still Game character), Jack Jarvis, ...
'' and ''
River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera created by Stephen Greenhorn which has been broadcast on BBC One Scotland since September 2002. Since 2019, the show has aired episodes a day earlier on the new BBC Scotland channel. Set in ...
'' are recorded. Also, the
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...
is resident at
Glasgow City Halls Glasgow's City Halls and Old Fruitmarket is a concert hall and former market located on Candleriggs, in the Merchant City, Glasgow, Scotland. History The City Halls are part of a market complex designed by John Carrick in 1882, but the grand ha ...
having been based at Queen Margaret Drive until 2006.


Programming


Current programming

BBC Scotland continues to produce a high number of local programmes for the Scottish audiences. Its flagship news and current affair programmes are ''Reporting Scotland'' and ''
Scotland 2016 ''Scotland 2016'' is a news and current affairs programme from BBC Scotland News, presented by Sarah Smith and Jonathan Sutherland. Starting 28 May 2014, it was called ''Scotland 2014'' before being renamed to reflect the year. It replaced ' ...
'' which provides over an hour of content each weekday. Drama in the form of ''
River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera created by Stephen Greenhorn which has been broadcast on BBC One Scotland since September 2002. Since 2019, the show has aired episodes a day earlier on the new BBC Scotland channel. Set in ...
''. With sport on Radio Scotland, along with ''
Sportscene ''Sportscene'' is the name of a range of Scottish sports television programmes produced by BBC Scotland. History ''Sportscenes predecessors were ''Sports Special from Scotland'' and ''Sportsreel'', which was broadcast every Saturday at around ...
'', cover a large number of local sports including football, rugby and bowls. BBC Scotland also produces over 20 hours of comedy programmers for radio and television, while features and documentaries is BBC Scotland's biggest output, with ''
The Beechgrove Garden ''Beechgrove'' (formerly known as ''The Beechgrove Garden'') is a television gardening programme broadcast since 1978 on BBC Scotland. Over the years it has been broadcast on BBC Scotland, BBC One Scotland, BBC Two Scotland and Britbox. Histor ...
'', ''
Landward ''Landward'' is a long-running Scottish television programme focusing on agricultural and rural issues, produced and broadcast by BBC Scotland. Overview BBC Scotland had first produced its own farming programme, ''Farm Forum'', in 1965. This was ...
'', ''Sport Monthly'', ''
The Adventure Show ''The Adventure Show'' is a sport programme produced by Adventure Show Productions for BBC Sport Scotland, formerly broadcast on BBC Two Scotland and since 2019 on BBC Scotland. It is hosted by Dougie Vipond. In the show's original format, Vi ...
'', ''The Mountain'', ''
BBC Scotland Investigates ''BBC Scotland Investigates'' is a current affairs programme broadcast in Scotland by BBC Scotland. It is broadcast regularly on BBC One Scotland on weekday nights, currently with varying timeslots. Previously known as ''Frontline Scotland'', t ...
'' and many other covering all aspect of Scottish life. BBC Scotland output was watched by 40.3% of the Scottish television audience in 2013. Output for the British network has included such recent high-profile dramas as ''
Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...
'', '' Hope Springs'', '' Waterloo Road'' and ''Single Father''. BBC Scotland also produces a high number of gamesshows which feature ''
The National Lottery Draws ''The National Lottery Results'' (previously ''The National Lottery Live'', ''The National Lottery Draw'', ''The National Lottery Stars'' and ''The National Lottery Draws'') is the television programme that broadcasts the drawing of the Natio ...
''. BBC Scotland also produces the Scottish opt-out sections of British-wide programmes such as ''
Sunday Politics ''Daily Politics'' is a BBC Television programme which aired between 6 January 2003 and 24 July 2018, presented by Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn. ''Daily Politics'' took an in-depth review of the daily events in both Westminster and other areas ac ...
'' and ''
Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...
''. Until 2010, a high number of Gaelic programmes were broadcast on BBC One and Two Scotland before transferring over to BBC Alba. Its flagship programmes, which both started in 1993, are ''
Dè a-nis? ''Dè a-nis?'' (pronounced: Jaay a-neash) was a Scottish Gaelic-language children's programme produced by BBC Gàidhlig. It was broadcast on BBC Alba on Wednesday nights at 6:00pm. "Dè a-nis" is Gaelic for "What Now?" History Launched on 30 S ...
'' and ''
Eòrpa ' (''Europe'') is a long-running Scottish Gaelic-language current affairs programme broadcast on BBC Alba. The series has been running since April 1993 and has covered political and social issues affecting Europe and Europeans over that time inc ...
''. ''Eòrpa'' hit the headlines in May 2008, specially mentioned in the Scottish Broadcasting Commission's report. "It was intriguing to note that without fail at every one of our public events, BBC2 Scotland's ''Eòrpa'' programme was raised, unsolicited, and by non-Gaelic speakers, as an example of a positive, well-respected programme", commented
Blair Jenkins Blair Jenkins (born 1957 in Elgin, Scotland) is a Scottish former journalist who served as chief executive of Yes Scotland in the campaign for a "Yes" vote in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Previously, he was Director of Broadcasting a ...
, the Chair of the
Scottish Broadcasting Commission The Scottish Broadcasting Commission (, ) was established by the Scottish Government in August 2007. Its purpose is to conduct an independent investigation into television production and broadcasting in Scotland, and to define a strategic way forw ...
. It continued to be given a broadcast on BBC Two Scotland as the only Gaelic programme on the channel until 2019 when it moved to
BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day. The name ' is the Scottish Gae ...
.


Past programming

Over the years, BBC Scotland made a number of well known radio and television programmes both for the BBC networks and for transmission in Scotland only. In television these were known within the BBC as "opt out" programmes, with BBC Scotland given the responsibility for producing Scotland related programming to reflect
Scottish culture The culture of Scotland includes Scots law, its distinct legal system, financial institutions, sports in Scotland, sports, literature of Scotland, literature, art of Scotland, art, music of Scotland, music, media of Scotland, media, cuisine of ...
and life. At teatime in the beginning, there was ''A Quick Look Round'' with Leonard Maguire. From 1968, as well as the flagship evening news programme ''
Reporting Scotland ''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the headquarters of BBC Scotland in Pacific Quay, Glasgow. The programme usually followed after the nationwide bulletin ...
'', presented by
Mary Marquis Mary Elizabeth Marquis (born 11 March 1934), born as Mary Elizabeth Caughie, is a former leading interviewer and presenter on BBC Scotland from the mid-1960s, and became the face of the network's evening news programme ''Reporting Scotland'' un ...
and Douglas Kynoch, with contributions from
Renton Laidlaw Henry Renton Laidlaw (6 July 1939 – 12 October 2021) was a British golf broadcaster and journalist. Biography Laidlaw was born in Morningside, Edinburgh in July 1939. He started working as a copytaker, compiling sports results. Laidlaw then mo ...
in Edinburgh and Donny B. MacLeod in Aberdeen, there were popular current affairs series such as ''Compass'', ''Checkpoint'' with Professor Esmond Wright and
Magnus Magnusson Magnus Magnusson (born Magnús Sigursteinsson; 12 October 1929 – 7 January 2007) was an Icelandic-born British-based journalist, translator, writer and television presenter. Born in Reykjavík, he lived in Scotland for almost all his life, al ...
, ''Person to Person'' with Mary Marquis, '' Current Account'', ''
Public Account ''Public Account'' was a weekly political programme first transmitted on 6 January 1975 by BBC Television in Scotland. It was the sister programme to BBC Scotland's Current Account which covered general current affairs issues rather than ...
'' and ''
Agenda Agenda (: agendum) may refer to: Information management * Agenda (meeting), points to be discussed and acted upon, displayed as a list * Political agenda, the set of goals of an ideological group * Lotus Agenda, a DOS-based personal informatio ...
''. Many comedy series have been made by BBC Scotland, including ''
Scotch and Wry ''Scotch and Wry'' is a Scottish television comedy sketch show produced by BBC Scotland and starring Rikki Fulton and a revolving ensemble cast which over the years included Gregor Fisher, Tony Roper, Claire Nielson, Juliet Cadzow and Jo ...
'', ''
Rab C. Nesbitt ''Rab C. Nesbitt'' is a Scottish comedy television series that originally aired between 1988 and 1999. The show returned for a one–off special in 2008, before being re-commissioned in 2010. Its second run was broadcast from 2010 to 2014. The ...
'', ''
Naked Video ''Naked Video'' is a BBC Scotland sketch show that was aired on BBC2 from 12 May 1986 to 18 November 1991. The show was created by Colin Gilbert who had previously created ''A Kick Up the Eighties'' and ''Naked Radio'' (the latter being a radi ...
'' and ''
Still Game ''Still Game'' is a Scotland, Scottish sitcom produced by Effingee Productions, The Comedy Unit and BBC Scotland. It was created by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill, who played the lead characters, Jack Jarvis (Still Game character), Jack Jarvis, ...
'', while with dramas included ''
Hamish Macbeth Hamish Macbeth is the police constable of the fictional Scottish Highlands, Scottish Highland town of Lochdubh, in a series of murder mystery novels created by M. C. Beaton (Marion Chesney). Considered by many to be a useless, lazy moocher, M ...
'', '' Monarch of the Glen'', and ''
Sutherland's Law ''Sutherland's Law'' is a television series made by BBC Scotland between 1973 and 1976. The series had originated as a stand-alone edition of the portmanteau programme ''Drama Playhouse'' in 1972 in which Derek Francis played Sutherland and wa ...
''. In recent years, BBC Scotland comedy shows such as '' Mrs. Brown's Boys'', '' Two Doors Down'' and ''
Mountain Goats The mountain goat (''Oreamnos americanus''), also known as the Rocky Mountain goat, is a cloven-footed mammal that is endemic to the remote and rugged mountainous areas of western North America. A subalpine to truly alpine species, it is a ...
''. BBC Scotland has also produced two highly controversial programmes, '' Scotch on the Rocks'' and ''Secret Society'', with the latter resulting in BBC Scotland being raided by the police.


Television continuity announcers

BBC Scotland started using their own television continuity announcers voicing over specific BBC Scotland station idents for all evening and weekend afternoon junctions around 1977. Before this, announcers only introduced occasional opt-outs, which resulted in the London announcer being heard most of the time, the Scottish announcer wasn't even heard before
Reporting Scotland ''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the headquarters of BBC Scotland in Pacific Quay, Glasgow. The programme usually followed after the nationwide bulletin ...
because in those days the early evening Regional News magazines began with a 'throw' from the Nationwide programme. The announcers were "self-op" – they had to speak and press the buttons to change the sound and picture and cue in telecine (film), videotape recordings (VTR) and live programmes. From 1979, their duties were expanded to cover reading the lunchtime news bulletin in vision at 12:40, just before the network ''Midday News'' at 12:45. There was one announcer who was never seen. Robert Logan was also a Conservative local councillor. Consequently, he never read the news summaries, nor did he ever give his name at closedown. From 1985, the announcing team started doing a news summary just before children's programmes at around 15:53, and within a few weeks, additional news summaries at 21:25 were introduced. From 31 October 1988, newsroom staff started to read the news summaries instead of the announcers. Inevitably, though, viewers started to spot their little idiosyncrasies. Mark Stephen often came perilously close to sending up programmes with his good-natured humour; links of his included:


Controllers and heads

Directors and Controllers of BBC Scotland: * Herbert A. Carruthers (1923), Glasgow 5SC Station Director *
David Cleghorn Thomson David Cleghorn Thomson (9 October 1900 – 23 April 1980), was a Scottish journalist, author, poet, playwright, and Liberal and Labour Party politician. He was notably Director of the BBC's Scottish Region. Background Thomson was born in Edinb ...
(1926–33), Northern Area Director (incl N. Ireland), then from 1928 Scottish Regional Director *
Moray McLaren Moray David Shaw McLaren (1901–1971) was a Scottish writer and broadcasting executive. Life Moray was born in Edinburgh in 1901 the son of Dr John Shaw McLaren FRCSE of 14 Walker Street in Edinburgh's fashionable West end He went to Merchist ...
(1933) * Melville D. Dinwiddie (1933–57), Controller, Scotland from 1948 * Andrew Stewart (1957–68) *
Alasdair Milne Alasdair David Gordon Milne (8 October 19308 January 2013) was a British television producer and executive. He had a long career at the BBC, where he was eventually promoted to Director-General, and was described by ''The Independent'' as "one ...
(1968–73), later BBC Director General * Robert Coulter (1973–75) *
Alastair Hetherington Hector Alastair Hetherington (31 October 1919 – 3 October 1999) was a British journalist, newspaper editor and academic. For nearly twenty years he was the editor of ''The Guardian'', and he is regarded as one of the leading editors of the s ...
(1975–78), former editor of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' newspaper * Patrick Ramsey (1978–82) * Patrick Chalmers (1982 – December 1991) * John McCormick (January 1992 – April 2004) * Ken MacQuarrie (April 2004 – 2016), Director, Scotland from 2009 * Donalda MacKinnon (December 2016 – October 2020) * Steve Carson (October 2020 – present)


See also

*
Scottish Broadcasting Commission The Scottish Broadcasting Commission (, ) was established by the Scottish Government in August 2007. Its purpose is to conduct an independent investigation into television production and broadcasting in Scotland, and to define a strategic way forw ...
*
Audience Council Scotland The Audience Council Scotland (ACS) is an organisation that helps the BBC Trust understand the needs, interests and concerns of audiences in Scotland. It was created upon establishment of the BBC Trust in January 2007. It replaced the Broadcastin ...
*
Saorview Saorview ( ) is the national digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Ireland. It is owned by RTÉ and operated by 2RN. The service began operation on 29 October 2010 on a trial basis with a full launch on 26 May 2011. By legislation i ...
*
Public Account ''Public Account'' was a weekly political programme first transmitted on 6 January 1975 by BBC Television in Scotland. It was the sister programme to BBC Scotland's Current Account which covered general current affairs issues rather than ...
*
BBC Reporting Scotland ''BBC Reporting Scotland'' is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the headquarters of BBC Scotland in Pacific Quay, Glasgow. The programme usually followed after the nationwide bulletin f ...


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Scotland Govan Television channels and stations established in 1952 Organisations based in Glasgow 1923 establishments in Scotland