| BBC Scotland | |
| Picture Format: | 1080i/1080p HDTV (downscaled to 576i for the SDTV feed) |
| Owner: | BBC |
| Language: | British English |
| Area: | Scotland[1] |
| Replaced: | BBC Two Scotland |
| Sister Channels: | BBC One (in Scotland) BBC Two BBC Three BBC Four BBC News BBC Parliament CBBC CBeebies BBC Alba |
| Terr Serv 1: | Freeview (Scotland only) |
| Terr Chan 1: | Channel 9 (SD) Channel 108 (HD) |
| Online Serv 1: | BBC iPlayer |
| Online Chan 1: | Watch live (UK Only) |
BBC Scotland (also referred to as the BBC Scotland channel) is a Scottish free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC Scotland division of the BBC. It airs a nightly lineup of entirely Scottish programming. The channel launched 24 February 2019, replacing the BBC Two Scotland opt-out of BBC Two, but operating as an autonomous channel (displacing BBC Four on Freeview in Scotland).
As of 2017, BBC Scotland had operated regional variations of BBC One and BBC Two for the Scottish region, as well as the Gaelic channel BBC Alba. On 22 February 2017, BBC director general Lord Hall announced that the corporation planned to replace BBC Two Scotland with a new, part-time BBC Scotland television channel, focused exclusively on Scottish programming. A feature of the channel would be an hour-long 9:00 p.m. weeknight newscast produced from Scotland, covering national and international headlines from a Scottish perspective. The proposed newscast was compared to the frequent proposals for a Scotland opt-out of the BBC News at Six. Hall also announced that the BBC would increase its overall spending on factual and drama productions in Scotland by £20 million annually.[2] [3]
Ofcom granted provisional approval to the new service in April 2018, but showed concerns for its proposal to only dedicate half of its lineup to new programmes (seeing it as removing potential opportunities for independent producers), and directed the BBC to ensure that the channel does not have an undue impact on competing news outlets (including newspapers and other broadcasters, with the former expressing concern that the BBC would poach employees from newspapers to build its expanded Scotland news operation).[4] Ofcom granted final approval to the service in June 2018: the BBC subsequently announced a planned launch for February 2019. The channel will be allocated £32 million in annual funding.[5] [6]
In preparation for the launch of the new channel, BBC Two Scotland was discontinued and replaced by the networked version beginning 18 February.[7] BBC Scotland launched 24 February at 7:00 p.m.; it signed on with an introductory video, featuring a performance of "Miracle" by the Scottish synthpop group Chvrches, accompanied by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Its first programme was a variety special (A Night at the Theatre) hosted by comedian Iain Stirling. Opening night programming also included the broadcast television premiere of the documentary Nae Pasaran, the one-off Burnistoun special Burnistoun Tunes In, and the ninth and final series premiere of Still Game.[8] Viewership peaked at 700,000.[9]
BBC Scotland's main broadcast hours are 7:00 p.m. to midnight and outside of these hours, it simulcasts BBC Radio Scotland. At least 95% of programming must be of Scottish origin, and the BBC stated that roughly half of its programming would be new.
Initially, the channel simulcast the BBC Two schedule between midday and 7pm with surrounding continuity from BBC Scotland, thereby accommodating the daytime sport and political programming opt-outs which had been displaced following the closure of BBC Two Scotland.[10]
The first main programme to air on BBC Scotland was the 9th series premiere of Still Game on the channel's first day.[11]
The channel’s first drama commission Guilt was a significant success, receiving a strong critical reception and winning a number of awards. Guilt has gone on to be broadcast around the world.
BBC Scotland's flagship news programme is The Nine, an hour-long weeknight newscast which reports on UK and international news from a Scottish perspective. The program is aired on Mondays through Thursdays.[12] On Fridays and weekends, the channel airs a shorter 7 p.m. bulletin, The Seven. It airs for a half hour on Fridays and 15 minutes on weekends; on Saturdays, The Seven is followed by the entertainment recap The Edit. The panel discussion programme Seven Days airs on Sunday nights, which features discussions and analysis of the week's news headlines.
On 20 February 2024, amid poor viewership, BBC Scotland announced major cutbacks to the channel's news programming, with plans for The Nine, The Edit, and Seven Days to be cancelled, and The Seven becoming a half-hour bulletin on weeknights.[13]
BBC Scotland has traditionally shown sport on Friday evenings with Scottish Championship and the early rounds of the Scottish Cup matches featuring on Sportscene presented by Leanne Crichton and Steven Thompson from 7.00pm. With football talk show A View From The Terrace, adapted from the cult Terrace Scottish Football Podcast aired later on Friday evenings. AVFTT is produced by Edinburgh-based Studio Something and is presented by Craig Telfer, with analysis from Shaughan McGuigan, and The Scotsman journalists Craig Fowler and Joel Sked.
There are three main continuity announcers on the BBC Scotland channel, who also double up as playout directors, overseeing transmission of the channel's programming and presentation.
All continuity on the channel is performed live and broadcast from Pacific Quay.
BBC Scotland's idents feature the channel's logo in the centre of the screen, usually accompanied with a background that fits the colour of the logo when it eventually is lit up. In the first set of idents, the BBC Scotland logo is featured among cobblestones on a rainy street, a bird which flies around the logo as well as a subway station (specifically Buchanan Street subway station in Glasgow).[14]