BBC Radio Scotland

BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by 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 November 1978. Radio Scotland is broadcast in English, whilst sister station Radio nan Gaidheal broadcasts in Scottish Gaelic.[1]

BBC Radio Scotland
CityGlasgow
Broadcast areaScotland: FM, MW, DAB and Freeview
United Kingdom: BBC Sounds and cable and satellite television
FrequencyFM: 92.5–94.7 MHz
AM: 585 and 810 kHz
DAB: 11B, 11C and 12D
Freeview: 719 (Scotland only)
Freesat: 712
Sky: 0116 (UK only)
Virgin Media: 930 RDS: BBC SCOT
Programming
Language(s)English
FormatNews, music, sport, talk
Ownership
OwnerBBC
OperatorBBC Scotland
History
First air date
23 November 1978 (1978-11-23)
Links
WebcastBBC iPlayer Radio
Websitebbc.co.uk/radioscotland

History
Main article: BBC Home Service

The first BBC Radio Scotland broadcast was on 17 December 1973, two weeks earlier than planned.[2]

BBC Radio Scotland was founded as a full-time radio network on 23 November 1978.[3] Previously it was possible only to opt out of BBC Radio 4, and the service was known as Radio 4 Scotland or, formally on air, as "BBC Scotland Radio 4". The establishment of a separate network was made possible when Radio 4 became a fully UK-wide network when it moved from medium wave to long wave and new VHF (FM) transmitters were brought into service so that Radio 4 and Radio Scotland no longer had to share on FM. However it was not until the early 1990s that Radio 4 was available on FM across all of Scotland so for its first decade on air, the station only broadcast during the day so that Radio 4 could be heard on Radio Scotland's transmitters in the evening to compensate for poorer AM reception after dark.

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, 0600–0900) 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 (0900-1200), John Beattie (1200–1330) and Newsdrive (1600–1830). BBC Radio Scotland also air live First Minister's 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 weekend editions of Good Morning Scotland (0800-1000), Shereen (Sat, 1000–1200) and Business Scotland (Sat, 0600-0630, repeated Sun, 0730–0800). During the station's downtime, BBC Radio Scotland simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Live programmes (0100–0600 daily).

Music

Radio Scotland's music output is designed to cater for a wide range of tastes. Daily programmes include The Janice Forsyth Show (1400–1600), Get It On (1830–2100 (FM)) and The Iain Anderson Show (2300–0100).

From Monday to Friday, the 2100–2300 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 Another Country with Ricky Ross. The Jazz House on Wednesday presents a range of jazz music and on Thursdays Edith Bowman presents The Quay Sessions featuring live music from the foyer of BBC Radio Scotland. Repeats of Another Country and The Jazz House are broadcast on Friday evenings.

Weekend programming includes Ricky Ross (Sun, 1000–1200) with music and celebrity guests, Take the Floor (Sat, 1900–2100) and Reel Blend with cèilidh music, Pipeline (Sat, 2100–2200) with piping music presented by Gary West, Travelling Folk (Sun, 1900-2100) which features traditional music old and new, Classics Unwrapped (Sun, 2100-2300) and Music Through Midnight with Billy Sloan (Sat, 2200-0100 and Sun, 2300-0100).

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 Professional Football 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 during the football season, 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.

Notable presenters

Past presenters

Heads of Radio, Scotland

The title "Head of Radio, Scotland" was applied to cover not only the Radio Scotland service but also BBC Scotland's radio productions for other networks.

Years servedH.R.S.
1978–1979John Pickles
1980–1983Christopher Irwin
1983–1987Stan Taylor
1987–1992Neil Fraser
1992–1996James Boyle
1996–2000Ken MacQuarrie
2000–2005Maggie Cunningham
2005–2017Jeff Zycinski
2017–presentGareth Hynes

References
  1. McDowell, W.H. (1992). The History of BBC Broadcasting in Scotland 1923-1983. Edinburgh University Press. p. 260. ISBN 0-7486-0376-X.
  2. "Radio Scotland off their mark". The Herald. 18 December 1973. p. 5. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  3. Young, Andrew (7 November 1978). "Star line-up as Radio Scotland goes pop". The Glasgow Herald. p. 4. Retrieved 1 April 2016.

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