Above: BBC Scotland's new HQ
Dear Sir,
Three recent news items have spurred me to finally write to someone about an intolerable situation which is getting worse.
This week ex-Scottish Rugby Captain Gavin Hastings and others complained to a Holyrood committee of the dominance of football on television in Scotland, to the detriment of other sports.
Gordon Strachan, the Glasgow Celtic manger complained there was too much football on TV and thus it was no longer ‘special’.
BBC Scotland also had to shelve showing one of the CIS Cup Semi-Final matches as they’d run out of quota, having screened too many earlier matches.
Further to this, the constant scheduling of 150-minute-long soccer matches (often at short notice, often 2 nights running) here is causing unprecedented chaos with the proper schedules.
Here’s BBC Scotland’s response to a recent complainant.
In light of the three links I quoted above the initial defence appears rather hollow, especially as it was for one specific transgression. It was not an exception – it’s the rule.
This week ex-Scottish Rugby Captain Gavin Hastings and others complained to a Holyrood committee of the dominance of football on television in Scotland, to the detriment of other sports.
Gordon Strachan, the Glasgow Celtic manger complained there was too much football on TV and thus it was no longer ‘special’.
BBC Scotland also had to shelve showing one of the CIS Cup Semi-Final matches as they’d run out of quota, having screened too many earlier matches.
Further to this, the constant scheduling of 150-minute-long soccer matches (often at short notice, often 2 nights running) here is causing unprecedented chaos with the proper schedules.
Here’s BBC Scotland’s response to a recent complainant.
In light of the three links I quoted above the initial defence appears rather hollow, especially as it was for one specific transgression. It was not an exception – it’s the rule.
So far this month, for example, BBC Scotland have chosen to give us “Life On Mars” 95 minutes late (13 March) and “Party Animals” 145 minutes late (14 March), we regularly have “Waterloo Road” and “Holby City” on the wrong days, and we are a matter of weeks out on both “Hotel Babylon” and “New Street Law”. Last year we never received “Mayo” or “The Innocent Project” at all, and “Hustle” started its run here after it finished in the rest of the UK. Now they also plan to pull out of “The Politics Show” altogether.
Aren’t the BBC supposed to be promoting Freeview rather than creating a situation where we have to get a satellite dish on top of our licence fee for the ‘luxury’ of opting out of our region? The irony is sports fans are probably more likely to have been lured to invest in Sky packages.
Are there no red button solutions that someone with half a brain could work out? I’d suggest showing the UK network programmes on the BBC Freeview channels with the football matches on analogue and via the red button option on BBC Freeview (I’m led to believe this is especially suited to sports programming). This would suit everyone surely and compete with the flexibility of the satellite option.
Better still would be to follow the model of radio where a Scottish alternative runs parallel rather than randomly in place of the network offering (Radio Scotland and Radio Four). In fact I support this more long-term solution by Pat Kane as a far more worthwhile and fair solution to the “Scottish Six” issue.
BBC Scotland are not just shockingly partial to a specific strand of sport but they are incompetent at managing the schedules around their executives’ pet viewing. And don’t start me on the woeful Gaelic takeovers of BBC2 on Thursdays…
I’m no football fan as you’d guess, but agree it has its place on terrestrial TV and that a part of my licence fee pays for that to happen. I grew up with weekends virtually awash with sports coverage and never particularly resented it. Even now I wouldn’t, as most people have more flexibility, incentive and opportunity to get out of the house on Saturday or Sunday. Now, ironically when terrestrial broadcasters moan they have few sports rights, I am bombarded on precious weekday nights with football. It’s not as if I can go to the pub to avoid it!
Remember we also get English International friendlies and FA Cup matches which are of questionable interest here, but apparently are contractually obliged to be on BBC One across the UK. It’s a pity then that a few of our dramas couldn’t insist on such a clause.
I’m taking up my grievance with my MP while Westminster still retains responsibility for broadcasting here. Perhaps you can air the issue more widely?
Broadcasting in Scotland is really going to remain a hot topic even without half-baked SNP plans for an independent “Scottish Broadcasting Company” and licence fee to replace the BBC. But to me the BBC in Glasgow appear to have declared UDI early!
Yours,
Graeme Robertson, Dunfermline
Yes, that is a letter to my MP (Willie Rennie), as the steam was coming out of my ears just too often lately. It's being copied to MediaGuardian, The Scotsman, The Herald, BBC Scotland, the BBC Trust and Ofcom.
Obviously I don't expect much from the latter.
Anyway, if you feel the same, feel free to use this as a template to your MP.
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