A SUMMIT on the future of Scottish broadcasting is to be held next week.
Hosted by the Saltire Society and the Scottish Government’s Culture Minister, Fiona Hyslop, the summit will feature Blair Jenkins, the former head of news and current affairs at BBC Scotland who chaired a Scottish Government commission on broadcasting in Scotland and which published its conclusions – mainly recommending the setting up of a digital TV channel dedicated to ‘high quality’ Scottish content – 18 months ago.
The summit is being called in the wake of research being published into public attitudes towards Scottish broadcasting, which found – for instance – 44 per cent of viewers say they are either very or fairly satisfied with Scottish reporting on UK news programmes, against 49 per cent last year. Forty-six per cent state that UK news reporting relating to Scotland is always or usually clear, against 42 per cent last year.
Meanwhile, three-quarters of viewers see it as important to have a choice of channels on which to receive Scottish news. Almost seven in 10 respondents (68 per cent) are interested in a new Scottish news programme on another channel (69 per cent last year).
Seventy-five per cent of viewers are interested in a news Scottish digital television channel.
Says a Scottish Government media release: “Attendees at the broadcasting summit will include broadcasters, producers, academics and other members of the media industry.”
