BBC Trust

A review published today by the BBC Trust has found that while most viewers in Scotland are happy with the BBC’s current network and nations’ news and current affairs programming offer, in some areas it is not fully meeting expectations.

The review, which looked at services in all of the devolved nations, assessed the performance of BBC Scotland’s news and current affairs on TV and online as well as BBC Radio Scotland and the Gaelic services BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and BBC ALBA.

The review found that BBC Scotland’s television news performs strongly in terms of reach and quality with over half of adults in Scotland watching it each week, 8 out of 10 agreeing it is informative and 7 out of 10 viewers that it is high quality and relevant to them.

Research carried out by the Trust found that audience expectations of BBC news are extremely high and that, while they mostly rate its programming highly, for some it falls short of expectations in certain areas.

Some respondents to the Trust’s public consultation were dissatisfied with the balance of output from BBC news overall and felt there was too much emphasis on news, including Westminster politics, relevant only to audiences in England. 

The Trust recognises the issues at hand in the debate over the whether the BBC has the right offer of network and nations news on BBC One in Scotland and that this is currently a matter of great public interest. The BBC is actively considering how it should serve audiences in Scotland and the other devolved nations with its news and whether any changes in output are needed to achieve a service that meets audience expectations. The Trust awaits the outcome of this work later this year.

The Trust’s review also looked at the Gaelic language services – BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and BBC ALBA– and found they have a loyal audience and are highly valued by native speakers with BBC Radio nan Gàidheal having claimed reach of 69% of Gaelic speakers and BBC ALBA 75%.

However, these services are not immune from the pressures facing all TV and radio, with the growth in use of online. Once licence fee funding is finalised, the Trust has said the BBC will need to consider how its services for indigenous minority language speakers should evolve in the future.

The review also found that the nations’ services overall tend to reach older audiences and will need to find a way to modernise their offer to also remain relevant and appealing to younger audiences who are increasingly consuming more online content and using digital services.

BBC Trustee for Scotland Bill Matthews said: “It is clear from this review that Scottish audiences value the BBC but the BBC has to rise to the challenge of representing Scottish life as it is today.

“We are pleased that the BBC recognises nations’ programming, particularly an appropriately relevant mix of news and current affairs, as a priority for the next charter period and we have recommended there should be an annual assessment of how well they are meeting audience expectations in this area.”

As a result of the review the Trust has made recommendations for the BBC to address:

• Online offer - The challenge of adapting to give more and varied BBC content online is accepted by the BBC and the Trust would like to see clear plans to address it across the nations when licence fee funding for the next few years is finalised. Timing: We expect this to be part of the next round of financial planning across the BBC.
• News and current affairs hours - Each nations’ radio station has consistently outperformed its commitment for hours of news and current affairs output so the Trust has increased the level of these conditions to reflect more recent levels. Timing: immediate
• Audience expectations of BBC news - Audience perceptions of BBC news are very strong overall but the evidence gathered for this review shows that audiences have extremely high expectations of the BBC and these are not currently being met.
  - In Scotland the challenge is particularly acute with many audience perceptions of news output are lower than average and we heard a very critical opinion from some members of the audience. The BBC is already making some programming changes and it will be important to make sure the impact of these is tracked.
  - In Northern Ireland audiences show a desire for more coverage of a broader range of subjects and a wider range of voices to keep pace with changes in society. Again BBC Northern Ireland is aware of this challenge and is working to address it.
  - In Wales the BBC will need to find ways to ensure audiences are kept informed about Welsh matters, and that their expectations in areas such as Welsh political coverage and holding decision-makers to account are fully met.
  - Across all nations, research showed us that the BBC’s ability to hold decision-makers to account does not meet expectations. This was also highlighted to us in the review of BBC local news services in England. We recommend that the BBC seeks to understand how it can meet audience expectations better across all services. Timing: The extent to which BBC nations’ news output meets audience expectations should be part of the BBC’s future annual performance assessment.
• Indigenous minority language output - The BBC provides language programming onBBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal and BBC ALBA, as well as on BBC Northern Ireland services. Once BBC funding for the next licence fee period is finalised, the Trust recommends that the BBC agrees how its indigenous minority language services should evolve in the future. Timing: We expect this to be part of the next round of financial planning across the BBC.

Notes to editors

1. Each BBC service is reviewed against its licence at least once every five years. More information on service reviews carried out by the Trust can be found here along with links to the Trust’s 2011 review of the BBC’s radio services in the devolved nations and 2010 review of BBC ALBA.
2. The Trust’s work plan for 2016 set out its plans for reviewing the nations’ news and radio services in England.

The review launched in November 2015.