BBC Audience Council Scotland Report

Creativity and cultural excellence

The multimedia project, Scotland's Music with Phil Cunningham, built successfully for a general audience on BBC Scotland's underlying strength in this area. Highland Café, a weekly radio arts programme from Inverness, was particularly innovative in focussing on arts in the north. There were renewed efforts in comedy, with some success in breaking away from West of Scotland-based shows (Desperate Fishwives). Drama reached high points with the National Theatre's Black Watch on BBC Two in August and Heart of Midlothian on Radio 4.

Representing the UK nations

Much television content achieved national resonance. River City continues to draw new viewers and extend the reach of the BBC in Scotland (more than half the population tuned in at some point in the year), as did football coverage, which adopted a range of imaginative approaches in the absence of key sports rights. Factual output covered a wide range of distinctively Scottish experience, mostly on BBC Two, from social issues to the Highland environment (The Cairngorms: Scotland's Arctic).

Digital technologies

The wide range of new initiatives launched by BBC Scotland during the year has been noted above. The Council notes that audiences' use of new technology, especially internet and broadband, is being stimulated by new BBC Scotland content in news, sport, education and music.

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