BBC Scotland Executive Report 2007/08

Sketch show comedy looked north in 2007/08, with Radio Scotland's first Doric comedy, Desperate Fishwives, and sitcoms such as Having It All blurred the fine line between comedy and drama. Veteran comedian Stanley Baxter was tempted out of retirement to perform a series of five radio stories and there were outings for a number of new comedies, including Ellis Island, the historical satire The Knox Factor and Free Falling, which heralded a return to the airwaves of James Macpherson.

The Saturday Sportsound programme followed every kick of the ball in a season that saw Scotland on the brink of Euro 2008 qualification, Rangers in the final of the UEFA Cup, the tragic deaths of Phil O'Donnell and Tommy Burns and a nail biting end to the SPL title race. To top and tail the action each Saturday, Tam Cowan and Stuart Cosgrove continued to build their loyal fan base with a mixture of irreverent and knockabout humour in Off The Ball and Jim Traynor gave those who follow the beautiful game a chance to let off steam in the ever-popular Your Call.

More and more listeners accessed Radio Scotland online and football commentaries were a clear favourite, alongside programmes such as Iain Anderson and Pipeline. The Scotland v Pakistan Twenty20 World Cup match in July accounted for 13,000 hours of audio streaming, easily rivalling that of any major football match. The regular blogs from presenters such as Bryan Burnett helped to extend the contact between Radio Scotland and its audiences and Blether with Brian, which offers comments on the political events of the day from BBC Scotland's political editor Brian Taylor, has now become a staple part of Scottish political life, referenced and referred to by politicians from across the parties.

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