Joint audience priorities

Digital and other access issues

Work continued on a number of distribution issues during the year. Responding to the Digital Britain proposals, the Council recommended that in the interests of equality of opportunity, differentials in broadband speeds across the UK should not be too great; and that no date should be fixed for analogue radio switch-off. The BBC Trust submitted a response in September 2009.

In October 2009, the Trust launched a review of BBC ALBA, including the question of whether to make the channel available to more people by putting it on Freeview. The Council submitted a response in January 2010. In April, the Trust decided that until it reached a view on what universality of access should mean for the BBC as a whole, it would not be appropriate to take a decision on the distribution of BBC ALBA and the timetable for the review was extended until later in the year.

In April, the Executive announced proposals to improve reception of BBC Radio Scotland along the length of the A9. The issue has been a prominent one for some time, especially at audience events in the north of Scotland. The Council had raised the issue with the Trust on behalf of licence fee payers, and welcomes this initiative which it believes will deliver improved availability of travel and weather information for road users on the main trunk route between Inverness and Perth.

Network commissioning outside London

The Council welcomed a significant increase in production of network television from Scotland during the year, including the transfer of major strands like The Review Show and The Weakest Link. Figures from BBC Scotland suggest that the progress being made will mean that the levels of delivery set by the Trust for 2012 will be achieved ahead of the target date. The Council remains concerned that while the amount of BBC television made in Scotland increases, the proportion of it which is recognisably Scottish should do so also. Members hope that increased representation of Scotland will be achieved in the years ahead. The Executive conducted a review of network production for radio, and the Council looks forward to an increasing proportion of BBC network radio content being made in Scotland.

Portrayal

Following advice from Audience Councils across the UK, the Trust initiated a joint project with the Executive to investigate ways in which the BBC might better portray the full diversity of the UK's nations and communities across its network services, significantly enhancing the cultural representation of the nations and regions of the UK including Scotland. The Council looks forward to progress on this in the year ahead.

Impartiality review of the coverage of devolved matters

Work continued on coverage of the devolved nations on network news and current affairs. The Trust published its report on the subject in June 2009 and implementation has been a matter for the BBC Executive. During the last year, the Trust commissioned further research to test whether the process had led to improvements. The results are due in June 2010 and the Council looks forward to commenting on these in due course.

Priorities for audiences in Scotland

The Council welcomed progress on three further priorities which had been raised with the Trust. The Executive will review overall news provision for audiences in Scotland, reporting to the Trust before the end of the year. The Council submitted recommendations to the Trust on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) review of freeto- air listed events. The Council said a key function of public service broadcasting was to bring the audience together for shared national experiences, and that the criterion that listed events should carry ‘special national resonance’ should be interpreted in a Scottish context as well as a UK one. Although listing could reduce the income to national football associations derived from rights, free-to-air terrestrial coverage could bring many tangible benefits to the game. The Council's advice was incorporated into the BBC submission to the DCMS.