The BBC has confirmed plans to shut down its dedicated Scottish TV channel just eight years after it was launched.
Around 10 jobs are said to be at risk over the closure of the BBC Scotland channel, which will be wound up in the spring. These are in addition to 60 job losses which have been rolled in recent months.
Its flagship News at Seven programme will be axed as part of a cost-cutting drive across the broadcaster which is aimed at making £500m worth of savings over the next three years.
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However, other current affairs programmes, such as Scotcast and Debate Night, which have been broadcasted on the channel, are expected to continue.
The broadcaster has insisted that the BBC Scotland "channel brand" will be maintained on its iPlayer service, while additional Scottish content will be available on BBC Two north of the border.
However, the Scottish Government's film and TV agency said it was "deeply concerned" that the BBC had decided to pulled the plug on the channel without any public consultation.
The Scottish Greens said the decision on the BBC Scotland channel was "a backwards step that risks leaving viewers behind".
The broadcaster, which has been spending £42 million annually on the BBC Scotland channel in recent years, has insisted that a "wide range" of Scottish content will still be available to Scottish audiences after it is closed down.
Screen Scotland has also called on the BBC to revamp its "commissioning practices" to ensure that the majority of programming it counts as Scottish is made by "producers, crew, and talent based in Scotland.”
Figures published earlier this year revealed that the BBC Scotland channel was reaching just 12 per cent of Scotland’s population in an average week.
The weekly audience for the channel is said to have declined from around 670,800 to 619,000 in the space of 12 months.
However, around 54 per cent of adults in Scotland are said to consume BBC Scotland content every week across TV, radio, the iPlayer and online.
BBC Scotland director Hayley Valentine said: "Against the backdrop of significant financial challenges, we must focus our resources where they will have the greatest impact for audiences.
"The way audiences watch television continues to change at pace and our data tells us that more people are choosing to watch BBC Scotland content on BBC iPlayer now.
“By continuing the channel on BBC iPlayer, we can ensure Scottish content thrives in a digital environment, while BBC Two in Scotland, alongside BBC One Scotland, will maintain a strong and distinctive Scottish presence on linear television.
“It is always sad to see programmes come to an end and I am extremely proud of the News at Seven team and everything they have delivered since launching.
"Our teams are highly skilled, and we will continue to evolve our news and current affairs offer to reflect the changing way people consume journalism today.”
A spokesperson for Screen Scotland said: "While understanding the pressures the BBC is under, Screen Scotland and Creative Scotland are deeply concerned to learn of the closure of the still relatively new BBC Scotland channel without prior public consultation.
“Going forward from here, we would hope the BBC will continue to provide a broad spectrum of high-quality television across genres for Scottish audiences, that audiences across Scotland will be able to access those programmes via their televisions, and that the BBC adapts its commissioning practices to ensure that the majority of those BBC programmes that are considered Scottish by Ofcom are made by producers, crew, and talent based in Scotland.”
Q Manivannan, culture spokesperson for the Scottish Greens, said: "This is a serious blow for Scotland’s media and my solidarity is with all of the BBC workers who will be impacted by it.
“It is a backwards step that risks leaving viewers behind, and reflects a wider cultural crisis in Scotland.
"Moving away from a traditional TV channel will only make BBC Scotland less accessible, particularly for older people and those who face barriers to getting online.
“Not everyone has reliable internet access, the right devices or the confidence to navigate digital services. Public broadcasting should be available to everyone, not just those who are digitally connected.
“BBC Scotland has been home to excellent Scottish programming and a launchpad for a lot of creative talent. We should be expanding access to Scottish stories and culture, not putting up new barriers.
“There remains a significant gap between the BBC’s license fee income in Scotland and BBC’s identified spend in our country. License fee payers here need guarantees that money raised in Scotland is spent in Scotland. A move to iPlayer cannot become cover for a smaller Scottish office, and channels like BBC Alba need support to ensure their survival."
Louise Thornton, head of commissioning at BBC Scotland: "Scotland's audiences value content that reflects the nation, its communities and its culture.
"Alongside an increased presence on the BBC network with titles such as Counsels, Banjo & Ro’s Grand Island Hotel and Two Doors Down, audiences will continue to be able to access BBC Scotland’s programmes on BBC iPlayer and across BBC One."
It emerged in the summer that 60 BBC Scotland jobs were at risk under the broadcaster's cost-cutting drive.
Nick McGowan-Lowe, national organiser for Scotland at the National Union of Journalists, said: “Any day when the UK's most trusted broadcaster announces cuts to news output is a bad day for the viewers, listeners and readers in Scotland who depend on the BBC's journalism.
“While the audience for the Scotland channel may be declining, it tends to be an elderly audience who reply on it more and are less likely to switch to the iPlayer.
“The NUJ will be urging management to reconsider these decisions, and we have already lobbied the UK chancellor asking for urgent intervention to prevent further damaging cuts to public service broadcasting."
Speaking on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg last month, BBC director general Matt Brittin warned that some channels and radio stations may have to close.
He said at the time: “The tight financial situation means that we're having to look at some of those decisions a bit sooner than we might like.
“If most of an audience is getting things on demand, we have to look at the value and the cost of all of those different services."