(Image: Graeme Hunter Pictures)
One of BBC Scotland’s leading presenters has defended the axing of its dedicated TV channel.
Stephen Jardine said the broadcaster needed to adapt to keep pace with the “breakneck speed" of changing viewing habits.
Mr Jardine, who has hosted the channel’s Debate Night show, revealed it would have a “permanent home” on BBC One in Scotland in future, as well as being available on the iPlayer service.
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He spoke out as union leaders warned that the BBC’s plans to close the BBC Scotland and BBC Three channels, as well as its Radio 4 Extra station, by the spring of 2027 were “in danger of causing irreparable damage to the BBC and will do yet more harm to the morale of its employees”.
Bectu head Phillipa Childs said: “The continued drip feed of planned cuts to output and job cuts is putting increasing pressure on an already bruised workforce at the BBC.”
The BBC Scotland TV channel has been run from the broadcaster's Pacific Quay headquarters in Glasgow. (Image: Colin Mearns)
BBC Scotland, which announced 60 job losses in August as part of cost-cutting measures aimed at saving more than £500m by 2028, has said a further 10 roles are expected to go with the closure of the channel and the cancellation of the nightly News at Seven programme.
Mr Jardine, who also hosts Radio Scotland’s morning phone-in programme, said the Scottish TV channel channel had been a “bold and ambitious attempt” to boost TV production and programming.
Hayley Valentine is the current director of BBC Scotland. (Image: PA)
However he added: “In this multi-channel age of streaming, broadcasting is changing at breakneck speed and with revenue tight, the BBC needs to adapt to keep up with that.
“One of the real successes of the channel has been Debate Night, offering a platform for the people of Scotland to speak truth to power.
Stephen Jardine presents BBC Scotland's Debate Night programme. (Image: Mentorn/BBC Scotland)
“Over the past seven years we’ve welcomed hundreds of guests and thousands of members of the public from Ullapool to Stranraer and lots of places in between.
“We’ll continue to be part of the BBC Scotland channel when it moves to iPlayer, but will now have a permanent home on BBC One Scotland with an enhanced presence also on social media where clips already attract millions of views every week.
“TV is changing…. but good, compelling content will always finds an audience.”
Meanwhile, BBC Scotland’s former head of news and current affairs, has described the closure of the channel as “inevitable” as he admitted “things have got to change” within the broadcaster.
Speaking on the Radio Scotland Breakfast programme, Gary Smith, who was a leading figure in the creation of the channel, said audience viewing habits had “changed hugely” since it was launched in 2019.
BBC Scotland director Hayley Valentine has admitted that the BBC will save less than £2m by shutting down the linear channel and bringing the News at Seven programme to an end.
She has insisted that around 90 per cent of the content currently broadcast on the BBC Scotland channel will still be available on BBC iPlayer, BBC One and BBC Two.
The BBC cited a 70 growth in the audience for Scottish content on the iPlayer in its announcement about the closure of the channel, which has had a budget of around £42m in recent years.
Asked if the closure of the BBC Scotland channel had been inevitable, Mr Smith said: “I think it had become inevitable for two key and very straightforward reasons.
“One is the shift of audiences from linear programs like you know the channel to on demand, and the other being the BBC's need to save money.
“When you put these two things together and you look at the picture across the whole BBC, with other channels closing, I think it had become inevitable, sadly.
“I don’t think much went wrong (with the channel). I think the channel has a lot to be proud of.
“Almost all the output that people have been watching on the channel is going to still be available on demand. A really important point is that a lot of programmes will now appear on BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland.
“I don’t think much went wrong with the channel, but eight years is a long time in the media world. Audience habits have changed hugely and people find their content elsewhere now.
“It is a very sad moment to hear that the channel is closing and it is particularly sad for people who lose jobs on the news programme that won't exist anymore and the audiences who have enjoyed watching it, but things have got to change in this business.”