BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 1978. Radio Scotland is broadcast in English, whilst sister station Radio nan Gàidheal broadcasts in Scottish Gaelic.[1]
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Broadcast area | Scotland: FM, MW, DAB and Freeview United Kingdom: BBC Sounds and cable and satellite television |
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Frequency | FM: 92.5–94.7 MHz AM: 810 kHz DAB: 11B, 11C and 12D Freeview: 719 (Scotland only) Freesat: 712 Sky: 0116 (UK only) Virgin Media: 930 |
RDS | BBC Scot |
Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Format | News, music, sport, talk |
Ownership | |
Owner | BBC |
Operator | BBC Scotland |
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History | |
First air date | 23 November 1978 |
Former frequencies | 585 MW |
Links | |
Webcast | BBC Sounds |
Website | bbc |
According to RAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 755,000 and has a listening share of 6.3% as of September.
History
The first BBC Radio Scotland broadcast was on 17 December 1973, two weeks earlier than planned.[2]
BBC Radio Scotland was founded as a full-time radio network on 23 November 1978.[3] Previously it was possible only to opt out of BBC Radio 4, and the service was known as Radio 4 Scotland or, formally on air, as "BBC Scotland Radio 4". The establishment of a separate network was made possible when Radio 4 became a fully UK-wide network when it moved from medium wave to long wave and new VHF (FM) transmitters were brought into service so that Radio 4 and Radio Scotland no longer had to share on FM. However it was not until the early 1990s that Radio 4 was available on FM across all of Scotland so for its first decade on air, the station only broadcast during the day so that Radio 4 could be heard on Radio Scotland's transmitters in the evening to compensate for poorer AM reception after dark.
Kirsty Wark launched her career on BBC Radio Scotland, first as a researcher and then as a producer.[4]
Programmes
The station broadcasts a wide range of programming, including news, debate, music, drama, comedy and sports. It is broadcast from the BBC Scotland headquarters in the Pacific Quay in Glasgow.
Local opt-outs
BBC Radio Orkney and BBC Radio Shetland opt out of BBC Radio Scotland for 30 minutes each weekday to broadcast a local news programme and during the winter months this is supplemented for both areas by an additional hour-long programme. Local news and weather bulletins are also broadcast as opt-outs from news studios in Selkirk, Dumfries, Aberdeen and Inverness on weekdays.
Notable presenters
- Kaye Adams (news)
- John Beattie (sport)
- Bryan Burnett (music)
- Stuart Cosgrove (sport)
- Tam Cowan (sport)
- Archie Fisher (music)
- Vic Galloway (music)
- Jim Gellatly (music)
- Richard Gordon (sport)
- Gary Innes (music)
- Mary Ann Kennedy (lifestyle, features and documentaries)
- Fred MacAulay (lifestyle, features and documentaries)
- Cathy MacDonald (music)
- Bruce MacGregor (music)
- Sally Magnusson (lifestyle, features and documentaries)
- Tom Morton (music)
- Shereen Nanjiani (news)
- Natasha Raskin Sharp (music)
- Ricky Ross (music)
- Graham Stewart (news)
- Grant Stott (music)
- Gary West (music)
Past presenters
- Dougie Anderson
- Colin Bell
- Ken Bruce
- Jackie Brambles
- Andy Cameron
- Armando Iannucci
- Jimmie Macgregor
- Anne MacKenzie
- Jimmy Mack
- Eddie Mair
- Sheena McDonald
- Brian Morton
- Charles Nove
- Iain Purdon
- Robbie Shepherd (music)
- Ken Sykora
- Jim Traynor
- Kirsty Young
Heads of Radio, Scotland
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The title "Head of Radio, Scotland" was applied to cover not only the Radio Scotland service but also BBC Scotland's radio productions for other networks.
Years served | H.R.S. |
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1978–1979 | John Pickles |
1980–1983 | Christopher Irwin |
1983–1987 | Stan Taylor |
1987–1992 | Neil Fraser |
1992–1996 | James Boyle |
1996–2000 | Ken MacQuarrie |
2000–2005 | Maggie Cunningham |
2005–2017 | Jeff Zycinski |
2017–present | Gareth Hynes |
References
- McDowell, W.H. (1992). The History of BBC Broadcasting in Scotland 1923-1983. Edinburgh University Press. p. 260. ISBN 0-7486-0376-X.
- "Radio Scotland off their mark". The Herald. 18 December 1973. p. 5. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
- Young, Andrew (7 November 1978). "Star line-up as Radio Scotland goes pop". The Herald. Glasgow. p. 4. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- "Visual Arts Group". Ayrshirarts.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2019.