BBC Scotland director says she’s ‘confident’ new channel will be on air by end of 2018

A senior BBC figure has told MSPs she is “confident” the broadcaster’s new Scottish channel will be on air by the end of next year.

BBC Scotland director Donalda MacKinnon said the proposal is due to go before broadcasting regulator Ofcom for approval following a public interest test.

She said there is no specific date for the new channel to go live but “confident” of hitting the autumn deadline, adding that “autumn can stretch as far as December 2018”.

She said hopes the 80 journalists for the new BBC Scotland channel, which includes a flagship hour-long 9pm news programme covering Scottish, UK and international stories, will be recruited from and spread around the country.

Ms MacKinnon was questioned at Holyrood’s Culture Committee on the new channel’s £30 million annual budget compared to the £75 million previously recommended by the Scottish Broadcasting Commission.

She said: “I’m very confident that with this £30 million that we can work very cleverly with others to extract maximum value.”

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“I’m confident that we can make this money work really well to deliver an exciting proposition for audiences in Scotland.”

The SNP’s Stuart McMillan questioned her over an Edinburgh and Glasgow focus on the news and she said there had been stories missed and the new investment and new channel could help address this.

Committee convener Joan McAlpine questioned when the licence fee spend, as a proportion of what is raised in Scotland, would catch up with other regions in the UK.

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She said: “Even with increased the amount of licence fee at 72% we’re still way behind Wales and Northern Ireland who are almost reaching 100%. Why are Northern Ireland and Wales getting almost 100% and Scotland’s not?”

BBC Nations and Regions director Ken MacQuarrie said high value dramas such as Sherlock and Doctor Who drive the figures in Wales.

He said: “We’ve increased the figures [in Scotland], we don’t have a limit to our ambition but nor are we setting we must get to that spend.

“What we want to do is get the best possible content but to make sure that we have on the ground a competitive environment in Scotland where we are delivering the very best programme and I’m confident that will come through.”