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This article is about the BBC radio station. For the earlier offshore radio station, see Radio Scotland.

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BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national 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.[1]

Radio Scotland is broadcast in English, whilst sister station Radio nan Gàidheal broadcasts in Scottish Gaelic.

According to RAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 801,000 and has a listening share of 5.8% as of March 2024.[2]

History

Main article: BBC Home Service

The first BBC Radio Scotland broadcast was on 17 December 1973, a fortnight earlier than planned.[3]

BBC Radio Scotland was founded as a full-time radio network on 23 November 1978.[4] 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". Although on some occasions Radio Scotland used to use BBC Radio 2 as a sustaining service at certain times, most notably during the Sport on 2 Saturday afternoon programme with a BBC Scotland opt-out on 202m known as "BBC Scotland Radio 2"; however, this has been discontinued since.[5][6][7][8]

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.[9]

Programmes

Radio Scotland 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. The station simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Live during its overnight downtime.

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

Past presenters

Heads of Radio, Scotland

Previous BBC Radio Scotland logo

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.
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

Notes

  1. ^ Scotland only on FM, MW, DAB and Freeview, available via BBC Sounds and satellite/cable television for rest of the UK

References

  1. ^ McDowell, W.H. (1992). The History of BBC Broadcasting in Scotland 1923-1983. Edinburgh University Press. p. 260. ISBN 0-7486-0376-X.
  2. ^ "RAJAR". rajar.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 May 2024.
  3. ^ "Radio Scotland off their mark". The Herald. 18 December 1973. p. 5. Archived from the original on 16 August 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  4. ^ Young, Andrew (7 November 1978). "Star line-up as Radio Scotland goes pop". The Herald. Glasgow. p. 4. Archived from the original on 6 October 2023. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  5. ^ "Search - BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 May 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
  6. ^ "202m in scotland - Search - Newspapers.com™". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on 10 May 2024. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Radio 4 doing opt outs for Scotland?". Digital Spy. October 2017. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023.
  8. ^ "BBC Scotland Radio 2". Scotland On-Air.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "Visual Arts Group". Ayrshirarts.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  10. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000gd1
  11. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074hkv
  12. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0079fy9
  13. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074hgc
  14. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001gwnc
  15. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b067g94l
  16. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09yn48l
  17. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08tbnf1
  18. ^ https://www.thenational.scot/news/23766937.john-beattie-bbc-radio-scotland-presenter-step-role/

Further reading

  • Lockerbie, Catherine (1985), "Making Waves: Radio in Scotland", in Parker, Geoff (ed.), Cencrastus No. 20, Spring 1985, pp. 8 – 11, ISSN 0264-0856

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