To mark the arrival of The Nine, a mix of Scottish, UK and international news, a special “team photo” was released. I’m looking at it now. Co-anchors Rebecca Curran and Martin Geissler included, there are 15 people present. A cheeky sort might say this is now the same number of people who tune in nightly, but that would be unkind and untrue. Although there was a report of one episode attracting just 1,700 people.
I asked BBC Scotland for the most up to date figures and was told the weekly reach of The Nine, ie how many viewers watched on average for at least 15 minutes, was 77,000 between October 2023 and November 2024. In comparison, STV News at Six, the most watched news programme in Scotland, averages audiences north of 380,000.
The Nine’s departure is one of a number of changes to BBC Scotland’s news output. On January 6, a new show, Reporting Scotland: News at Seven, launches with Amy Irons and Laura Maciver presenting. Described by the BBC as having a “conversational and informal tone” it aims to “bring stories from the BBC’s newsrooms across Scotland” and analysis of the big stories. There will also be a new current affairs podcast, Scotcast, hosted by Martin Geissler.
Any new arrivals are to be welcomed, but it is fair to say that the changes have aroused suspicion. Given the cut in the number of hours of news per year, from 250 to 125, how could they not? Any way you slice it, that’s half the output there was before.
The BBC presented the plan to Ofcom as its response to changes in the way viewers were consuming news, with more people going online. The media regulator gave the plans the green light, but said it would be monitoring the results closely. In the meantime, viewers can judge for themselves – and they will.
Read more
The relationship between BBC Scotland and the country it reports has long been an odd one. The UK as a whole views BBC news differently to its commercial counterparts. BBC news is seen as establishment, middle class, slow to change, more than a little fusty. News on the commercial channels seems faster and friendlier. These attitudes set in early. It’s like the old divide between Blue Peter and Magpie. What kind of child were you? Whose side were you on?
Outwith Scotland I’d say attitudes largely split along class lines. In Scotland the picture is more complex because nationalism is in the mix. A fundamental change in the relationship happened the day that flag-waving, pro-independence supporters demonstrated outside the BBC HQ in Glasgow. I was away at the time and recall watching the coverage. The protest looked ugly, threatening, alien, like something from the wilder reaches of Europe.
After the referendum there was no return to normal. If anything attitudes hardened. Some of those who disliked the BBC before graduated to hating the corporation. Again, having a go at the BBC is not unique to Scotland. It is a hugely popular pastime and one that is more often than not merited. But the schism in Scotland is different. It goes deeper. So deep, indeed, you sometimes wonder if relations will ever be mended.
It is against that backdrop that the new changes must be seen. Some might think this an overreaction to the arrival of one new half-hour show and a podcast (although come on, yet another podcast to add to the legions already out there? We’ve only got two ears and one life you know). Who cares if Auntie is embracing online more? The rest of the media saw the light a long while ago and is changing accordingly. As for The Nine, nothing and no one has a right to go on forever.
It is true that in the grand scheme of things what is happening with BBC Scotland’s news amounts to a very small hill of tiny beans. You should see what is coming down the pike in the US, where ABC’s $15 million payment to Donald Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit is just the start of the fun and games to come. The president-elect has now tasted victory after a long run of defeats in his fights with the media. Chances are he will be back for more.
But it should and does matter to Scotland if the main broadcaster cuts its news coverage by half and this results in a poorer service. Look around you – the media in Scotland needs to hold more organisations and individuals to account, not fewer.
There is one way that might have happened. Perhaps you remember it? A little thing called the Scottish Six? BBC1 Scotland should have had its own dedicated news hour from 6pm-7pm covering national and international news. Everything since has merely been a poor substitute, a tinkering on the margins.
The new plan has obvious flaws. The Nine did not stand a chance given its prime-time scheduling. Who is going to stick around after Reporting Scotland when they could be watching Channel 4 News at 7pm, or the second half of the ITV Evening News?
It is too late now for BBC Scotland to change its plans. Ofcom has said it will keep a close eye and it will be held to that promise. In the meantime, 2025 might be the year to revisit broadcasting as a reserved matter, and with it the prospect of a Scottish Six. The Nine will soon be no more, but it may turn out to have been the first step towards something better.