The Traitors: Scotland to play a bigger role says BBC chief

And she said she would “love” for the broadcaster to be able to show Scotland men’s football games, as she revealed talks were taking place.

Patricia Ferguson MP, the Labour chair of the cross-party Scottish Affairs Committee, said The Traitors reality show had been a huge hit for the BBC. 

But despite being filmed at Ardross Castle in the Highlands, it was not classified as made in Scotland by the media regulator Ofcom because the production and editing took place in London. 

Ms Ferguson asked if more work could be done in Scotland. 

Ms Valentine, who took on the top job within BBC Scotland in November, said Scotland “absolutely” had the skills to make a bigger contribution to the programme. Promising to supply the committee with figures, she said the show was now in its third series and the level of production and talent in Scotland had increased as it went on.

“These things evolve over time,” she added. 

BBC Scotland this week launched a new programme, Reporting Scotland: News at Seven. The half-hour show replaces the hour-long The Nine.

Ms Valentine, who had been launch editor of The Nine, denied the new show was just repeating what had been on Reporting Scotland. 

“I will always be incredibly proud of what we did on The Nine. We delivered the first integrated news programme in Scotland where you could watch all your local, national, UK-wide and international news all in one place, all through the prism of what was relevant to and interesting to Scottish audiences.”

But audiences and viewing habits changed, she said, and the BBC had to move with them. With the money saved by cancelling The Nine they would be launching a new podcast, Scotcast, fronted by Martin Geissler, and investing more in digital news online.

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It had been “a really strong start” for News at Seven she said, though no viewing figures were supplied to the committee.

“We’ve gone all round the country, we’ve done stories that perhaps wouldn’t have appeared in other news output, from Inverness, Aberdeen, to the Borders.”There might be “a little bit of duplication on the stories, not terribly much,” she said, adding that Tuesday night’s main story had not been on Reporting Scotland.

“It’s a really kind of warm, empathetic, through human stories take on the news and I’m really pleased with it so far,” she said.

Ms Valentine’s appearance comes amid pressure for more Scotland matches to be shown on free-to-air channels.

Ms Valentine told MPs: “I know how important sport is to Scottish audiences. I’m a big football fan, these moments are huge for us, and of course we would love to have the men’s internationals.

“These things are not cheap and we have to think about value for money in all of our decision-making.

“In order to pay for one thing, there is no extra money, so what are we not doing to fund something else?

“I don’t really want to go much further than that because there are some live discussions going on, but of course I would be delighted if we could bring those to free-to-air audience.”

She also said the BBC will cover the Commonwealth Games when the sporting tournament is held in Glasgow in 2026 – adding there are “conversations going on about rights, which I can’t go into”.

However she told MPs: “The financial position is not easy for us to manage, we have some difficult choices to make.”

Green MSP Gillian Mackay said news of talks on Scotland games would “be welcomed by football fans all over Scotland, who want to back our team but are being priced out of it”.

Ms Mackay added: “I hope that these talks succeed and that we are able to get our national team out from behind a paywall.

“Sport should be for everyone, and I want as many young people as possible to be able to grow up watching their heroes in action. That can help us to ensure that our next generation of footballers can feel inspired and dream of playing for their country.

“Many countries already ensure their games are free to view. It would be great if 2025 is the year that Scotland can finally join them.”

Image Credits and Reference: https://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/24842793.traitors-scotland-play-bigger-role-says-bbc-chief/?ref=rss