The Nine has reached as little as 200 viewers for some editions.
The corporation in Glasgow have spun the changes as part of a ‘preparation for a busy year of major news events, including the UK general election and the summer’s Euros.’ The Beeb add that the new format for Scottish news is ‘designed to grow the impact of broadcast news services in Scotland whilst offering audiences more ways to watch and listen to news and current affairs output across all our services.’
Gary Smith, Head of News & Current affairs:
“It’s going to be a busy year for news with a UK election, an American election, and Scotland’s trip to Germany for the Euros. We need to make sure we keep changing our output as audience habits change, so that we provide the best possible service for our audiences in the formats and on the platforms they want. I’m very proud that The Nine has produced such great journalism and developed such great talent over the past five years, and I’m confident that our new offer to audiences will continue to meet those high standards.”
The plans will see a reshaped news service for the incredibly low-rating BBC Scotland Channel, an extension of Reporting Scotland, a new current affairs series available on BBC Sounds and BBC iPlayer as well as TV, and investment in the online news services.
The revamp, pending Ofcom approval, will see on the BBC Scotland Channel a new 30 minute news programme at 7pm, this will replace The Nine. The new programme, following Reporting Scotland at 6.30pm on BBC One Scotland, will have coverage from across Scotland, the UK and the world.
Launching a new topical current affairs series which will be published as a podcast on BBC Sounds and also be available to audiences on BBC iPlayer, BBC Scotland channel and BBC One Scotland. We’re planning to run this four times a week in this election year.
Steve Carson, Director BBC Scotland:
“In launching new shows and developing our digital services, these changes play to our strengths as an innovative broadcaster that delivers high quality journalism to audiences across all our platforms – from TV and Radio to online news, iPlayer and Sounds.”
Plans also include less of The One Show for north-of-the-border viewers with plans to regularly extend Reporting Scotland on BBC One for several hour-long special editions across the year. The One Show currently is pulled on Tuesday and Thursday for a regional soap.
The BBC Scotland service also will extend the series run of Debate Night this year, increasing from 24 episodes to 30 episodes and also increase the frequency of ‘live’ online reporting and explanatory articles on the news website and news app, as part of their overall strategy to strengthen a strong online news offering.
These plans also involve axing entirely The Edit – an entertainment news programme – and Seven Days a weekly news review programme. ‘These changes maintain our investment in news and there will be no staff job losses associated with the plans’ the Beeb note.
BBC Scotland News will maintain the six and a half hours of weekday radio news programmes, bolstered by Martin Geissler joining the Drivetime presentation team; build on the success of The Sunday Show, setting the week’s political agenda when it’s simulcast each weekend on BBC One and Radio Scotland; and invest in the work of our award-winning Disclosure investigations team, who have recently dug into how the post office scandal has impacted Scotland, shone a light on the state of our prisons, and exposed shocking weight loss scams.
TV Critic Vivian Summers:
“A Beeb executive recently defended the low ratings for The Nine by adding all the ratings for editions across a week, which is like saying EastEnders gets 8 million viewers, no, it’s the same two million watching each episode in the week.”
