A new dedicated Scottish BBC channel with its own one-hour news bulletin is to launch next year, Director-General Tony Hall has announced.
The broadcaster has previously resisted calls from politicians and Licence Fee payers north of the border to offer a dedicated Scottish version of the main Six O’Clock news, but will now offer viewers more content centred around Scotland and Scottish affairs.
Launching in Autumn 2018, BBC Scotland will broadcast from 7pm every evening and offer a “mix of content to inform, educate and entertain”.
Lord Hall promised the channel, which will support 80 new journalism roles, would have its own prominent EPG slot and be available in HD via iPlayer.
The Director-General said: “We know that viewers in Scotland love BBC television, but we also know that they want us to better reflect their lives and better reflect modern Scotland.
“It is vital that we get this right. The best way of achieving that is a dedicated channel for Scotland. It’s a channel that will be bold, creative and ambitious, with a brand-new Scotland-edited international news programme at its heart.
“The BBC has the luxury of having first-class creative teams and brilliant journalists, who I know will make this new channel a huge success.”
The new channel will have an initial budget of £30m per year and will sit alongside BBC One and BBC Alba.