BBC Trust

A year of strong Scottish drama bolstered the BBC’s work to reflect contemporary Scottish life and culture both in Scotland and across the UK in 2015/16, according to the BBC Annual Report and Accounts published today along with the BBC Audience Council Scotland Annual Review. 

This year island-set drama Shetland returned to grip UK audiences on BBC One, and drama Stonemouth, adapted from the Iain Banks novel, also performed well.  Other highlights included a second series of Gaelic language drama Bannan for Scottish audiences on BBC Alba.   The year also saw a strong factual documentary offering on UK network channels, from BBC Two’s This Farming Life to BBC Four’s The Story of Scottish Art.  In addition BBC Scotland marked the 20th anniversary of the Dunblane tragedy with Dunblane: Our Story.  River City also continued to perform well this year, bringing audiences moving storylines centred around dementia and other issues. 

It was an award-winning year for BBC Scotland’s journalism, with BBC Reporting Scotland winning Best News Programme from Royal Television Society Scotland, and athletics doping investigation Catch Me If You Can awarded Sport Story of the Year at the British Journalism Awards. 

Reporting Scotland remained Scotland’s most-watched news programme, and for the first time BBC Scotland broadcast live from all 32 results locations across Scotland during the 2015 election count.  The BBC innovated online including live reporting of 'Holyrood as it happened', although Audience Council Scotland noted some audience perception that BBC Scotland’s online journalism had retreated from more comprehensive provision for the independence referendum the previous year.  

On UK network news, 2015 saw Sarah Smith take up the newly created post of Scotland Editor, which Audience Council Scotland hopes will help achieve a more nuanced approach to coverage of Scottish affairs on the UK networks.  The BBC Trust and Audience Council Scotland have also encouraged the BBC to ensure that its news and current affairs programming in Scotland is appropriate to the changing needs of Scottish audiences. 

Services for Gaelic speakers continued to perform well, with BBC Alba watched by three-quarters of all Gaelic speakers in Scotland, and BBC Radio nan Gàidheal reaching over two-thirds.

BBC Trustee for Scotland Bill Matthews said:

"This has been a good year for homegrown Scottish drama on the BBC in particular, and overall the BBC in Scotland continues to deliver well.  It’s clear that Scottish audiences continue to have a strong appetite for programmes that reflect modern Scotland and their own experiences, and that extends to the BBC’s news and journalism.  As the new BBC Charter sets the course for the corporation for the next decade, the BBC must do more to meet audience expectations, adapt to new realities, and reflect and represent contemporary Scotland."

Over the course of the year, Audience Council Scotland held audience engagement events across Scotland in Elgin, Falkirk, Edinburgh, Skye, Glasgow and Stornoway, gathering the views of the public on a range of issues from Charter Review to the BBC’s news and radio services in Scotland, and the Trust held a public seminar in Glasgow in December as part of a series of Charter consultation events.

Notes to Editors

1. The BBC Annual Report has been published here.  This year for the first time the Annual Report is being formally laid in the Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly, and Welsh Assembly, in addition to the UK Parliament.

2. The BBC Audience Council Scotland Annual Review has been published here.

3. The Audience Council Scotland advises the BBC Trust on the interests of audiences in Northern Ireland.  It contributes to the Trust’s decision-making about BBC services and high-level strategy, and it raises emerging issues for local audiences.  The Council is made up of volunteers from different backgrounds and experiences from across Northern Ireland.  More information can be found here.