BBC Scotland yesterday claimed a victory over rival Scottish

Television in Hogmanay's battle of the ratings.

With just under two million viewers, Bill McCue's Hogmanay Party was

said to have attracted three times as many as Scottish Television's new

year show.

However, topping the ratings from the British Audience Research Bureau

for the fifth consecutive year was Rikki Fulton, who, with 2.1 million

for Scotch and Wry, attracted almost half of Scotland's viewers.

City Lights, the popular comedy series, achieved its highest viewing

figure with an audience of 1.7 million.

Mr James Hunter, BBC Scotland's head of television, said: ''I am

delighted with the figures -- they go to show that, once again, the

Scottish public has chosen to tune to BBC Scotland at one of the most

important viewing times of the year.''

Meanwhile, Scottish Television is taking some comfort from the viewing

figures for The Steamie, which was shown on Channel Four on Hogmanay.

According to the audience research bureau, the programme captured an

audience of 968,000, and Scottish is now planning a repeat showing later

this year.

Scottish Television was last night still awaiting its individual

ratings for Hogmanay, but its Hogmanay show achieved a rating of just

under a million.

A spokesman for Scottish Television added: ''We are delighted with the

performance of The Steamie, our musical drama, which captured the

biggest Scottish audience on Channel Four.''