THEY say it’s always better to be talked about than ignored so the recent comments in The Herald about Radio Scotland’s future output can only be a sign that our audiences really care about us (Letters, July 14).
I want to assure your readers, however, that we intend to extend and enhance our coverage of the music scene on Scotland with a dedicated radio station as well as music programmes on our new TV channel.
Your recent coverage of my intention to step down as Head of Radio next year (“Radio chief at BBC Scotland quits ahead of revamp”, The Herald, July 12) correctly linked that with a management restructuring but it may also, as an aside, have given the impression that my decision is associated with some unlikely plot to abandon music programmes on radio.
Nothing could be further from the truth. It has, in fact, been my long-held belief – an ambition shared by the Director of BBC Scotland, Donalda MacKinnon – that BBC Radio Scotland should offer an additional station devoted entirely to music and culture. The music programmes would have a particular emphasis on live events and sessions while cultural content would include drama, comedy, poetry , history and coverage of the arts and arts festivals in Scotland and beyond.
What has taken us in this direction is audience trends and, with the choice of stations greater than ever, listeners tend to select stations they find relevant to their interests and lifestyles. They also prefer live output fronted by authentic presenters who offer companionship, humour and information.
In recent years, Radio Scotland has seen audience numbers stabilise and grow thanks to a clearer offer of speech in daytime and music in the evening. But that clarity can blur in the evening when – often to the annoyance of both music and football fans – we split frequencies to broadcast Sportsound on MW and music shows such as Another Country on FM.
An additional Radio Scotland service would offer a distinctive choice of music and cultural programmes in daytime and in the evening. We tested this idea late last year with our eight day Music Extra service and the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Over the last two years, Radio Scotland’s music policy under my colleague Sharon Mair has developed and supported artists here in Scotland. From Scottish artists, to UK and international talent, the station has brought a new vibrancy to its live performance through programmes like The Quay Sessions with Roddy Hart, Vic Galloway and Ricky Ross.
Programmes like Take the Floor, Travelling Folk, Classics Unwrapped, Billy Sloan, Iain Anderson and our recent Jazz Nights with Seonaid Aitken support Scottish talent and bring the very best international artists to our airwaves.
We have also commissioned music features and enrich our music portfolio through partnerships to bring events here like the recent 6 Music festival, Celtic Connections coverage, and the World Pipe Band Championships.
Under these proposals, all this would be curated on an additional digital Radio Scotland station, while news, sport and features would continue as they are at present on Radio Scotland.
At a time of pressures on the licence fee, that’s an exciting prospect for our listeners.
Jeff Zycinski,
Head of Radio,
BBC Scotland,
Pacific Quay,
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here