BBC Scotland plans a second radio station, focussed on music and culture

The new digital station will focus on cultural programming, notably music - contemporary, traditional, jazz and orchestral - and not seek to directly challenge the pop music or top 40 playlists of commercial rivals.

Jeff Zycinski, head of radio at BBC Scotland, said the 'pop-up' station, BBC Radio Scotland Music Extra, an eight-day pop-up digital service that will broadcast 24 hours a day from November 23-30, is the first of a possible two trials for the new station.

He said that after the idea is cleared by the BBC Trust or Ofcom, which is set to be the corporation's new regulator, the plan for the station would first have to be analysed with an impact report on what it would mean for the private sector before being given the final green light.

Mr Zyncinski said that Radio Scotland has in recent times "evolved" so that it contains speech in the day time and specialist music in the evening and a second channel had been a desire for "some time".

He added: "What we felt for this week is do two things, celebrate music of Scotland, especially music that is not in the commercial sector, and also tell our listeners that we do support music making in Scotland.

"It's a trial, a pop up service, so there are various rules and regulations surrounding creating music stations.

"We wanted to do this for Scotland, to trial it, to see for ourselves what it would sound like if we created a second service."

At present there are 83 stations broadcasting on DAB (digital) in Scotland, and 72 analogue radio stations.

There are 32 local commercial stations on digital; 36 on analogue plus 26 community stations.

Mr Zyncinski said that he had spoken to commercial stations about the idea of new channel and said he would understand if they were "wary" of the new BBC channel especially if they played "top 40" music but would be "hopefully re-assured" by the trial.

A spokesperson for Radio Clyde, like several commercial channels in Scotland owned by Bauer Media, said “We welcome any new content to the DAB Digital Radio landscape as it encourages consumer demand for this vibrant industry”.

Ken Garner, the senior lecturer in media and journalism at Caledonian University, also a noted radio critic and scholar, said the new station was an idea whose "time has come."

Mr Garner said that the new station could be an answer to a problem that Radio Scotland has had for decades, in how to balance news, current affairs and cultural programmes, notably music, "all on one frequency".

"My questions are: do they have the money to it, is there space on the DAB transponders to carry the channel, and is there a market for it? The kind of music which they will be doing, and which we can see on the pop-up, are not the kind the commercial stations are producing," he said.

"This could be the solution to a problem that Radio Scotland have had for a long time - but what are they going to call it, what is the market for it, and can they afford it within the existing deal? Can they get the support of the BBC in London? But it could be an idea for Radio Scotland whose time has come."

BBC Radio Scotland Music Extra will have its own dedicated breakfast, mid-morning and drivetime shows on weekdays, as well as programmes from the BBC archive and exclusive live sessions from the likes of Simple Minds and Travis.

Each weekday, Jenny Farish will host the Breakfast Show from 7-9am, followed by Bryan Burnett until noon.

Actor and presenter Sanjeev Kohli will present Drivetime from 5-6.30pm.

Other guest presenters include Bargain Hunt’s Natasha Raskin, Deacon Blue star Ricky Ross, Janice Forsyth and Billy Sloan.

The station’s finale will be a celebration on St Andrew’s night with a specially-commissioned programme featuring students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

BBC Radio Scotland Music Extra is to be made available on DAB, online, BBC iPlayer, and on the BBC App.