YOUR articles on Beechgrove ("Angry viewers protest after BBC prunes The Beechgrove Garden" and "Loyal viewers alienated by focus on youth", The Herald, June 13) don’t reflect the reality of the performance of the new BBC Scotland channel.
BBC Scotland is the most successful of the digital channels in Scotland outwith the five main channels – BBC1, BBC2, ITV/STV, C4, C5.
Its performance is in line with projections from the broadcast industry regulator OFCOM and during its core hours of broadcast – from seven pm until midnight – audience share is three per cent. This compares favourably with other digital channels.
We are also continuing to receive positive feedback from audience members who appreciate the range and quality of the content on this new service for Scotland.
Ian Small, Head of Public Policy & Corporate Affairs, BBC Scotland, Glasgow G51.
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
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