Written evidence submitted by MG ALBA
1. ABOUT MG ALBA
MG ALBA (the operating name of Seirbheis nam
Meadhanan Gàidhlig or Gaelic Media Service) has formed
a partnership with the BBC to broadcast BBC ALBA, the Gaelic digital
television channel, which was launched in September 2008. BBC
ALBA is the first partnership channel to operate under a BBC licence.
MG ALBA was originally established (as the Gaelic
Television Committee) under the Broadcasting Act 1990, and its
current remit under the Communications Act 2003 is to secure
that a wide and diverse range of high quality programmes in Gaelic
is made available to persons in Scotland. MG ALBA is funded by
the Scottish Government and regulated by Ofcom.
2. RESPONDING
TO THE
COMMITTEE'S
INQUIRY
MG ALBA welcomes the opportunity to comment
on the Committee's inquiry on the future for local and regional
media. Our response will concentrate on three of the subjects
on which the committee has called for views:
— the impact on local media of recent and
future developments in digital convergence, media technology and
changing consumer behaviour;
— the future of local radio and television
news; and
— incentives for investment in local content.
3. DEVELOPMENTS
IN DIGITAL
MEDIA TECHNOLOGY
AND CONSUMER
BEHAVIOUR
BBC ALBA is currently available on digital satellite
(Sky 168 and Freesat 110). In addition to the television
channel, there is also a Gaelic radio station (Radio nan Gaidheal)
and online services including www.bbcalba.co.uk and "watch
again" opportunities on the BBC iPlayer. Carriage of BBC
ALBA on cable is currently being negotiated with Virgin Media,
and carriage on digital terrestrial television (DTT, also known
as Freeview) is expected to become possible at switchover, subject
to review of the service by the BBC Trust.
Audience research indicates that 72% of Gaelic-speaking
viewers who currently have access to the channel are tuning in
at least once a week. The partnership is committed to securing
carriage for BBC ALBA on all existing and emerging digital platforms,
so that all Scottish viewers can receive BBC ALBA after switchover,
whatever digital system they have invested in.
4. THE FUTURE
OF LOCAL
RADIO AND
TELEVISION NEWS
News and current affairs are consistently reported
as the most highly valued genres in research conducted among Gaelic-speaking
viewers of BBC ALBA. Broadcast news on both television and radio
provides an important service to a language community that is
not well served by print media, as there are no Gaelic newspapers
and few English-language newspapers have a regular Gaelic column.
The BBC's team of Gaelic journalists contributes
to news content across three media—television, radio and
online—providing local (Highlands and Islands), regional
(Scottish), national (UK), and international news. BBC ALBA broadcasts
a half-hour nightly news programme, An Là, and a
weekly news round-up, Seachd Là, as well as award-winning
current affairs magazine programme Eòrpa. Radio
nan Gaidheal carries regular news bulletins throughout the day
and in-depth morning and drive-time news programmes, and Gaelic
news articles are available on the BBC news website. The Gaelic
news service draws on the wider BBC news gathering operation,
and stories and footage gathered for Gaelic news programmes are
also made available to other BBC news services. The BBC ALBA news
teams are based in Inverness and Glasgow, and a number of video
journalists work from other locations in the Highlands and Islands.
5. INCENTIVES
FOR INVESTMENT
IN LOCAL
CONTENT
MG ALBA receives a Treasury Grant (the Gaelic
Broadcasting Fund) from the Scottish Government. In 2008-09 the
Fund was £12.4 million. The entirety of MG ALBA's content
budget is spent in Scotland, and around two-thirds of this is
allocated to independent production companies. The existence of
the Gaelic Broadcasting Fund since 1990 has enabled the creation
and development of the independent production sector for Gaelic
content, and the launch of BBC ALBA has led to a considerable
increase in the number of hours of content commissioned from these
companies.
New commissioning deals based on four-year agreements
with production companies for regular delivery of content in certain
programme genres is allowing the sector to plan for the medium
and long term, to hire and train staff, and to develop more sustainable
business models. The benefits of Gaelic content production, for
the economy, for the Gaelic community and for the production sector's
skills base, is of particular importance in economically fragile
areas such as the Western Isles, and MG ALBA welcomes opportunities
to explore with enterprise agencies, with government and with
other partners in the private and public sectors new ways to make
best use of available funding sources, to attract new investment
and to create effective partnerships.
May 2009
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