BBC Scotland

From Free net encyclopedia

BBC Scotland (BBC Alba in Gaelic) is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a significant amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters. Currently based at Queen Margaret Drive in Glasgow, new Scottish headquarters and studios are being built for them at Pacific Quay, on the south bank of the Clyde, where they will be beside Scottish Television and the Glasgow Science Centre. BBC Scotland also has a small studio in Holyrood, Edinburgh, adjacent to the Scottish Parliament.

BBC Scotland co-ordinates two of the country's five public television stations: BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland, as well as national radio networks, BBC Radio Scotland and the Gaelic language BBC Radio nan Gaidheal.

BBC One Scotland (formerly, BBC Scotland on 1) is the broadcaster's flagship station and offers a mixture of home-grown comedy, drama, news and current affairs programmes, as well as providing viewers with the main output from the BBC's UK network.
BBC Two Scotland (formerly, BBC Scotland on 2) is really little more than an opt-out of the UK's BBC Two network. Daily opt-outs include regular news bulletins and a variety of Gaelic children's, youth and current affairs programming.

Despite its name, BBC Scotland's main rival, Scottish Television does not in fact broadcast throughout the entire country. Its transmissions are confined to the main population centres of the Central Lowlands, while Grampian Television, based in Aberdeen, covers the north of the country, and Border Television covers the south.

As well as producing programming for Scotland, as one of the larger BBC "regions", BBC Scotland also produces programming intended for the UK network. Recent prominent television series produced by or for BBC Scotland and shown on BBC One throughout the UK have included the drama series Monarch of the Glen (1999-2005) and Sea of Souls (2004-).

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