Public broadcasting in Scotland

Scottish Affairs Committee Closed Non-inquiry session
Opened: 14 Jul 2021 Closed: 25 Apr 2024 Parliament page
3 Recommendations
8 Conclusions
1 Report
5 Oral sessions
11 Letters
5 Events
Activity timeline 22 events
Oral evidence sessions 5 sessions
Julia Lopez MP · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Robert Specterman-Green · Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Ali Law · Sky Anne Mensah · Netflix Benjamin King · Netflix Chris Bird · Amazon Georgia Brown · Screen Sectors Skills Task Force Jonathan Levy · Sky
Bobby Hain · STV Group plc Simon Pitts · STV Group plc
Alan Clements · Two Rivers Media Alex Mahon · Channel 4 Deborah Dunnett · Channel 4 Jane Muirhead · Raise the Roof Productions Nicole Kleeman · Firecrest Films
Gary Smith · GMB Scotland Louise Thornton · BBC Scotland Steve Carson · BBC Scotland
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in Scotland HC 1048 2 Mar 2023 11
Recommendations & Conclusions
11 results
1 Conclusion
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
The broadcasting landscape in Scotland is diverse and vibrant, with viewers able to choose from...
The broadcasting landscape in Scotland is diverse and vibrant, with viewers able to choose from an increasingly wide range of content, much of which is made specifically for viewers in Scotland. Many domestically successful and internationally renowned TV shows continue … Read more
Scotland Office
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2 Conclusion
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
The favourable reception of the BBC Scotland channel shows that, despite longstanding concerns about how...
The favourable reception of the BBC Scotland channel shows that, despite longstanding concerns about how Scotland is represented and portrayed on BBC services, Scottish audiences respond positively to BBC content that reflects them and their lives. In a world of … Read more
Scotland Office
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3 Conclusion
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
We welcome the decision to keep Channel 4 in public ownership, and the commitments it...
We welcome the decision to keep Channel 4 in public ownership, and the commitments it has agreed with the UK Government on investment in skills and jobs outside of London as part of that decision. The evidence we took suggests … Read more
Scotland Office
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4 Recommendation
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
While we acknowledge the UK Government has made a commitment to maintain Freeview for a...
While we acknowledge the UK Government has made a commitment to maintain Freeview for a significant number of years yet, we see no reason why the forthcoming Ofcom review should prevent the UK Government from giving certainty of continued coverage … Read more
Scotland Office
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5 Conclusion
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
We are firmly of the view that the current lack of opportunities to watch Scottish...
We are firmly of the view that the current lack of opportunities to watch Scottish international football on free-to-air broadcast is letting down fans in Scotland, who are at a disadvantage compared to fans in England and (for now) Wales. … Read more
Scotland Office
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6 Conclusion
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
The UK Government should communicate a clear expectation to public service broadcasters in Scotland that...
The UK Government should communicate a clear expectation to public service broadcasters in Scotland that they should be regularly and proactively approaching subscription services which have purchased the rights to broadcast major Scottish sporting events, to explore options for sharing … Read more
Scotland Office
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7 Conclusion
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
The UK Government should also establish a review to consider options to improve free-to-air access...
The UK Government should also establish a review to consider options to improve free-to-air access to Scottish international football. This should involve representatives from Viaplay and Sky as the current and former purchasers of the rights to broadcast Scottish international … Read more
Scotland Office
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8 Recommendation
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
We agree that reforms to the existing legislative framework are necessary to help to secure...
We agree that reforms to the existing legislative framework are necessary to help to secure the future sustainability and quality of public service broadcasting in the UK. However, we are concerned at the lack of a clear timetable to debate … Read more
Scotland Office
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9 Conclusion
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
We support the UK Government’s proposal to extend the prominence regime for public service broadcasters...
We support the UK Government’s proposal to extend the prominence regime for public service broadcasters to cover on-demand PSB content hosted on designated internet-enabled TV platforms. The technological developments driving the need for this change make this a time-sensitive reform, … Read more
Scotland Office
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10 Conclusion
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
While content from BBC Scotland and BBC ALBA is available on BBC iPlayer, the high-profile...
While content from BBC Scotland and BBC ALBA is available on BBC iPlayer, the high-profile status of which makes this content more easily discoverable, content from STV will be harder for Scottish viewers to find if STV Player is seen … Read more
Scotland Office
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11 Recommendation
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting…
Setting up an inter-ministerial group on media and culture would be a welcome and sensible...
Setting up an inter-ministerial group on media and culture would be a welcome and sensible step to help formalise conversations between the UK and devolved Governments on broadcasting-related issues, not least facilitating a joined- up approach to ensuring the continued … Read more
Scotland Office
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Correspondence 11 letters
25 Apr 2023 To committee Letter from Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on publication of the draft Media Bill, dated 29 March 2023
Parliament page
10 Jan 2023 To committee Letter from Laurie Patten, Director of Strategy and Regulation, Arqiva, on public broadcasting in Scotland, dated 16 December 2022
Parliament page
6 Sep 2022 Correspondence from Ali Law, Director of Policy, Sky on collaboration between Sky and STV, and with the other broadcasters for free to watch National team football games on TV, dated 23 June and 21 July 2022
Parliament page
14 Jun 2022 To committee Letter from Georgia Brown, Head of European Originals, Amazon Studios and Chris Bird, Managing Director, Prime Video UK, follow-up to evidence session on public broadcasting in Scotland, dated 30 May 2022
Parliament page
14 Jun 2022 To committee Letter from Simon Pitts, Chief Executive, STV, on broadcasting of FIFA World Cup Play-Off Final on free-to-air tv, dated 27 May 2022
Parliament page
25 Apr 2022 To committee Letter from Ali Law, Director of Policy, Sky, follow-up to evidence session on public broadcasting in Scotland, dated 8 April 2022
Parliament page
21 Feb 2022 To committee Letter from the Hampden Collection, on the broadcasting of Scottish football games, dated 11 February 2022
Parliament page
10 Jan 2022 To committee Letter from BBC Scotland to the Chair, on spending outside of London, dated 16 December 2021
Parliament page
6 Dec 2021 To committee Letter from Simon Pitts, Chief Executive, STV, follow-up to Public broadcasting in Scotland oral evidence session on 15 November 2021, dated 22 November 2021
Parliament page
17 Nov 2021 To committee Letter from Alex Mahon, Chief Executive, Channel 4, follow-up to Public broadcasting in Scotland evidence session on 20 September 2021, dated 28 October 2021
Parliament page
21 Sep 2021 To committee Letter from Steve Carson, Director at BBC Scotland, follow-up to Public broadcasting in Scotland evidence session on 20 July 2021, 15 September 2021
Parliament page