Select Committee · Scottish Affairs Committee

Public broadcasting in Scotland

Status: Closed Opened: 14 Jul 2021 Closed: 25 Apr 2024 3 recommendations 8 conclusions 1 report

Reports

1 report
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in Scotland HC 1048 2 Mar 2023 11

Recommendations & Conclusions

11 items
1 Conclusion Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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 to be filmed in Scotland and some are produced there …

Scotland Office
2 Conclusion Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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 continuing budget constraints as well as increasing co-commissions with global …

Scotland Office
3 Conclusion Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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 this decision will help to support the continued growth of …

Scotland Office
4 Recommendation Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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 beyond 2034 to households in Scotland reliant on Freeview at …

Scotland Office
5 Conclusion Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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. The UK Government must be more proactive in acknowledging and …

Scotland Office
6 Conclusion Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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 those rights. It should also clearly communicate to subscription services …

Scotland Office
7 Conclusion Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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 football, the Scottish Football Association as the rights holder, and …

Scotland Office
8 Recommendation Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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 the UK Government’s planned reforms in Parliament. The UK Government …

Scotland Office
9 Conclusion Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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, and representatives of public service broadcasters we heard from were …

Scotland Office
10 Conclusion Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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 by new global TV platforms as a less important ‘regional’ …

Scotland Office
11 Recommendation Fifth Report - Public broadcasting in S…

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 growth of Scotland’s screen sector. We recommend that such a …

Scotland Office

Oral evidence sessions

5 sessions
Date Witnesses
23 Jan 2023 Julia Lopez MP · Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Robert Specterman-Green · Department for Culture, Media and Sport View ↗
14 Mar 2022 Ali Law · Sky, Anne Mensah · Netflix, Benjamin King · Netflix, Chris Bird · Amazon, Georgia Brown · Screen Sectors Skills Task Force, Jonathan Levy · Sky View ↗
15 Nov 2021 Bobby Hain · STV Group plc, Simon Pitts · STV Group plc View ↗
20 Sep 2021 Alan Clements · Two Rivers Media, Alex Mahon · Channel 4, Deborah Dunnett · Channel 4, Jane Muirhead · Raise the Roof Productions, Nicole Kleeman · Firecrest Films View ↗
20 Jul 2021 Gary Smith · GMB Scotland, Louise Thornton · BBC Scotland, Steve Carson · BBC Scotland View ↗

Correspondence

11 letters
DateDirectionTitle
25 Apr 2023 To cttee Letter from Rt Hon Lucy Frazer KC MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media an…
10 Jan 2023 To cttee Letter from Laurie Patten, Director of Strategy and Regulation, Arqiva, on publ…
6 Sep 2022 Correspondence from Ali Law, Director of Policy, Sky on collaboration between S…
14 Jun 2022 To cttee Letter from Georgia Brown, Head of European Originals, Amazon Studios and Chri…
14 Jun 2022 To cttee Letter from Simon Pitts, Chief Executive, STV, on broadcasting of FIFA World C…
25 Apr 2022 To cttee Letter from Ali Law, Director of Policy, Sky, follow-up to evidence session on …
21 Feb 2022 To cttee Letter from the Hampden Collection, on the broadcasting of Scottish football ga…
10 Jan 2022 To cttee Letter from BBC Scotland to the Chair, on spending outside of London, dated 16 …
6 Dec 2021 To cttee Letter from Simon Pitts, Chief Executive, STV, follow-up to Public broadcasting…
17 Nov 2021 To cttee Letter from Alex Mahon, Chief Executive, Channel 4, follow-up to Public broadca…
21 Sep 2021 To cttee Letter from Steve Carson, Director at BBC Scotland, follow-up to Public broadca…