I AM in favour, in principle, of a television channel dedicated to Scottish politics, culture, sport and other issues. I have never supported the idea of a "Scottish Six", breaking into the BBC network's main news programme to include more coverage o
f Scottish matters. But I think with the potential afforded to us by digital technology, giving people access to many more channels, a dedicated Scottish channel complementing existing networks would be welcomed by the public.
There is a legitimate criticism from people in Scotland that they cannot watch certain events live, such as football matches involving Scottish teams, because there is not the space on the channels currently available to them. An extra channel would give them that choice, but would also allow those who want to watch the main UK channels to continue to do so. It would allow for more localised and targeted coverage of news and other types of content.
A key issue is how such a channel will be financed. Would it be part of the public service system? Will it eat into the BBC Scotland budget, and if so, what would be cut from existing provision to make it possible? Is it going to be funded wholly or in part by advertising or some other means such as subscription? If so, could such a channel achieve a big enough audience to bring in advertising revenue? Is there a real demand for it? I think this has still to be tested.
If there is indeed to be a new Scottish channel exploiting the potential of digital TV, these issues will need to be addressed. The idea of a new channel dedicated to Scotland is welcome, but we will need to see more detail before it becomes clear whether or not it is viable.
No
MATTHEW SINCLAIR,
policy analyst, Taxpayers' Alliance THE past record for these kind of smaller, niche channels is not good. If it is true that it is recommended that a new Scottish channel should be funded by the UK government through its policy for public service broadcasting, that is a major concern.
At a time when ordinary people are so hard-pressed with the rising burden of tax and the effects of the economic slowdown, it would make much more sense to be thinking about putting money into measures to reduce that problem, rather than setting up a new TV channel which has doubtful chances of success.
I am not convinced that pushing forward with the idea of a Scottish television channel would be a vote-winner.
People see that their taxes are up 50 per cent in the last decade and face huge tax bills with no sign that that will change any time soon. They don't want to see more money being pushed into a scheme which is untested.
If there is a need for further channels, and such channels would be successful, they can be provided by the private sector.
If there really is this great demand, let them go ahead and do it. They can charge for advertising and they can take the risk, rather than using taxpayers' money to test it out.
There is a variety of public service broadcasting already available and in general people are happy with the choices that they have.
With the economic climate as it currently stands, now is not a good time to be talking about new public service channels. People have far bigger concerns.
The full article contains 598 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
