MG ALBA WELCOMES THE LAUNCH OF THE BBC TRUST’S REVIEW INTO BBC ALBA

Alasdair Morrison, Chairman of MG ALBA, said: “We welcome today’s launch of the BBC Trust’s review into BBC ALBA which will examine the channel’s performance over the first year and the potential carriage on Freeview. BBC ALBA has been very well received attracting an average weekly audience of 220,000 viewers since it was launched as well as playing a key role in promoting the Gaelic language.

“The viewers’ appetite across Scotland for home-produced programmes available on BBC ALBA has been extremely encouraging. The quality and diversity of programmes covers the full spectrum of genres and is attractive to both the Gaelic and Scotland-wide audiences. During the past year BBC ALBA has benefited the independent production industry commissioning work through 26 independent companies, including a number of new starts.

“We are pleased that the BBC has found a mechanism to make BBC ALBA available on Freeview. In order for this to occur the BBC Executive has proposed that the BBC's network radio stations would be removed from Freeview in Scotland in the evening only, during BBC ALBA broadcast hours. Radio listeners would still be able to access their stations on Freeview when BBC ALBA is not on air and also on FM, AM, DAB, Satellite, Cable and online.”

“BBC ALBA has won a great deal of goodwill from the public and across the political spectrum in Scotland and there is high public demand for BBC ALBA to be made available on Freeview. It is our priority to make the channel accessible to all households in Scotland and we encourage as many people as possible to get involved throughout the public consultation period.”