BBC may cut Scottish radio coverage to make way for Freeview

[ruighean]

Freeview homes in Scotland could lose full access to the BBC's radio stations under plans to put the Gaelic channel Alba on to the digital terrestrial platform.

Embarking on a review of Alba just over a year after it was launched, the BBC Trust is to examine whether to make space for it on Freeview by dropping the BBC's radio stations during the channel's broadcast hours.

Alba is currently available only on satellite TV, either on Sky or Freesat, between 5pm and 11.30pm, and has been slated to get a Freeview berth in 2010.

When the trust gave the service the go-ahead last year, it insisted on a review taking place before digital switchover happens in central and northern Scotland in 2010.

As well as examining how to find space for Alba on Freeview, the trust will ask for views on the channel's performance since it was launched in September last year.

It will look at "whether the channel is achieving a wide appeal to viewers beyond existing Gaelic speakers, and whether it is contributing to the broader educational strategy for the language".

The trust will also look at whether BBC2's Gaelic zone should remain in place.

The BBC is spending £4m a year on Alba, with another £10m coming from the Scottish government via MG Alba, formerly known as the Gaelic Media Service.

The trust's public consultation will close on 18 January, with the review to be published before switchover in April.

[Seonaidh]

...agus am bi a' Bheeb a' cur stad air Radio 1|2|3|4|5 amsaa nuair a bhios BBC 1|2 amsaa a' craoladh?

[Níall Beag]

No, because they have reserved space on a multiplex.

The BBC is currently using all its Freeview bandwidth, so if it wants to put anything else on, they'll need to take something off to make space.

Have <i>any</i> of you <i>ever</i> used your TV as a radio?

I've done it twice.

Radio on TV is a waste of bandwidth, so why not switch it off and do something more useful with the space saved?

[Gràisg]

Yeah listened to RnG on a sky channel It's ok if you are desperate for some Gaelic and out of range of the normal raido broadcasting area

[Caoimhin.MacGilliosa]

The only thing I would miss would be World Service, is it available on Radio's in this country? I've never been able to pick it up in the car, or on the radio.

After a period of living abroad, I quite enjoyed the World Service and still listen to it back home now, as it gives you News, and indepth interviews/reports from places that are hardly ever mentioned on the TV.

Seems, Sky/BBC news seem to run through only UK news with the odd bit of big foreign news.

It would be fantastic having BBC Alba on Freeview. As a beginner to the language, I don't have Sky, so only time I can really watch it is if I get the folks to tape something for me, and then again, they might want to watch something else. We've got that TeleG which is only on for 1hr a day! Hopefully, they can move BBC Alba to here.

[akerbeltz]

Buy a dish and a decoder, point it as Astra and between BBC News and Al Jazeera you'll get a nicely rounded newscast. No need for Sky.

[Thrissel]

BBC: Comhairle ag iarraidh BBC Alba air Freeview:

"Chuir Comhairle nan Eilean Siar an taic ri iomairt airson BBC Alba a chur air Freeview.

Tha Urras a' BhBC an-dràsta a' cumail co-chomhairleachaidh feuch a bheil an seanal Gàidhlig air soirbheachadh, agus dè bu chòir tachairt leis san àm ri teachd.

Thuirt a' Chomhairle gun robh uallach moralta air an Urras an seanal a dhìon, altram agus taic a chur ris.

Ach thuirt iad cuideachd gum feumar an ìre àrd de phrògraman a bh' ann gu ruige seo a ghlèidheadh, agus sin le maoineachadh a bharrachd a chur ris an t-seanal."

tuilleadh an-seo

[Níall Beag]

We've got that TeleG which is only on for 1hr a day! Hopefully, they can move BBC Alba to here.

Quick explanation of digital TV (as I understand it).

Digital TV is split into multiplexes, each containing a mix of different data streams: video, audio, subtitle, teletext and control streams.

There is one control stream per channel, and it says which video and audio stream to use as standard. It also carries details of any alternative soundtracks or subtitle streams, so that the user can select them. When a channel is off air, there is no video or audio stream, just a single test card or info screen image. The data usage of the channel is negligible, as the video stream is the largest component of any broadcast. The data is then made available to other channels, which allows them to bring on-line an extra channel, broadcast more "red button" options or just increase the picture and/or sound quality of a given channel.

TeleG is not just wasted space when it switches off for the day -- as soon as it's off, someone else uses its capacity.

[Níall Beag]

Another interesting development:
The BBC may axe some of its digital-only radio stations, including 6Music and the Asian Network, according to a report.

So the amount of radio that may be lost to BBC Alba is getting less and less. Hopefully this will be confirmed quickly, making the reallocation of bandwidth to BBC Alba a pretty obvious move.

[treaclemine]

Another interesting development:
The BBC may axe some of its digital-only radio stations, including 6Music and the Asian Network, according to a report.

So the amount of radio that may be lost to BBC Alba is getting less and less. Hopefully this will be confirmed quickly, making the reallocation of bandwidth to BBC Alba a pretty obvious move.

Tha mi ag iarraidh BBC Alba air Freeview a-nis ... ach tha mi ag iarraidh Asian Network co-dhiù.