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BBC Reporting Scotland

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BBC Reporting Scotland
Title card used since June 2023
Theme music composerDavid Lowe
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersBBC News
BBC Scotland
Production locationsStudio C, BBC Pacific Quay, Glasgow
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes (main 6:30pm programme)
10 minutes (1:30pm and 10:30pm programmes)
Various (on weekends and Breakfast)
Original release
NetworkBBC One Scotland
Release1 April 1968 (1968-04-01) –
present
Related
The Nine
An Là

BBC Reporting Scotland is the BBC's national television news programme for Scotland, broadcast on BBC One Scotland from the headquarters of BBC Scotland in Pacific Quay, Glasgow.

History

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Although BBC Television was established in Scotland in February 1952 – and broadcast some opt-out programming – it did not start its daily Scottish television news service until Friday 30 August 1957, initially consisting of a five-minute bulletin at 6.05pm on weekdays and a sports results programme on Saturdays. The BBC was keen to launch the Scottish News Summary ahead of its new commercial rival in the central belt, Scottish Television (STV) and before the launch of similar bulletins elsewhere in the UK. As it turned out, STV began broadcasting the day after the launch of what was the BBC's first opt-out TV news bulletin, with the commercial rival launching its local bulletins the following Monday. Similar five-minute bulletins were introduced to the rest of the UK the following month. Topical magazine programmes were later introduced to supplement the Scottish news bulletins including Six Ten, Scotland at Six, A Quick Look Round, and a weekly regional opt-out programme for the North of Scotland entitled Talk of the North.

Following the arrival of future director-general Alasdair Milne as controller of BBC Scotland, BBC Reporting Scotland was launched on Monday 1 April 1968 with a greater emphasis on hard news coverage. Inspired by the format of NBC's The Huntley-Brinkley Report[1] in the United States, the programme was presented jointly from the BBC's studios in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

The original team of presenters were former A Quick Look Round presenter Mary Marquis (Glasgow), news agency journalist Gordon Smith (Edinburgh) and ex-Grampian Television announcer Douglas Kynoch (Aberdeen). Kynoch later became the main anchor in Glasgow while future Pebble Mill at One host Donny MacLeod took over as the Aberdeen presenter. In Edinburgh, later presenters included Renton Laidlaw (later a veteran golf commentator) and Kenneth Roy.

In September 1969, BBC Reporting Scotland was integrated into the networked Nationwide strand. As with their counterparts in the other BBC Nations and Regions, BBC Reporting Scotland team often contributed reports to the Nationwide programme. When Nationwide ended in August 1983, BBC Reporting Scotland was briefly replaced by Scotland Sixty Minutes as part of the revamped news programme, Sixty Minutes, but was reinstated in 1984 after Sixty Minutes ended. Since that time, the BBC Reporting Scotland brand has also been used as the on-screen identity for most of BBC Scotland's television news bulletins.

Arguably the most famous of BBC Reporting Scotland's ex-presenters was Mary Marquis, who upon her return in September 1975, became its main anchor until her departure in 1988. Regular co-presenters included John Milne - who remained with the BBC for many years - Malcolm Wilson, Viv Lumsden, Alan Douglas and Eddie Mair.

Jackie Bird became the programme's longest serving presenter, anchoring the main 6.30pm edition of Reporting Scotland for nearly thirty years until her sudden departure in April 2019.[2] Long-serving BBC Scotland sports commentator Archie Macpherson also established the programme's weekend sports previews on Friday nights.

In-depth weather forecasts were introduced as part of a major relaunch of the programme in October 1992, initially fronted by Vanessa Collingridge, and later, the popular Heather Reid (aka Heather the Weather) who stayed with Reporting Scotland for fifteen years. The programme also increased its use of live outside broadcasts and satellite links for news reports and interviews.

The viewing figures for the main 6.30pm programme averaged between 500,000 and 600,000 and have occasionally reached a million, including the night after the Lockerbie disaster in December 1988.[3] In March 1996, part of the programme was shown on BBC1 across the UK following the Dunblane massacre. Occasional special editions, marking major news events, have also aired on the BBC News Channel and BBC Parliament.

BBC Scotland moved to BBC Pacific Quay in 2007. Reporting Scotland's first transmission from the new studios was a breakfast bulletin presented by Rob Matheson, transmitted at 6.25am on Monday 20 August 2007. The studio backdrop features the live view from cameras mounted on the roof of BBC Scotland's new headquarters on the southern banks of the Clyde. When it opened, the new building at Pacific Quay was one of the most up-to-date digital broadcasting facilities in the world and featured the BBC's first HD-capable newsroom. Since 4 October 1999, the programme's on-air titles and graphics have reflected the corporate branding of BBC News, including the signature theme tune composed by David Lowe.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, BBC Reporting Scotland used extracts from both commercial chart songs and library music for signature tunes, such as the Donna Summer cover of MacArthur Park, Jeff Wayne's Jubilation (also used by LWT's The Big Match) and Emerson, Lake & Palmer's version of Fanfare for the Common Man.

Reporting Scotland's on-air look was most recently updated when a new revamped set was built in Studio C at BBC Scotland's Pacific Quay studios, reflecting the new look of the BBC's News at One, Six and Ten. It was first seen on screen on 12 June 2023.[4]

Since February 2019, BBC Reporting Scotland has been supplemented by a sister hour-long programme, The Nine, airing each weeknight on the BBC Scotland channel. While Reporting Scotland continues to cover Scottish news, The Nine's brief also includes UK national and international news coverage from a Scottish perspective. The programme has been compared with the frequent calls to replace Reporting Scotland with a 'Scottish Six' version of the BBC News at Six.

On 9 December 2024, BBC News Scotland announced two new titles which will join its news and current affairs portfolio from the New Year. Launching on 6 January 2025 will be Reporting Scotland: News at Seven, the new-look 30 minute week-night news programme for the BBC Scotland channel replacing The Nine. It will be presented by Laura Maciver and Amy Irons - sharing days throughout the week, while Martin Geissler fronts a new current affairs podcast series Scotcast in which will begin its broadcast a week later on 13 January.[5]

Broadcasting

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On weekdays, the programme airs nine times a day on BBC One Scotland:

  • Breakfast bulletins at 0625, 0655, 0725, 0755, 0825 and 0915 during BBC Breakfast
  • A 10-minute lunchtime programme at 1.35pm, during the BBC News at One
  • A short 30 second preview is aired at 5.15pm before the main 30-minute evening programme at 6.30pm, after the BBC News at Six
  • A 10-minute late night bulletin at around 10.30pm, after the BBC News at Ten

There are three weekend bulletins (one bulletin on a Saturday and two bulletins on a Sunday)

A mid-afternoon news summary used to be broadcast at around 4pm after the BBC News Summary on BBC Two Scotland from 1986 until 2003, when the bulletins moved to BBC One Scotland, but this was discontinued at the end of 2012.

Starting in December 2007, a short headline update was aired at 8pm during the BBC News Summary, but this was axed along with the national news summary in May 2018.

Along with other BBC Scotland news and current affairs programming, it can be viewed as a live or on-demand (in full or as individual articles) video stream from the online BBC iPlayer.

The programme can also be watched in any part of the UK (and much of Europe) via the BBC UK regional TV on satellite service transmitted from the Astra satellite at 28.2° east:-

  • on channel 101 using Sky-branded proprietary satellite receivers with a conditional access card associated with an address in Scotland
  • on channel 951 using a Sky-branded receiver with a card associated with a non-Scottish address or with no viewing card
  • on 10,803 MHz, 22,000Ksps, Horizontal polarisation, FEC 5/6 using a normal satellite receiver

It’s main competitors are STV’s main evening programme STV News in the North and Central of Scotland and ITV Border’s main evening programme ITV News Lookaround in the South of Scotland.

Presenting team

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News
Person Position Days
Laura Miller Main presenters (6:30pm) Monday-Wednesday
Sally Magnusson Thursday-Friday
Laura Goodwin Relief presenters (6:30pm only) Weekdays
Laura Maciver
Graham Stewart
Andrew Black Relief presenters of short bulletins Weekdays and Weekends
Suzanne Allan
Iain Macinnes
Ben Philip
Sarah McMullan
Karen Elder
Hope Webb
Anne McAlpine
Lucy Whyte
Laura McGhie
Fiona Stalker
Louise Cowie
John Beattie
Weather
Person Position
Christopher Blanchett Main presenters
Judith Ralston
Gillian Smart
Calum MacColl
Kirsteen MacDonald *
Joy Dunlop Relief presenters
Derek MacIntosh
Sarah Cruickshank
Kawser Quamer
Kirsty McCabe

* On Maternity Leave

Sport
Person Position
Amy Irons Main presenters
Lewis Irons
Sheelagh McLaren
Kenny Crawford Relief presenters
Martin Dougan
Paul Barnes

News editors, reporters and correspondents

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News editors

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Regional reporters

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News reporters

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  • Jamie McIvor – News correspondent
  • Steven Godden
  • Ben Philip
  • Katie Hunter
  • Catriona Renton
  • Aileen Clarke
  • Gillian Sharpe
  • Morag Kinniburgh
  • Joanne Macaulay
  • Phil McDonald
  • Fiona Stalker
  • Sarah McMullan
  • Richard Forbes
  • Karen Elder
  • Andrew Thomson
  • Graeme Ogston
  • Sarah Toom
  • Hazel Martin
  • Andrew Picken
  • Georgina Hayes
  • Eilidh Davies
  • Louise Cowie
  • Suzanne Allan

Political correspondents

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  • Lynsey Bews – Chief Political correspondent
  • Andrew Kerr
  • David Wallace Lockhart
  • Kirsten Campbell
  • Phil Sim
  • Jenni Davidson – Political reporter

Westminster correspondents

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  • David Porter
  • Rajdeep Sandhu

Correspondents of different specialties

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  • David Henderson – Political, Business and Transport correspondent
  • Lisa Summers – Health correspondent
  • David Cowan – Home affairs correspondent
  • Chris Clements – Social affairs correspondent
  • Lucy Adams – Social affairs correspondent
  • Hope Webb – Money and Work reporter
  • Kevin Keane – Environment, Energy and Rural affairs correspondent
  • Laura Goodwin – Science and Innovations correspondent
  • Pauline McLean – Arts correspondent
  • David Farrell – Entertainment correspondent
  • Mark Daly – Investigations correspondent
  • Ian Hamilton – Special correspondent
  • Chris McLaughlin – Sports news correspondent

Sport reporters

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  • Paul Barnes
  • Lewis Irons
  • Andy Burke
  • Jane Lewis
  • Sheelagh McLaren
  • Kheredine Idessane

Former presenters and reporters

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References

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  1. ^ "Here is the news ... 50 years on". Herald Scotland. 18 September 2007.
  2. ^ "Jackie Bird departs Reporting Scotland after 30 years at the helm" (Press release). BBC. 11 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Watching Ourselves : 60 Years of Television in Scotland" (PDF). Downloads.bbc.co.uk. 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Behind the scenes of new Reporting Scotland studio". BBC News. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Reporting Scotland: News at Seven and new podcast Scotcast to launch in January 2025". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  6. ^ "Carla Romano - Scotland on Air".
  7. ^ "Killie 1 Falkirk 0 24/05/97 News Wrap". YouTube. 24 May 2018.
  8. ^ "BBC 1 Scotland Junction & Reporting Scotland Christmas Eve 1994". YouTube. 5 October 2009.
  9. ^ "BBC Scotland presenter Nick Sheridan dies aged 32".
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