BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish

radio network There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many ( simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio ( duplex communication) t ...

owned and operated by

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Irela ...

, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 1978. Radio Scotland is broadcast in English, whilst sister station Radio nan Gàidheal broadcasts in

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

. According to

RAJAR Radio Joint Audience Research Limited (RAJAR) was established in 1992 to operate a single audience measurement system for the radio industry in the United Kingdom. RAJAR is jointly owned by the BBC and RadioCentre. RAJAR's predecessor was call ...

, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 755,000 and has a listening share of 6.3% as of September.

History

The first BBC Radio Scotland broadcast was on 17 December 1973, two weeks earlier than planned. BBC Radio Scotland was founded as a full-time radio network on 23 November 1978. Previously it was possible only to opt out of

, and the service was known as Radio 4 Scotland or, formally on air, as "BBC Scotland Radio 4". The establishment of a separate network was made possible when Radio 4 became a fully UK-wide network when it moved from

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the dayti ...

to long wave and new VHF (FM) transmitters were brought into service so that Radio 4 and Radio Scotland no longer had to share on FM. However it was not until the early 1990s that Radio 4 was available on FM across all of Scotland so for its first decade on air, the station only broadcast during the day so that Radio 4 could be heard on Radio Scotland's transmitters in the evening to compensate for poorer AM reception after dark. Kirsty Wark launched her career on BBC Radio Scotland, first as a researcher and then as a producer.

Programmes

The station broadcasts a wide range of programming, including news, debate, music, drama, comedy and sports. It is broadcast from the

headquarters in the Pacific Quay in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

Local opt-outs

BBC Radio Orkney and

BBC Radio Shetland BBC Radio Shetland is an opt-out service of BBC Radio Scotland, covering the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The station's studio is located in Pitt Lane, Lerwick. Programming Radio Shetland has two programme slots, broadcast on FM. It is also ...

opt out of BBC Radio Scotland for 30 minutes each weekday to broadcast a local news programme and during the winter months this is supplemented for both areas by an additional hour-long programme. Local news and weather bulletins are also broadcast as opt-outs from news studios in Selkirk,

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from t ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

and

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histor ...

on weekdays.

Notable presenters

* Kaye Adams (news) * John Beattie (sport) * Bryan Burnett (music) *

Stuart Cosgrove Stuart John Francis Cosgrove (born 12 November 1952) is a Scottish journalist, broadcaster and television executive. As a journalist Cosgrove served on the ''NME'' (Media Editor) and ''The Face'' during the 1980s, before joining Channel 4 in 199 ...

(sport) *

Tam Cowan Thomas Cowan (born 21 April 1969) is a Scottish football journalist and radio presenter who was previously also a television presenter. Early life He was educated at Braidhurst High School in Motherwell where he was one of the school captains. ...

(sport) * Archie Fisher (music) *

Vic Galloway Michael "Vic" Galloway (born 4 August 1972) is a DJ on BBC Radio Scotland. Galloway presents a self-titled show on Radio Scotland every Monday from 9pm to 11pm and also the BBC Introducing Scotland Thursday evenings/Friday mornings from 11pm t ...

(music) * Jim Gellatly (music) * Richard Gordon (sport) * Gary Innes (music) * Mary Ann Kennedy (lifestyle, features and documentaries) * Fred MacAulay (lifestyle, features and documentaries) *

Cathy MacDonald Cathy MacDonald (Gaelic: ) is a Scottish broadcaster who is known for hosting many Scottish Gaelic-language television programmes such as Dotaman and has also presented BBC Scotland's ''Reporting Scotland'' news bulletins in the late 1980s, where ...

(music) *

Bruce MacGregor Bruce MacGregor (born April 26, 1941) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward who played for the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (W ...

(music) * Sally Magnusson (lifestyle, features and documentaries) *

Tom Morton Thomas Morton (born 1955) is a Scottish broadcaster, journalist, and author. He lives and works mainly in the Shetland Islands. Life Morton was born in 1955, and moved to Shetland in 1987 three years after his wife Susan who was a General Pra ...

(music) * Shereen Nanjiani (news) *

Natasha Raskin Sharp Natasha Raskin Sharp (born 15 June 1986) is a Scottish television presenter, and antiques and art expert, especially in Scottish contemporary art, best known for her appearances on television. The daughter of contemporary Scottish artist Philip ...

(music) * Ricky Ross (music) * Graham Stewart (news) *

Grant Stott Grant Stott (born 13 May 1967) is a Scottish broadcaster from Edinburgh. He formerly worked as a DJ on Edinburgh radio station Forth 1 until January 2017. He then joined BBC Radio Scotland and now appears on the television soap opera ''River C ...

(music) *Gary West (music)

Past presenters

Dougie Anderson Douglas James Anderson (born 27 May 1976 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish radio and television presenter writer and voice-over artist who trained at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Radio Anderson is notable for his regular guest appearances ...

* Colin Bell *

Ken Bruce Kenneth Robertson Bruce (born 2 February 1951) is a British broadcaster who is best known for hosting his long-running weekday mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2 from 1986 to 1990, and then again since 1992. Early life and career Bruce was born a ...

Jackie Brambles Jackie Todd Brambles (previously Sherry-Brambles) (born 1 March 1967), formerly known as Jakki Brambles, is a British journalist, radio DJ and television presenter. Early life and early career Brambles was born in Harlow, Essex, England and gre ...

* Andy Cameron *

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer, and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University ...

Jimmie Macgregor Jimmie Macgregor (born 10 March 1930) is a Scottish folksinger and broadcaster, best known as half of a singing duo with Robin Hall. Biography Jimmie Macgregor was born in Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland, and grew up in a tenement and the ...

* Anne MacKenzie *

Jimmy Mack "Jimmy Mack" is a pop/soul song that in 1967 became a hit single by Martha and the Vandellas for Motown's Gordy imprint. Written and produced by Motown's main creative team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, "Jimmy Mack" was the final Top 10 pop hit ...

Eddie Mair Eddie Mair (born 12 November 1965) is a Scottish broadcaster who was a presenter on BBC radio and television. He presented his show on LBC between 4pm and 6pm every weekday until his last one, on 18 August 2022, after which he retired from broad ...

* Sheena McDonald * Brian Morton *

Charles Nove Charles Alexis Nove (born 29 June 1960 in London, England) is a British radio broadcaster who currently presents the weekday breakfast show for classical music station Scala Radio. Biography Early career The son of Soviet historian Alexander No ...

Iain Purdon Iain Purdon is a retired broadcaster. Biography Iain Purdon was born in Edinburgh. After school education in the South of England he returned to Scotland and joined the city hospital radio service while at the University of Edinburgh. He wen ...

Robbie Shepherd Dr Robert Horne Shepherd (28 April 1936 – 1 August 2023) was a Scottish broadcaster and author who was known for presenting shows on BBC Radio Scotland and for writing a column in Doric for Aberdeen's '' Press and Journal'' newspaper. Life a ...

(music) * Ken Sykora *

Jim Traynor James Traynor (born 27 September 1953) is a Scottish former sports journalist and former Director of Communications at Rangers F.C. Prior to joining the Glasgow club, Traynor was employed by the Scottish newspaper the '' Daily Record''. He was al ...

Kirsty Young Kirsty Jackson Young (born 23 November 1968) is a Scottish television and radio presenter. From 2006 to 2018 she was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's '' Desert Island Discs''. She presented ''Crimewatch'' on BBC One from 2008 to 2015. Ear ...

Heads of Radio, Scotland

The title "Head of Radio, Scotland" was applied to cover not only the Radio Scotland service but also BBC Scotland's radio productions for other networks.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 55.8580, -4.2909, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Radio stations established in 1978 Radio stations in Glasgow BBC Scotland 1978 establishments in Scotland Radio stations in Scotland