Reporting Scotland
Encyclopedia
Reporting Scotland is BBC Scotland
's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis
. It is the only Scottish national news programme in the English language on air, with commercial broadcaster STV providing regional news services for the North of Scotland
(including an opt-out for Tayside) and the West and East of Central Scotland
. ITV Border
's news service is shown in southern Scotland and Cumbria.
(STV) - as it turned out, STV began broadcasting a day later. Topical magazine programmes were later introduced to supplement the Scottish news bulletins including Six Ten, A Quick Look Round and a weekly opt-out programme for the North of Scotland entitled Talk of the North.
Reporting Scotland was introduced on 1 April 1968 - for much of its earlier history, the programme was presented from Glasgow, Edinburgh & Aberdeen and integrated into the Nationwide strand. As with the other parts of the UK, the Reporting Scotland news team often contributed reports to the Nationwide programme. When Nationwide ended in 1983, Reporting Scotland was briefly replaced by Scotland Sixty Minutes as part of the revamped news programme, Sixty Minutes
, but was reinstated in 1984. Since that time, the name "Reporting Scotland" has also been used as the on-screen identity for all of BBC Scotland
's television news bulletins.
The viewing figures for the main evening programme average between 500,000 and 600,000. The main transmitters for the programme are those at Durris
near Stonehaven
in Aberdeenshire
and Black Hill
in North Lanarkshire
.
BBC Scotland moved to BBC Pacific Quay in 2007, with Reporting Scotland first broadcasting from the new building on 20 August. The studio backdrop features BBC Scotland's new headquarters on the banks of the Clyde. The new building at Pacific Quay
is one of the most modern, state of the art, digital broadcasting facilities in the world, complete with the BBC's first HD-capable newsroom.
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
:-
Many reporters and BBC Radio Scotland
presenters have also read the short bulletins when required but are not part of the regular presentation team. The weekend presenter also acts as a reporter.
Maternity leave
)
East (Edinburgh
)
North East (Aberdeen
)
North (Inverness
)
Tayside and Fife (Dundee
)
South West (Dumfries
)
South East (Selkirk)
Orkney and Shetland (Kirkwall
)
In addition, some other members of the newsroom team and full-time radio reporters occasionally compile reports - as do Gaelic journalists working for BBC Alba.
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
's national television news programme. The programme first aired on 1 April 1968, with three main presenters - the most famous being Mary Marquis
Mary Marquis
Mary Elizabeth Marquis MBE is a Scottish former television news presenter.She was a leading interviewer on BBC Scotland from the mid 1960s, and became the face of the network's evening news programme Reporting Scotland until 1988, notably including the whole of the 1970s Nationwide era when input...
. It is the only Scottish national news programme in the English language on air, with commercial broadcaster STV providing regional news services for the North of Scotland
Grampian Television
Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
(including an opt-out for Tayside) and the West and East of Central Scotland
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
. ITV Border
Border Television
Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
's news service is shown in southern Scotland and Cumbria.
History
Although BBC Television had been established in Scotland since 1952 and had broadcast various local programmes, it did not start its television news service to Scotland until Friday August 30 1957, initially as a five-minute bulletin at 6.05pm on weekdays. The BBC was keen to launch the Scottish News Summary ahead of its new rival, Scottish TelevisionScottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
(STV) - as it turned out, STV began broadcasting a day later. Topical magazine programmes were later introduced to supplement the Scottish news bulletins including Six Ten, A Quick Look Round and a weekly opt-out programme for the North of Scotland entitled Talk of the North.
Reporting Scotland was introduced on 1 April 1968 - for much of its earlier history, the programme was presented from Glasgow, Edinburgh & Aberdeen and integrated into the Nationwide strand. As with the other parts of the UK, the Reporting Scotland news team often contributed reports to the Nationwide programme. When Nationwide ended in 1983, Reporting Scotland was briefly replaced by Scotland Sixty Minutes as part of the revamped news programme, Sixty Minutes
Sixty Minutes (TV series)
Sixty Minutes was a news and current affairs programme which ran each day at 5:40pm between 24 October 1983 to 27 July 1984 on BBC One. It replaced the Nationwide programme, and like Nationwide, it also integrated the BBC regional news programmes into a single magazine programme.However, the BBC's...
, but was reinstated in 1984. Since that time, the name "Reporting Scotland" has also been used as the on-screen identity for all of BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
's television news bulletins.
The viewing figures for the main evening programme average between 500,000 and 600,000. The main transmitters for the programme are those at Durris
Durris transmitting station
The Durris transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated close to the town of Stonehaven, within Durris Forest, within the area also known historically as Kincardineshire . It is owned and operated by Arqiva....
near Stonehaven
Stonehaven
Stonehaven is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 9,577 in 2001 census.Stonehaven, county town of Kincardineshire, grew around an Iron Age fishing village, now the "Auld Toon" , and expanded inland from the seaside...
in Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
and Black Hill
Black Hill Transmitter
The Black Hill transmitting station is a facility for FM and TV broadcasting at Black Hill , on Duntilland Road, Salsburgh, North Lanarkshire, Scotland which is near the town of Airdrie. It has a guyed mast 306.6 metres tall, bringing the antennas to a height of 540 metres above sea level...
in North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...
.
BBC Scotland moved to BBC Pacific Quay in 2007, with Reporting Scotland first broadcasting from the new building on 20 August. The studio backdrop features BBC Scotland's new headquarters on the banks of the Clyde. The new building at Pacific Quay
Pacific Quay
Pacific Quay is an area south of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is located at the former Plantation Quay and Princes' Dock Basin. The Princes' Dock Basin was the largest on the River Clyde when it was opened in 1900. It ceased to be used in the 1970s as the volume of Shipping using the...
is one of the most modern, state of the art, digital broadcasting facilities in the world, complete with the BBC's first HD-capable newsroom.
Broadcasting
The programme airs several times through the day on BBC One Scotland, currently at the following usual times:-- Monday to Friday
- 5x3 minute & 1x1.30 bulletins during BBC BreakfastBBC BreakfastBBC Breakfast is the morning television news programme simulcast on BBC One and the BBC News channel. It is presented live from BBC Television Centre in White City, West London, and contains a mixture of news, sport, weather, business and feature items...
(between 06:00 and 09:15) - 13:30-13:45, after the BBC News at One
- A short bulletin at 15:00, following a BBC News summary
- 18:30-19:00, after the BBC News at Six
- 22:25-22:35, after the BBC News at Ten
- 5x3 minute & 1x1.30 bulletins during BBC Breakfast
- Saturday
- Times vary - lunchtime and early evening
- Sunday
- Summary during The Politics Show ScotlandThe Politics ShowThe Politics Show is an hour long BBC One television political programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sundays. The programme usually starts at midday, but is often earlier or later when sporting events clash in the schedules. It was launched in 2003 and was originally presented by Jeremy...
, early evening and late night
- Summary during The Politics Show Scotland
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
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows....
.
The programme can also be watched in any part of the UK (and much of Europe) via the BBC UK regional TV on satellite
BBC UK regional TV on satellite
The BBC broadcasts all of the BBC One and BBC Two regional variations on digital satellite television from the SES Astra satellites at 28.2° east; providing local news programmes and other regional programming with local continuity and presentation for Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales...
service transmitted from the Astra
SES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
satellite at 28.2° east
Astra 28.2°E
Astra 28.2°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 28.2° East position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg...
:-
- on channel 101 using Sky-branded proprietary satellite receivers with a Conditional accessConditional accessConditional Access is the protection of content by requiring certain criteria to be met before granting access to this content...
card associated with an address in Scotland - on channel 971 using a Sky-branded receiver with a card associated with a non-Scottish address or with no viewing card
- on 10803 MHz, 22000Ksps, Horizontal polarisation, FEC 5/6 using a normal satellite receiver
The team
Currently, the Reporting Scotland on-air team consists of the following;| Presenter | Current Role |
|---|---|
| Jackie Bird Jackie Bird Jackie Bird is a Scottish journalist and newsreader, working for BBC Scotland.-Career:After working as a reporter for The Sun newspaper, Bird joined Television South in Maidstone as a reporter and presenter for the South East edition of regional news programme Coast to Coast.She has been a main... |
Main Anchor (Monday to Wednesday) |
| Sally Magnusson Sally Magnusson Sally Magnússon,, is a Scottish broadcaster and writer, currently working for BBC Scotland. She also presents Tracing Your Roots on BBC Radio 4.-Early life:... |
Main Anchor (Thursday and Friday) |
| Catriona Shearer Catriona Shearer Catriona Shearer is a newsreader, journalist and television presenter who currently hosts the Reporting Scotland news programme on BBC One.Shearer has previously presented Reporting Scotland live from Wimbledon and T in the Park... |
Breakfast and Lunchtime Presenter (also relief anchor) |
| David Henderson David Henderson (broadcaster) David Henderson is a news correspondent and presenter with BBC Scotland news. He is BBC Scotland's business correspondent.He regularly presents the BBC's flagship news programmes, Reporting Scotland, Good Morning Scotland,Newsnight Scotland, The Politics Show Scotland, Holyrood Live, Newsdrive and... |
Bulletin Presenter |
| Andrew Kerr | Bulletin Presenter |
| Rob Matheson Rob Matheson Robin Matheson is a Scottish reporter, presenter and broadcaster who works for BBC Scotland.Rob presents the shorter Reporting Scotland programmes. He reports for both BBC Scotland television and BBC Radio Scotland.-External links:/pressoffice... |
Bulletin Presenter |
| Sally McNair Sally McNair Sally McNair is a BBC Scotland journalist, who presents the main television news programme, "Reporting Scotland". She can usually be seen presenting BBC Scotland's shorter news summary, though she sometimes presents the main evening edition of the programme. Sally has also worked at ITN on... |
Bulletin Presenter |
| Graham Stewart Graham Stewart Graham Stewart is a Scottish broadcaster who currently presents The Business on BBC Radio Scotland. He was previously a presenter on Edinburgh radio station Talk 107. Stewart is also a presenter of the shorter Reporting Scotland programmes.-References:... |
Breakfast and Weekend Presenter |
Many reporters and BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...
presenters have also read the short bulletins when required but are not part of the regular presentation team. The weekend presenter also acts as a reporter.
Sports presenters
- David Currie (also co-anchor of Sportscene ResultsSportsceneSportscene is the name of a range of Scottish sports television programmes produced by BBC Scotland. Its main anchors are Dougie Donnelly, David Currie, Rob MacLean and Dougie Vipond, with Alison Walker and Richard Gordon acting as relief presenters...
) - Kheredine IdessaneKheredine IdessaneKheredine Idessane is a Scottish football commentator for BBC Scotland. and a former athlete. He is commonly heard on Sportsound, providing live commentary of Scottish Premier League matches, but he can also be heard commentating on highlights of Scottish Cup matches for Sportscene...
- Jane LewisJane LewisJane Lewis is a Scottish sports journalist and broadcaster, best known as a main sports presenter for Scotland Today, STV Central's now-defunct regional news programme.- Career :...
- Rhona McLeodRhona McLeodRhona McLeod is a Scottish broadcaster.McLeod is a former international athlete and was a member of the Scotland team for seven years, but now works for BBC Scotland....
- Jonathan SutherlandJonathan SutherlandJonathan Sutherland is a Scottish television and radio presenter currently presenting on BBC Scotland's 'Sportscene Results' on BBC One Scotland on Saturday afternoons....
- Dougie VipondDougie VipondDougie Vipond is a Scottish musician and television personality. He studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, graduating in 1985. He was one of the founding members of Scottish soft rock / pop band, Deacon Blue.Dougie Vipond is one of the busiest and most versatile broadcasters in...
Weather forecasters
Temporary presenters- Christopher Blanchett
- Cat CubieCat CubieCat Cubie was born in Scotland to Heather and Andrew Cubie and grew up in Edinburgh, attending George Watson's College before taking a psychology degree at Aberdeen University. Currently deputising while BBC Reporting Scotland's two weather presenters are on maternity leave.- Recent work :In 2009,...
- Stav Danaos
- Kirsteen MacDonaldKirsteen MacDonaldKirsteen MacDonald is a Scottish broadcaster for BBC Alba. She has worked on the children's magazine show Dè a-nis? and been a Glasgow-based reporter for BBC Radio nan Gàidheal....
(also Weather presenter on BBC Alba)
Maternity leave
- Gail McGraneGail McGraneGail McGrane is the senior weather forecaster for BBC Scotland. Born in Dingwall, Ross-shire, McGrane attended Dingwall Academy before moving to Glasgow to attend the University of Strathclyde. She took a job at the Met Office in 1999 and began presenting breakfast weather reports in 2000, before...
- Judith RalstonJudith RalstonJudith Ralston trained as a musician from an early age. She continued her studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the Royal Northern College of Music and in Canada. She received a number of awards....
- Gillian Smart
Regional correspondents
West (GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
)
- Suzanne Allan
- David Henderson (also bulletin presenter)
- Sally McNairSally McNairSally McNair is a BBC Scotland journalist, who presents the main television news programme, "Reporting Scotland". She can usually be seen presenting BBC Scotland's shorter news summary, though she sometimes presents the main evening edition of the programme. Sally has also worked at ITN on...
(also bulletin presenter) - Julie Peacock
- Catriona Renton (also Holyrood Live & Politics Scotland presenter)
East (Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
)
- Morag Kinnaburgh
- Gavin Walker
- Lisa Summers
North East (Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
)
- Steven Duff
- Kevin Keane
- Fiona Stalker
- Colin Wight
North (Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
)
- Craig Anderson
- Ian MacDonald
- Jackie O'Brien
Tayside and Fife (Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
)
- Andrew Anderson
- Alan Grant
South West (Dumfries
Dumfries
Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...
)
- Willie Johnston
South East (Selkirk)
- Cameron Buttle
Orkney and Shetland (Kirkwall
Kirkwall
Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...
)
- John Johnson
In addition, some other members of the newsroom team and full-time radio reporters occasionally compile reports - as do Gaelic journalists working for BBC Alba.
Specialist correspondents
- Reevel Alderson (Home Affairs)
- Eleanor Bradford (Health)
- Douglas Fraser (Economy and Business Editor)
- Seonag MacKinnon (Education & Science)
- Pauline McLean (Arts)
- Hayley Millar (Business)
- Fiona Walker (Social Affairs)
- Jamie McIvor (Local Government)
- David Miller (Environment & Climate change)
Political correspondents
- Brian TaylorBrian Taylor (journalist)Brian Taylor is the political editor for BBC Scotland. Taylor – who joined the BBC in 1985 – originally co-presented Left, Right and Centre and was political correspondent prior to his current role....
(Political Editor) - Raymond Buchanan (Holyrood)
- Glenn CampbellGlenn Campbell (broadcaster)Glenn Campbell is a Scottish news and current affairs broadcaster, currently working for BBC Scotland. He grew up on Islay and studied at the University of Glasgow.His career began in commercial radio...
(Holyrood)
- David Porter (Westminster)
- Tim Reid (Westminster)
Past Presenters & Reporters
- Louise Batchelor (1980s - 1989; 1994 - 2008)
- Campbell Barclay (Political Reporter 1976-1982)
- Ken Bryson
- Paddy Christie
- Aileen Clarke - Now with BBC Scotland's Good Morning ScotlandGood Morning ScotlandGood Morning Scotland is a Scottish breakfast radio news programme. It is broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland weekdays from 06:00 to 08:45. Established in 1973, it is the longest-running radio show broadcast from Scotland and remains one of the most popular....
- Eric Crockhart
- John Duncanson
- Alan DouglasAlan DouglasAlan Douglas is a journalist and broadcaster.Douglas was a reporter and then studio presenter on BBC Scotland's evening news programme Reporting Scotland from 1978 to 1996....
(1978 - 1993) - Jane Franchi (1979 - 2003)
- Fiona Henderson (1988 - 1989; 1991 - 2006)
- Viv LumsdenViv LumsdenVivien Dale Victoria Lumsden was a newsreader on the Scottish TV news programme, Scotland Today for nine years. Before Scottish TV, she worked on BBC Scotland's Reporting Scotland from 1984 to 1989....
(1984 - 1989) - Cathy MacDonaldCathy MacDonaldCathy MacDonald 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....
- Anne MacKenzie (1995 - 1997)
- Alan MackayAlan MackayAlan Mackay was a long-serving reporter for BBC Scotland's Reporting Scotland. He is the brother of the High Court judge Donald Mackay, Baron Mackay of Drumadoon. He left the progamme in 2007 after over twenty-five years in television journalism....
(1980s - 2007) - Abeer MacIntyreAbeer MacIntyreAbeer Macintyre is journalist and broadcaster, formerly a regular presenter and journalist at BBC Scotland from 1994 to 2009, presenting the station's flagship radio programme Good Morning Scotland and as a presenter of the station's news and political TV broadcasts...
(2002 - 2008)
- Penny MacmillanPenny MacmillanPenny Macmillan is a British journalist, who presented the news on Reporting Scotland for nearly ten years. In March 2007 she decided to take a career break from the BBC to spend more time with her young family. Penny was a familiar face at breakfast, weekends and at 22:25. In the year before...
(1998 - 2007) - Eddie MairEddie MairEddie Mair is a British BBC radio and television presenter. He presents BBC Radio 4's daily news magazine PM also the Radio 4 Saturday only iPM and the BBC's NewsPod, is an occasional presenter of Newsnight, the stand-in presenter for Any Questions replacing the late Nick Clarke, and was the...
(now presenter of BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's PMPM (Radio 4)PM, sometimes referred to as the PM programme to avoid ambiguity, is BBC Radio 4's long-running early evening news and current affairs programme.-Broadcast times:...
programme) - Gillian Marles (now with BBC Radio Scotland)
- Mary MarquisMary MarquisMary Elizabeth Marquis MBE is a Scottish former television news presenter.She was a leading interviewer on BBC Scotland from the mid 1960s, and became the face of the network's evening news programme Reporting Scotland until 1988, notably including the whole of the 1970s Nationwide era when input...
(1968 - 1988, now retired) - John MilneJohn Milne (journalist)John Milne is a retired Scottish broadcaster and journalist who was known for presenting BBC Scotland's Reporting Scotland in the 1980s and 1990s and Good Morning Scotland on BBC Radio Scotland. Milne was also a presenter on Newsnight Scotland for much of the 2000s.- External links :* , All Media...
(1972 - 2007, now retired) - Brenda Patterson
- Heather ReidHeather ReidHeather Reid OBE CPhys FinstP is a Scottish meteorologist and former television weather presenter for BBC Scotland. She was formerly employed by the UK Met Office, starting in 1993....
(1994 - 2009, has moved into academia) - Allan Robb
- David Robertson (2000 - 2008)
- Kenneth Roy
- Louise Stewart (now at the south east England part of BBC Politics Show)
- Kirsty WarkKirsty WarkKirsteen Anne Wark is a British journalist and television presenter best known for fronting the BBC Two's news and current affairs programme Newsnight since 1993, and its weekly arts annexe Newsnight Review which is now relaunched as "The Review Show".-Biography:Wark was born in Dumfries to Jimmy...
(1981 - 1989, now with Newsnight) - Bob Wylie
- Chick Young (now with BBC Radio Scotland)