Entertainment

New BBC Scotland channel set for launch

A special performance by Chvrches will be followed by A Night At The Theatre hosted by comedian Iain Stirling.
A special performance by Chvrches will be followed by A Night At The Theatre hosted by comedian Iain Stirling. A special performance by Chvrches will be followed by A Night At The Theatre hosted by comedian Iain Stirling.

The new BBC Scotland channel is set to be launched, a year after being officially announced by the corporation.

Operating on an annual budget of £32 million, the core hours of the channel will be between 7pm and 12am.

BBC director general Tony Hall said it was the “biggest single investment by the BBC in broadcast content in Scotland in over 20 years”, when making the announcement last February.

Its opening night on Sunday will begin at 7pm with a special performance by Scottish band Chvrches before one-off show A Night At The Theatre hosted by comedian Iain Stirling, the voice of Love Island.

New programmes Getting Hitched Asian Style and The People’s News will also air on opening night, with the first episode in the ninth and final series of Still Game on at 9pm.

Still Game final series
Still Game final series Martin Compston, Greg Hemphill, Gianni Capaldi and Ford Kiernan in a new episode of Still Game (Alan Peebles/BBC Scotland/PA)

The comedy will be shown again on BBC One later in the year and includes guest stars Martin Compston, Midge Ure and Amy MacDonald.

Sunday’s core slot will be rounded off with Nae Pasaran – a documentary which premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival’s closing gala last year.

The channel aims to have a 50/50 balance between original programming and repeats.

Each day between 12pm and 7pm, BBC Two programmes will be shown alongside political coverage, such as First Minister’s Questions, as well as sport and music events.

A range of other programmes will fill the core hours including dramas, documentaries and flagship news programme The Nine.

Co-anchored by Rebecca Curran and Martin Geissler, the hour-long bulletin will focus on national as well as international stories live from the broadcaster’s Glasgow office each weeknight at 9pm.

The Nine
The Nine The Nine news team will take to the airwaves each weekday at 9pm (Alan Peebles/BBC Scotland/PA)

There will also be a 15-minute bulletin at 7pm on Saturdays followed by a news review programme, with another 15-minute bulletin airing at the same time on Sunday.

The Edit, an entertainment news show fronted by David Farrell and Amy Irons, will air on Wednesday nights.

Stephen Jardine will host the first episode of current affairs show Debate Night – which has been likened to Question Time – on Wednesday February 27 at 10.45pm.

As well as being available on iPlayer, in Scotland the channel will be in high definition (HD) at position 115 on Freeview and YouView, 115 on Sky, 106 on Freesat and 108 on Virgin Media.

It will also be in standard definition (SD) at position 9 on Freeview and YouView in Scotland. Sky and Freesat viewers without an HD-capable receiver will instead receive BBC Scotland in SD on 115/106.

Information on EPG positions outside Scotland can be found on the BBC website.