TALKS are taking place to bring Scotland matches back onto free-to-air television.
The new director of BBC Scotland has insisted she is desperate for the state broadcaster to show the national team on a regular basis once again, amid growing pressure to make games available for free.
The Tartan Army had to watch their on subscription packages or YouTube of late[/caption]
Hayley Valentine took on the role from Steve Carson in November 2024 and was giving evidence today about the subject of screening Scotland games at the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster.
She conceded that acquiring the rights to show the matches isn’t cheap and that the BBC is constantly having to work against financial constraints.
Ms Valentine told MPs: “I know how important sport is to Scottish audiences. I’m a big football fan, these moments are huge for us, and of course we would love to have the men‘s internationals.
“These things are not cheap and we have to think about value for money in all of our decision-making.
“In order to pay for one thing, there is no extra money, so what are we not doing to fund something else?
“I don’t really want to go much further than that because there are some live discussions going on, but of course I would be delighted if we could bring those to free-to-air audience.”
She also revealed the BBC will cover the Commonwealth Games when they come back to Glasgow in 2026.
She added: “Conversations going on about rights, which I can’t go into…
“The financial position is not easy for us to manage, we have some difficult choices to make.”
Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay said news of talks on Scotland games would “be welcomed by football fans all over Scotland, who want to back our team but are being priced out of it”.
Ms Mackay said: “I hope that these talks succeed and that we are able to get our national team out from behind a paywall.
“Sport should be for everyone, and I want as many young people as possible to be able to grow up watching their heroes in action. That can help us to ensure that our next generation of footballers can feel inspired and dream of playing for their country.
“Many countries already ensure their games are free to view. It would be great if 2025 is the year that Scotland can finally join them.”
Louise Thornton, BBC Scotland’s head of multi-platform commissioning, defended the performance of the BBC Scotland channel amid concerns over declining viewer numbers.
She admitted there has been a decline in “linear” viewing (people watching programmes as they are broadcast) but reiterated that the BBC’s iPlayer platform has meant plenty of content is still being consumed by Scottish audiences – and is even offsetting that decline.
Ms Thornton said: “The prominence of Scottish content on iPlayer has improved massively, and we are getting more programmes on the front of iPlayer than ever.
“Although the linear decline we are seeing is a concern, it is just a reality. For me the growth in iPlayer is offsetting that, particularly for Scottish content.”
Ms Thornton added” iPlayer is absolutely the future of where audiences are going, so we need to keep our eyes on the growth there.”
In the recent run of Uefa Nations League matches, Scotland games ended up being shown on a variety of outlets including subscription packages, terrestrial TV and online.
Viaplay and ITV4 showed fixtures on TV by then ViaPlay decided to show matches on YouTube only.
BBC Scotland showed the Northern Ireland and Finland games for free in the run-up to the Euros.
ViaPlay, which has undergone a re-brand in the UK to Premier Sports, currently has a contract to show Scotland games until 2028.
But there has been a push from SNP ministers to put the games on free-to-air TV, as they were before Sky Sports acquired the rights.
Hayley Valentine, the new director of BBC Scotland, giving evidence to MPs[/caption]
She and colleague Louise Thornton appeared at a Scottish Affairs Committee hearing[/caption]
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