BBC Scotland will not axe River City pledge from Ken MacQuarrie
The head of BBC Scotland today told staff that there are no plans to cut its weekly drama show River City.
BBC Scotland News reports that director Ken MacQuarrie said he could make it "absolutely clear" that there was no proposal to axe the show, which attracts 500,000 viewers.
He made the pledge during a question and answer session involving BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten.
The Scottish Sun had already launched a campaign – Save Our Shieldinch – and recruited its weekly columnist, GMTV TV presenter Lorraine Kelly – to lend her support to the campaign.
The BBC has to make 16% savings across its output and there had been rumours that River City would be cut back.
However, MacQuarrie stated: "We have no plans to cut River City. I can make that absolutely clear."
Earlier, Lord Patten had told BBC Radio Scotland that newspaper speculation about the show being dropped was "far-fetched".
Patten will be in Scotland for the next two days discussing savings with fellow BBC Trust members.
The BBC is having its budget slashed by a fifth over the next four years, partly as a result of the licence fee being frozen.
Scotland is set to lose £16million of its annual budget of £80million for Scottish-produced programmes, and there has been speculation that 150 staff will lose their jobs north of the border.