BBC Scotland director looks to adopt younger tone and look for proposed Scottish TV channel

MacKinnon, the first female director of BBC Scotland, has now served a year in the role, and was reflecting on her tenure at the broadcaster’s headquarters at Glasgow Quay 30 November at an event organised by Glasgow Chamber‏.

She said: “The average age for the audience on BBC One is 61. We have a real job to do to try and address the fact that younger audiences are departing us significantly. They are going elsewhere for the content. Also the ways that people are consuming content is changing.”

The new channel will have a unique identity designed to be inclusive and engaging to younger people in particular, MacKinnon said. “We will want to skew slightly younger with this new channel. In look and tone it can be slightly younger. We are in the process of recruiting; we won’t just exclusively hire young but we also look to reflect the diversity of Scotland.”

BBC Scotland has work to reestablish relevance with younger demographics – especially in the knowledge that over 75s are not legally required to pay the annual £147 licence fee.

The broadcaster is in a position where it is dividing its assets between digital and linear channels, and MacKinnon delivered an interesting metaphor to visualise this. “We are riding two horses. We are riding the digital horse and the analogue horse at the same time, which is difficult to do but we absolutely have to.”

And in reaching young people, the broadcaster has a choice to make: whether or not to make its content available on the leading social networks and apps where young eyes are rather than only hosting on its own platforms. She said: “I am a permanent optimist. I don’t believe that we can’t address these major challenges, whether we will be entirely success or not on our own remains to be seen.

“We are already dependent on other providers like Facebook to carry our content, this is something a lot of broadcasters are facing. Whether it is working with others. Who knows where we will be but god knows we will give it our best tries.”

MacKinnon expressed pride in BBC Scotland’s young outreach wing, BBC The Social, a platform that champions young content creators as a means of connecting with the audiences BBC One may be missing, as well as searching for new talent that could be leading shows on the flagship channels later down the line. Consultations are being held to extend the project beyond Scottish shores to other regions of the BBC.

The talk came as Ofcom welcomed stakeholders to comment on the launch of the new Scottish TV channel. The consultation looks to justify whether the public will receive enough value from the expenditure.

The consultation period will last two weeks until 14 December. Ofcom will have to balance the following effects: “The BBC may enhance public value and encourage competition by offering more choice, stimulating demand or promoting innovation to the benefit of UK citizens and consumers.

“However, there is also the potential that some changes the BBC proposes may harm competition, for example by crowding out investment from third parties, with ultimately negative consequences for audiences. In order to protect fair and effective competition, therefore, Ofcom must examine significant changes which the BBC wishes to make to its TV, radio and online public services.”

The final decision is to be tabled before 30 June 2018, months before the service is due to launch.