BBC Radio Scotland

BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 November 1978.^[1]

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BBC Radio Scotland

Logo used since 2022
Glasgow
Broadcast area	Scotland[a]
Frequency	FM: 92.5–94.7 MHz AM: 810 kHz DAB: 11B, 11C and 12D Freeview: 711 (Scotland only) Freesat: 712 Sky: 0116 (UK only) Virgin Media: 930
RDS	BBC Scot
Programming
Language(s)	English
Format	News, music, sport, talk
Ownership
Owner	BBC
Operator	BBC Scotland
Sister stations	BBC Radio nan Gàidheal BBC Radio Orkney BBC Radio Shetland
History
First air date	23 November 1978; 46 years ago (1978-11-23)
Former frequencies	585 MW
Technical information
Licensing authority	Ofcom
Links
Webcast	BBC Sounds
Website	bbc.co.uk/radioscotland

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Radio Scotland is broadcast in English, whilst sister station Radio nan Gàidheal broadcasts in Scottish Gaelic.

According to RAJAR, the station broadcasts to a weekly audience of 801,000 and has a listening share of 5.8% as of March 2024.^[2]

The first BBC Radio Scotland broadcast was on 17 December 1973, a fortnight earlier than planned.^[3]

BBC Radio Scotland was founded as a full-time radio network on 23 November 1978.^[4] Previously it was possible only to opt out of BBC Radio 4, and the service was known as Radio 4 Scotland or, formally on air, as "BBC Scotland Radio 4". Although on some occasions Radio Scotland used to use BBC Radio 2 as a sustaining service at certain times, most notably during the Sport on 2 Saturday afternoon programme with a BBC Scotland opt-out on 202m known as "BBC Scotland Radio 2"; however, this has been discontinued since.^[5][6][7][8]

The establishment of a separate network was made possible when Radio 4 became a fully UK-wide network when it moved from medium wave to long wave and new VHF (FM) transmitters were brought into service, so that Radio 4 and Radio Scotland no longer had to share on FM. However, it was not until the early 1990s that Radio 4 was available on FM across all of Scotland; so for its first decade on air, the station only broadcast during the day so that Radio 4 could be heard on Radio Scotland's transmitters in the evening to compensate for poorer AM reception after dark.

Kirsty Wark launched her career on BBC Radio Scotland, first as a researcher and then as a producer.^[9]

Radio Scotland broadcasts a wide range of programming, including news, debate, music, drama, comedy and sports. It is broadcast from the BBC Scotland headquarters in the Pacific Quay in Glasgow. The station simulcasts BBC Radio 5 Live during its overnight downtime.

BBC Radio Orkney and BBC Radio Shetland opt out of BBC Radio Scotland for 30 minutes each weekday to broadcast a local news programme and during the winter months this is supplemented for both areas by an additional hour-long programme. Local news and weather bulletins are also broadcast as opt-outs from news studios in Selkirk, Dumfries, Aberdeen and Inverness on weekdays.

The title "Head of Radio, Scotland" was applied to cover not only the Radio Scotland service but also BBC Scotland's radio productions for other networks.