BBC’s new £44million Scottish channel costs SIX TIMES more per viewer than BBC One as just 18% of Scots tune in

THE BBC’s new £44million Scottish channel costs SIX TIMES more per viewer than BBC One – and just 18 per cent of Scots are regularly tuning in.

Figures from the corporation’s annual report shows BBC Scotland, which launched last year, costs viewers 41p for every hour watched.

Alamy

Fewer than one in five Scots are regularly tuning in to the new BBC Scotland service[/caption]

Getty - Contributor

The news comes after The Sun exclusively revealed BBC Radio 4 presenter James Naughtie makes £175k a year for 23 hours of broadcast time[/caption]

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Meanwhile, Zoe Ball has accepted a huge £1m pay rise – despite losing listeners [/caption]

Neil Jones - The Sun

And Gary Linekar accepted a pay cut – but will still make more than £1m a year[/caption]

By comparison, BBC One costs 7p per user.

Viewers for the new channel spend an average of an hour and a half a week watching it.

And shows reach just 18 per cent of Scots, the Sunday Times reports.

In comparison, Scottish viewers of BBC One spend an average of seven hours and 24 minutes each week tuning in.

The station has been managed by BBC director Steve Carson since it launched.

A spokesperson said: “We have successfully brought another new TV channel to Scotland, invested in our journalism with 80 new jobs, created 250 additional roles in advanced technology and continued to bring news, sport, arts, education and religious programming during a pandemic.

“Our impact on the creative sector in Scotland is also significant, working hand in hand with more than 70 independent companies and other bodies such as Screen Scotland to make more impactful programmes such as the award-winning drama, Guilt.”

The BBC says it’s unfair to compare the costs of its Scottish channels with the ones available across the UK.

Britain’s population is 67million, whereas 5.5million people live in Scotland.

The news was revealed hours after the BBC was slammed for paying Radio 4 host James Naughtie £175,000 a year – for just 23 hours of broadcast time.

Naughtie’s huge pay dwarfs the Prime Minister’s £150,402- a-year salary, and the £114,000 a top brain surgeon might and up to £114,000 for a brain surgeon.

Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball, on £1.36million, is the BBC’s top earner after a £1million rise, despite losing nearly a million listeners.

Match of the Day host Gary Lineker will get £1.35million after a cut from £1.75million.

It comes as the corporation cuts hundreds of jobs from its regional programmes.

Critics say Naughtie’s salary is proof the BBC is ‘out of touch’ as the corporation also continues to face backlash over changes to TV licensing for over-75s.

A source said: “It’s quite clear it’s been an old boy’s club at the top of the BBC.

“Naughtie has been a big name for years but I cannot see how the BBC can justify such an enormous salary for that amount of work.

“He’s well respected and brilliant at what he does but that’s a huge sum and a kick in the teeth for those losing jobs.

“It shows how out of touch the BBC is.”

In July, the BBC announced a huge shake-up of regional TV news and local radio in England which will lead to 450 job cuts.

Changes will see one instead of two presenters fronting 6.30pm regional TV news bulletins as the corporation looks to make £25million in savings.

Inside Out, the regional current affairs magazine show made in 11 different regions, will be axed and replaced with a new investigative journalism programme from six hubs.

A ‘simplified schedule’ introduced on local radio during the pandemic, with single instead of double presenters and a reduction in the number of shows, will become permanent.