The Chair of MG ALBA has announced that a series of strategic discussions have been taking place with a focus on the aims and expectations for the future of Gaelic broadcasting.The Scottish Government is facilitating these discussions which also involve the UK Government, Ofcom and the BBC.
Writing in the organisation’s Annual Report 2019-20, released today, chair Allan MacDonald sets out MG ALBA’s bold vision to build a clear way forward, based on ‘partnership and collaboration’ whilst being mindful of the enormous challenges that the media sector is likely to face in the next decade.
Today’s report also reveals that MG ALBA’s strategy to build a network of international co-production partnerships has delivered a significant return on investment. For an investment of £635,000, BBC ALBA has been able to broadcast an additional £3.1m of original content.
These relationships have also given the channel a platform on the world stage including MG ALBA’s announcement last week of nine countries sharing BBC ALBA content this summer.
Despite the success of this global approach, the combined contributions of MG ALBA and the BBC enabled 1.8 hours of original programme per day, versus 1.9 hours the previous year.
BBC ALBA’s Gaelic audience appreciation figures have risen year on year (8.5/10 versus 8.4/10) as did national audience figures (7.7/10 versus 7.4/10). Gaelic audience linear reach fell slightly to 56.9% (59.4%) and national audience reach also slipped marginally to 9.7% (10.3%).
Importantly, though, MG ALBA continues to build a multi-platform approach, which is reaping dividends. The appointment of Iseabail Mactaggart as the organisation’s first Director of Multi-platform Content consolidated an approach which has seen a rise in BBC iPlayer viewing (5%) and 79% growth across social and digital platforms.
Live programming has been a huge part of MG ALBA’s approach for BBC ALBA. Original music has featured prominently, with Belladrum, Na Trads, Cèilidh na Bliadhna Ùire, Còisir Eurovision, TRNSMT and BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of The Year, the 2019 Royal National Mòd, Gradam Ceoil music awards, Celtic Connections and Seirm all entertaining audiences.
The channel also consolidated its position as the home of Scottish women’s sport, broadcasting Scotland’s matches at the FIFA Women’s World Cup, European women’s club ties and covering domestic women’s football as well as international and domestic rugby and curling.
LearnGaelic, which launched a new website earlier in the year, saw a stunning 43% rise in its users.
MG ALBA Chair Allan MacDonald comments:
“This year’s Annual Report underlines the significant challenges that MG ALBA faces, particularly when it comes to delivering our partnership with BBC ALBA. The reality is that as budgets tighten in real terms, we are having to be ever more inventive in how we create original programming.
“That we are delivering exceptional multi-platform content, building digital audiences, increasing audience appreciation, and encouraging more people than ever to engage with Gaelic is exciting.
“I welcome direct engagement with the Scottish Government, UK Government, Ofcom and the BBC which gives us hope that we can find a path which helps deliver the transformational change in model that is required to help secure the brightest possible future for Gaelic Media.
“Our aim is to ensure that there is a well-resourced and clear directional pathway based on partnership and collaboration, robust enough to deal with the challenges and opportunities that will lie ahead in the next decade in a very volatile media climate.”
Donald Campbell, Chief Executive at MG ALBA says:
“The discussions on Public Service Broadcasting are important for the future of Gaelic media for many reasons, including the future funding of the BBC and the policy provisions that are required for Gaelic broadcasting.
“In the coming year, we will dedicate a significant portion of our energies to clarifying and strengthening the policy foundations of Gaelic media in this increasingly fragmented and competitive multi-platform media environment.
“We will continue to seek certainty of funding to deliver a future multiplatform Gaelic media service, building on current high levels of content satisfaction in order to increase audience, language, cultural, social and economic impacts.”
An increase in demand for Gaelic has seen the LearnGaelic website double its users during the coronavirus lockdown.
With self-improvement and language learning especially seeing a surge in interest in the past few months, MG ALBA, one of the LearnGaelic partners and operators of the site, has announced record figures.
Over 114,000 unique users accessed LearnGaelic from the beginning of lockdown, more than double the total of Gaelic speakers according the last census.
Eilidh Lewsey, LearnGaelic Editor, said: “We’ve seen the strongest growth in our beginners’ resources such as our Gaelic Sounds pages and Fichead Facal (vocabulary lists). An Litir Bheag (The Little Letter), a short letter aimed at learners, is fully integrated with our dictionary and has also enjoyed a momentous growth. Our Dictionary consistently continues to gather momentum and we are delighted that learners and Gaelic speakers alike continue to enjoy putting it to good use.”
With the launch of Scottish Gaelic last year on the global language learning app, Duolingo, the language has seen a spike in interest across digital platforms.
The LearnGaelic website was redesigned last year and the social media outreach has helped to drive users towards taking the first steps in learning the language.
Nicky MacCrimmon (36) from Dundee, spoke a little bit of Gaelic as a toddler but forgot it all after attending English speaking schools. Over 30 years later he decided to pick it up again and he regularly uses the LearnGaelic website to bolster his skills.
He said: “I was blown away by how much stuff was on the website and how accessible it is. I use quite a lot of the beginners’ resources because they are colourful and full of cartoons and give you a brilliant basic introduction, which is just what you need as a learner.
“I wouldn’t enjoy learning Gaelic as much without LearnGaelic, I might force myself through it but it wouldn’t be anything like as much fun. It’s been hugely helpful for me.”
Gaelic singer Josie Duncan from the band Inyal has been filming a regular segment during lockdown called “Learn a Gaelic song”.
Josie said: “It’s been a joy to still be able to connect and teach song through lockdown with LearnGaelic. Music is always such an important outlet, and even more so just now. Seeing people respond to the videos and post up their own takes on the songs has been absolutely brilliant.”
Created in 2011, LearnGaelic is an online companion for Gaelic learners, with tools and resources useful to all levels of Gaelic proficiency.
LearnGaelic is a partnership between MG ALBA, Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the BBC, Bòrd na Ceiltis (Alba) and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig.
Two BBC ALBA series will be shown across nine different countries this summer.
San Fhuil, a documentary series charting the crofting calendar on the island of South Uist, and music series Port, and have been selected by a number of European countries, as well as Cuba, in an international industry initiative in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
With a reduction in production capacity, the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) arranged a global call out to allow countries to share content to replace postponed or cancelled programming.
The BBC ALBA programmes have sparked wide appeal, with Greece, Bulgaria and Albania all choosing to broadcast both Gaelic series.
San Fhuil (It’s in the Blood) has also been picked up by Polish, Romanian and Croatian broadcasters while Port, the music series presented by acclaimed singers Julie Fowlis and Muireann NicAmhlaoibh, will be broadcast in Ukraine, North Macedonia and Cuba.
MG ALBA, the organisation which operates BBC ALBA in partnership with the BBC, has seen recent success in working with international broadcasters, including earning an award last week at Prix Jeunesse for one of its collaborations.
Margaret Cameron, Channel Editor at MG ALBA, said: “The added value of international partnerships offers a great incentive for independent producers within the Gaelic media sector. It’s wonderful to see Gaelic language content travel the globe, creating new connections and confirming the quality of BBC ALBA’s content and the talent of our suppliers.”
In the past four years, BBC ALBA has benefited from co-finance and co-production deals with countries around the world including China, South Korea and especially in partnership with EBU members.
Last year alone saw BBC ALBA audiences benefit from £3.1 million in additional programme value achieved through co-finance and co-production investment.
BBC ALBA has also worked alongside the EBU with Scotland’s first ever Eurovision entry at the 2019 Eurovision Choirs competition and in creating award-winning children’s programming through their participation in the documentary and drama exchange programmes.
South Uist based filmmaker Beatrix Wood, director/producer of San Fhuil, said: “It’s great that the EBU members have adapted in a positive way to ensure their audiences continue to access a wide range of programmes. We are delighted that San Fhuil will reach a wider international audience because of this. The timeless stories of the South Uist community’s humour and resilience at the heart of this series offer viewers something positive at this time, as well as the escapism of the stunning locations.”
Alasdair MacCuish, owner of Beezr Studios who produced Port, said: “This shows just how relevant and popular traditional music is throughout not just the Celtic nations but worldwide. Having Gaelic music being sung and performed all the way from Havana to Kiev inspires us to create even more fantastic content to tap into that appeal.”
LOOKS Film &TV Prod. GmbH: “Der Krieg und Ich” (AT): im VG Calum (Ruairidh Harris), Komparsen; Fotos: © bei Andreas Wünschirs (awuenschirs@me.com)
A BBC ALBA children’s documentary-drama which tells the story of the Clydebank blitz from a child’s perspective has won an award at Prix Jeunesse, one of the premiere international festivals promoting television for young people.
Securing a prize in the 11-15 category, Gaisgich Òga an Dàrna Cogaidh (Kids of Courage) told the stories of children from Europe and beyond who lived through World War II, using diaries and letters to bring their world to life through drama, archive and model reconstructions.
The eight-part series followed unique perspectives such as young German Soldiers, life in a Jewish Ghetto, and the BBC ALBA episode revisits the fateful dates of March 13 and 14 in 1941 when the Germans dropped thousands of bombs on Clydebank – setting the whole city on fire.
It features a young Gaelic-speaking teenager and reveals the life-saving work of the children in the Clydebank Fire Dept, called the Fire Guard Messengers, who took messages on their bikes to rescue teams to tell them what roads are closed and which houses had been bombed.
BBC ALBA has been involved in many international co-productions in recent years, a strategy that has resulted bringing award-winning programming to viewers while also exporting the Gaelic language to other countries.
Margaret Cameron, Channel Editor at MG ALBA, which operates BBC ALBA in partnership with the BBC, said: “Gaisgich Òga an Dàrna Cogaidh was a brilliantly collaborative project that brought fantastic benefits to BBC ALBA as a co-production partner. As well as bringing the history of WWII to life for our audience, young Gaelic actors and more experienced talent had the unique opportunity to work in drama at a European level. Congratulations to all of the partners involved.”
Gaisgich Òga an Dàrna Cogaidh was a co-production between LOOKSfilm, SWR and Toto Studio, and was broadcast in Germany, France, Poland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and the UK. The Gaelic version of the series was produced by Solus Productions, based in Glasgow.
The Prix Jeunesse Foundation was established in 1964 with the aim to promote quality in children’s television worldwide, by running the bi-annual festival Prix Jeunesse International.
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, this year’s festival was held virtually between the 5th and 11th of June 2020.
BBC ALBA is to broadcast live games from the German women’s Bundesliga, in an exclusive deal which will see it follow the newly resumed German women’s season to the conclusion of its 19/20 season.
It will be the first live sport broadcast by a UK free-to-air channel since lockdown. BBC ALBA audiences will see action between high profile clubs such as Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen.
The move builds on the channel’s position as home of Scottish women’s sport. Scottish women’s football has seen several high-profile players at German clubs, including Lisa Evans, now at Arsenal, but who also played for both Turbine Potsdam and FC Bayern Munich after Glasgow City FC. Scottish international Sophie Howard, now at Reading, also played for 1899 Hoffenheim. COVID-19 disrupted the channel’s planned coverage of the high-profile German club, Wolfsburg’s ties against Glasgow City in their UEFA Women’s Champions League fixtures earlier in the year.
BBC ALBA’s championing of women’s sport has seen it cover the FIFA Women’s World Cup, UEFA Women’s Champions League, the Scottish national team’s UEFA Women’s EURO qualifiers as well as being the broadcast partner for coverage of the Scottish Women’s Football’s domestic league, the SWPL.
MG ALBA’s Director of Multiplatform Content and BBC ALBA’s executive on sport, Iseabail Mactaggart, said ”We’re delighted to bring coverage of one of the strongest women’s leagues in Europe to BBC ALBA audiences – in doing so, we not only showcase excellence in women’s sport, we bring Gaelic to audiences that would otherwise not experience it as a lively, living language. We’re huge supporters of the growth of Scottish women’s football and in showcasing the FlyerAlarm Frauen-Bundesliga we’re providing high quality, live sports coverage at a time we know audiences need it, and demonstrating what is possible in women’s football.”
The games are:
Saturday 30 May – FC Bayern München v TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, 1200 KO
Friday 5 June – TSG 1899 Hoffenheim v Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 1815 KO
Sat 13 June – SGS Essen v VfL Wolfsburg 1200, KO
Sun 14 June – FC Bayern München v FF USV Jena 1300, KO
Wed 17 June – VfL Wolfsburg v SC Freiburg 1300, KO
With further games possibly added depending on outcomes as the season nears its conclusion.
BBC ALBA has earned a nomination at this year’s Royal Television Society (RTS) Scotland awards for quirky children’s drama Rùn.
Rùn (Private Pet) tells the wry and heart-warming story of a mischievous deaf boy whose world is transformed by a four-legged friend who becomes the “ears” he never had.
The prestigious RTS Scotland Awards are the gold standard of achievement in the television industry, recognising excellence across programme making and broadcasting skills.
The programme is nominated in the Children’s category, and features a talented first time deaf actor, Cieran, alongside two of the best known faces of Gaelic screen, Carina MacLeod and Calum MacKinnon.
Incorporating Gaelic and BSL (British Sign Language), the short drama will be shown across Europe as part of the wider European Broadcasting Union (EBU) scheme.
The programme, produced by Sorbier Productions from Glasgow, received funding from the new Young Audience Content Fund (YACF), which is managed by the British Film Institute (BFI).
Patsi MacKenzie, director of Sorbier Productions, said:
“Rùn tells a story of inclusivity and friendship, things that are important with all cultures and languages and it’s inspiring that we have again been recognised at the RTS Scotland Awards.”
BBC ALBA have taken part in the EBU drama scheme for a number of years and last year’s selection Buidheagain, also by Sorbier Productions, won Best Children’s Programme at the RTS Scotland Awards 2019.
Bill MacLeod, Commissioning Editor at MG ALBA, which operates BBC ALBA in partnership with the BBC, said:
“Our children’s content on BBC ALBA is fantastic and working with Sorbier we’ve managed to get some really beautiful films in the last few years.”
“We’re creating content that is universally relatable and appealing and working with international organisations and partners means we can bring our own audiences more diversity and original perspectives. Combining Gaelic and British Sign Language was a really important thing for us to do. It’s a sign of the skill of the writers, director and actors that you never stop to question the mix of languages – you just enjoy a wonderful story.”
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, there will be no formal ceremony to accompany this year’s RTS Scotland Awards, but winners will be announced 3 June 2020.
Fèis Rois will livestream a virtual festival with an evening of traditional music from well-known artists to mark the 30th edition of their Fèis Rois nan Inbheach (Adults) festival on Sunday evening (3 May).
A selection of performances from some of Scotland’s premiere traditional musicians, all from the comfort of their own homes, will then be shown on BBC ALBA on Monday evening, as part of Fèis Rois’s anniversary celebrations.
Fèis Rois had intended to host a live ‘physical’ concert with some of the festival’s best-known musicians, but the Covid-19 crisis didn’t allow for that to happen. Instead, they decided to go ahead with this weekend of virtual celebrations.
Gaelic singer Joy Dunlop will be hosting the program on BBC ALBA, with some of the highlights from the 3-hour virtual concert.
The line-up features stalwarts of the Scottish traditional music scene, such as Donald Shaw and Karen Matheson; West Highland Cèilidh royalty Iain MacFarlane and Ingrid Henderson; Gaelic singers Mischa MacPherson, Brian Ó hEadhra and Fiona MacKenzie, amongst many others.
Fèis Rois Chief Executive, Fiona Dalgetty, said: “We’re so glad to have the backing of BBC ALBA to help bring some of our 30th Anniversary celebrations to a wide audience, and to showcase some of the amazing talent that Fèis Rois has helped to cultivate over the years. It’s always great to be bringing more attention to a movement that has gone from strength to strength over the past three decades and more, and we would invite people to get involved in our online activities at this time.”
Margaret Cameron, Channel Editor at MG ALBA, which operates BBC ALBA in partnership with the BBC, said: “Being able to showcase grassroots movements, particularly in the arts, is something that BBC ALBA has always aimed to achieve, and the ability to collaborate with Fèis Rois on this project has been invaluable – it brings together different audiences, at a time when it’s easy to feel disconnected.”
The three-hour extravaganza of musical talent will be streamed live on Fèis Rois’s Facebook page on Sunday 3 May from 8pm. Find out more about Fèis Rois on their website, www.feisrois.org, and catch the livestream on their Facebook, here: www.facebook.com/feisrois
Fèis Rois| Bheir Dhomh am Fonn, produced by Bees Nees Media, will broadcast on BBC ALBA the following night, Monday 4 May 9pm and will then be available on the BBC iPlayer.
Ofcom has today announced the reappointment of Mairi Kidd to the board of MG ALBA.
Ofcom’s recommendation for the reappointment has been approved by John Swinney MSP, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills. This follows an appraisal process led by the chair of MG ALBA and a reappointment interview with Ofcom in Scotland.
Mairi is currently a member of the MG ALBA Board’s Audit and Assurance Committee. She is also the Head of Literature, Languages and Publishing at Creative Scotland. Her second term with the MG ALBA board will begin on 1 May 2020 and will run for four years.
As announced by Ofcom in December 2019, Ceit-Anna MacLeod will join the MG ALBA board, also on 1 May 2020.
MG ALBA looks forward to welcoming Ceit-Anna, a lawyer who was brought up on the Isle of Lewis and is a native Gaelic speaker.
MG ALBA say a fond farewell to Jo MacDonald and David Brew, who today (30 April) leave the board after eight years of service and thank them for all they have done over the years. Both served as committee chairs and MG ALBA will greatly miss their combined knowledge, experience and skills.
BBC ALBA and Radio nan Gàidheal’s schedules will keep audiences informed, educated and entertained during this unprecedented time with the services providing content in News, Education and Children’s output, Culture, Sport and Religion across platforms, to ensure audiences can access what they need, when they need it.
News: the news output across all Gaelic services, including online and on social media, is a vital service and the BBC’s news teams are working hard to ensure programming continues and key messages are easy to find and share.
From Monday the 30th March BBC ALBA’s An Là will include news and information from communities alongside a new, multiplatform short programme, A-staigh, which will share personal insights into how people across Scotland and beyond are managing social distancing and self-isolation.
On Radio nan Gàidheal, Aithris na Maidne will start the day at its regular time of 0730, handing over to Prògram Choinnich at 0830 to continue discussion on the topics of the day.
Education/Children’s: BBC ALBA is creating BBC iPlayer and YouTube playlists of Gaelic children’s and educational content in a convenient on-demand service. From tomorrow (31 March) box sets of children’s content will start appearing on BBC iPlayer, starting with a fabulous collection of Julia Donaldson animated adaptions. Updates on this will be shared on MG ALBA and BBC ALBA social media pages in the coming days.
Religion: BBC ALBA and Radio nan Gàidheal schedules will feature new religious content, as well as archive services. On Sundays from 29th March BBC ALBA will offer an hour of religious content from 1850-2000. The first archive service to be shown came from St Columba’s Cathedral in Oban led by the late Father Donald MacKay, and is now available on the iPlayer.
Sport: BBC ALBA and Radio nan Gàidheal, will continue to offer sports and entertainment programming. On Saturdays from 4th April at 1800, a series of highlights programmes with a focus on individual sports starts with a look at the world of Women’s Rugby. Radio nan Gàidheal’s award-winning Spòrs na Seachdain continues to offer lively, informed and wide-ranging discussion on sporting matters each Saturday morning at 0900. And BBC ALBA will feature distinctive coverage of fabulous ‘golden games’ from its back catalogue in coming weeks.
Culture: BBC ALBA’s new series Sofa Sessions will use technology to bring local and international artists together to perform for us from their homes. We’ll also be putting some of our best loved musical artists back on stage as Robert Robertson takes a dive into the archive.
BBC ALBA’s producers are working hard on the creation of new content in new and imaginative ways which will ensure that we keep you informed and entertained through the weeks and months to come.
Margaret Mary Murray, the BBC’s Head of Gaelic Services, said: “Working with our partners MG ALBA and producers across Scotland, we wish to ensure that our Gaelic services are responsive and flexible and offer the best possible range of services for audiences. Our priorities are that vital news is shared in a timely and effective manner, that we offer opportunities for spiritual reflection, that young audiences can find resources to inform and educate them and that we offer companionship, amusement and entertainment for all, as we stay at home.”
A total of 13 Gaelic programmes have been nominated from BBC ALBA and BBC Radio nan Gàidheal for the 2020 Celtic Media Festival awards.
Among the BBC ALBA nominations were Cèilidh na Bliadhn’ Ùire (the BBC ALBA Hogmanay ceilidh), FUNC (comedy sketch show) and Tha thu air Aigeann m’ Inntinn (animation about the Iolaire disaster).
BBC Radio nan Gàidheal has also been nominated for station of the year, whilst programmes including Bailtean fo Bhròn and Beag air Bheag are shortlisted for awards.
Iseabail Mactaggart, Director of Multiplatform Content at MG ALBA, the organisation that operates BBC ALBA in partnership with the BBC, said: “It’s great to see such distinctive Gaelic content being recognised. We know our audiences have loved these programmes and this recognition is hugely valuable. Congratulations to all.
The Celtic Media Festival this year takes place in Quimper in Brittany from 2-4 June.
The BBC ALBA programmes which have been shortlisted in 2020 are:
Animation
Tha thu air Aigeann m’ Inntinn (Produced by Am Bocsa)
Arts
Colin MacLeod, When it Kicks in (Produced by MacTV)
Children’s Programme
Lòn le Linda (Produced by BBC Gàidhlig)
Comedy
FUNC (Produced by The Woven Thread)
Entertainment
Cèilidh na Bliadhn’ Ùire (Produced by BBC Gàidhlig)
History
Gaisgich Òga an Dàrna Cogaidh (Produced by LOOKSFilms + Solus Productions)
In addition to its nomination in the Radio Station of the Year category, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal also has several programmes shortlisted across radio categories:
Radio Documentary
Bailtean fo Bhròn
Santa Maria III a’ Seòladh Dhachaigh
Radio Magazine Show
Beag air Bheag
Radio Music Programme (Live)
A’ Mìre ri Mòr aig a’ Mhòd
Sruth na Maoile
Radio Sports
Caley Thistle Inbhir Nis aig 25
Spòrs na Seachdain
