Gaelic broadcasting in Scotland

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Gaelic broadcasting in Scotland is a developing area of the media in Scotland which deals with broadcasts given in

broadcasting media,[1]
Scotland now has Gaelic broadcasting all over Scotland both on television and radio.

History

1923–1945

The first

United Free Church in Aberdeen. Two weeks later, a recital of Gaelic singing was broadcast, though it was introduced in English
.

The first regular programme was singer Neil MacLean's Sgeulachdan agus Oran ('Stories and songs'), broadcast from the Aberdeen studio. The first Gaelic radio play, entitled Dunach, was aired in 1933. It is perhaps indicative of the status of Gaelic broadcasting at this time that the producer of Dunach knew no Gaelic.

A series of lessons for Gaelic learners was broadcast in 1935. In 1936, Scotland's first outside broadcast was a Gaelic service from Iona Abbey. In 1939 a weekly Gaelic news review was launched.

In 1935, Hugh MacPhee was appointed head of the BBC's first Gaelic department,[2] which moved to Glasgow in 1938; this seems to have been the first attempt to put Gaelic broadcasting on a serious footing.

In 1940, An Comunn Gàidhealach requested an increase of output to two news programmes and a children's programme each week. This was refused, which resulted in questions being raised in the House of Commons.

The post-war years

After the

Fred Macaulay. With two full-time producers, the regular programming was expanded to 90 minutes per week. There was a Friday evening news slot which George Orwell, writing at that time in Jura, criticised for its "amateurishness". A number of radio plays were produced, including An Tunnag Fhiadhaich, a translation by Lachlan MacKinnon of Henrik Ibsen
's The Wild Duck (1951).

Television

Because few areas of the

islands could receive television signals before the early 1960s, Gaelic TV was not an issue at first, though there had been coverage of the Mòd. As with radio, Gaelic TV broadcasting began with Gaelic songs introduced in English, such as Ceòl nan Gaidheal ('Music of the Gaels'), introduced by James Shaw Grant (1962). The first genuine Gaelic TV programme was in the light entertainment category: Se Ur Beatha ('You're welcome') in 1964. The first current affairs television series, Bonn Comhraidh, was launched in 1970. The first Gaelic educational programme Beagan Gaidhlig began in 1971. Gaelic schools programmes began in 1975. The first Gaelic children's TV programme, Cuir Car, was aired in 1977, followed by Bzzz in 1981, and the first programme for pre-school children, Mag is Mog, in 1982.[3] The pre-school "classic" Dòtaman
was broadcast from 1985.

Radio Highland

In 1976, BBC Radio Highland began broadcasting from

Radio nan Gaidheal
starting in October 1985.

1980–2000

The

BBC ALBA following the completion of the digital switchover with the exception of Children's Gaelic programmes which continued to be broadcast on weekday mornings during CBeebies until March 2013 and the long-running current affairs programme Eòrpa until January 2019. Eòrpa is currently being repeated on BBC Parliament
on Saturday nights.

The

Win, Lose or Draw), Machair
, Haggis Agus, Air A Charraig and more others.

The

BBC ALBA
.

21st-century Gaelic broadcasting

Television

On 11 February 2002, CBeebies Alba was launched as the new programming slot for Children's Gaelic Programmes, initially broadcast on

Mod repeat until October 2009) and they moved to BBC Two Scotland during CBeebies under the name CBeebies Alba, beginning in November 2002, Like BBC One Scotland
, The timeslot varied in the earlier years. Initially it was broadcast from 9 am to 9:30 am from November 2002 to June 2003, later at 8:30 – 9 am from October to December 2003. For a while it was at 9:30 – 10 am from January - June 2004 but moved back to 8:30 – 9 am from October 2004 until December 2012 and from 7:50 – am - 8:20 am for a brief period in January - March 2013. In between it has come on at different times in the school holidays at 10:25 – 10:50 am in April 2003, 9:40 – 10:10 am in April 2004, and 7:30 – 8 am from July 2006 to September 2010.

Following the removal of children's shows from the mainstream channels BBC One and Two after the completion of the digital switchover, the programming slot was discontinued and all programmes moved to BBC Alba. Children's programmes along with other Gaelic programming can be seen every day on BBC Alba 5 – 7 pm. It broadcasts until midnight (sometimes 1 am due to sports coverage).

BBC Alba is a joint venture channel between the BBC and MG Alba. It is the first channel to be delivered under a BBC licence by a partnership. It broadcasts for up to seven hours a day in the evening. BBC Alba is broadcast on Freeview in Scotland as well as satellite and cable television providers and BBC iPlayer in the UK.

The popular Gaelic drama Bannan was first broadcast in 2014.

Radio

Moray Firth Radio
) in Inverness is also broadcast each week on several of these stations.

Broadcasting for Gaelic learners

The broadcasting media have also carried Gaelic lessons for learners of the language. The first was a short radio series in 1934, six fortnightly Gaelic lessons in Gaelic by J. Nicolson. The weekly series Learning Gaelic by Edward Purcell with John M Bannerman and Archie Henry began in 1949.[7]

Among the early BBC TV courses for beginners' Gaelic was

BBC ALBA. In 2021, BBC Alba, in collaboration with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and the Scottish Government, introduced 'SpeakGaelic', presented by Joy Dunlop
.

With the spread of

language-learning: Baile Mhuilinn (TV) and Fiream Faram
(Radio) both appeared in 1998.

See also

References

  1. ^ Summary of PVA Research - BBC Online on behalf of the BBC Trust.
  2. ^ "BBC Gaelic Assistant: An Comunn Official's Appointment". The Herald. 16 August 1935. p. 8. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  3. ^ Young, Andrew (30 January 1982). "Gaelic fun with Mag and Mag". The Herald. p. 9. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  4. ^ Broadcasting Policies for Scotland Archived 30 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine - Robert Tatham, pp.13, 2008. Retrieved from the website of the University of Edinburgh
  5. ^ Scottish Cinema Now edited by Jonathan Murray, Fidelma Farley, Rod Stoneman
  6. ^ O’Drisceoil, Fachna (1995). "Scots Gaelic and Welsh language broadcasting in the cultural contexts: A comparative analysis" (PDF). Irish Communications Review. 5: 49–56.
  7. ^ BBC ALBA - History Timeline from BBC Online

Sources

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gaelic_broadcasting_in_Scotland&oldid=1189396817"