Alba to be on Freeview?

Ivan wrote:

"The BBC is preparing to spend millions more on BBC Alba, the
controversial Gaellic television station, as it seeks to boost viewing
figures."
"Alba, which has lost one third of its viewers since it was launched a
year ago, could be made available on Freeview next year."

Yes, one of them died.



"Currently available only on cable and satellite, the channel costs
three times more per viewer than other comparable BBC offerings
including BBC 3."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6440138/BBC-is-preparing-to-spend-millions-more-on-BBC-Alba.html

On Oct 27, 2:24*pm, "Zimmy" wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message

...
On Oct 27, 9:14 am, Bigguy wrote:

Bigguy wrote:
Jerry wrote:
"John Wright" ""john\"@no spam here.com" wrote in message

You might not be a raving Scot but it *is* your Culture, and if you're
not Scottish by birth then you hardly have the right to an opinion.

Would this also go the other way - are 'native born' Scots also denied
an opinion on 'English matters'?

I guess this also precludes 'native born' Scots from poking their noses
into English affairs.

Someone must have forgotten to tell Gordon Brown. ;-)
And Alistair Darling, oh and thanks to Fred Goodwin too.

Isn't RBS a Scottish Bank? (I think the clue is in the name).

But they own one of the biggest Bank brands in England. NWB.

At least they haven't imposed something solely on the English, unlike
Margaret Thatcher with the poll tax. Still she single handedly managed to
ruin the Conservatives chances in Scotland for decades to come, so I suppose
we can thank her for that.

Z

"Paul S" [email protected] wrote in message
...
:
snip
:
: Surely if you want to provide a Gaelic service then using the
: red button for an alternative audio track over the standard
: BBC Scotland output should be sufficient

Not if the intension is to use the programmes as a means to teach
the language, a disjointed voice to some other languages mouth
movements is more than a little pointless!

"Alan White" wrote in message
...
: On Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:37:58 -0000, "Jerry"
: wrote:
:
: But then you are not going to be affected by these changes
: anyway... Duh!
:
: So?

Duh?... You mean, what is wrong answering some other question to
what has been asked, apart from being rather pointless it muddies
the otherwise crystal clear waters...

In article , Paul S
[email protected] wrote:

"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...

I wonder if the BBC 'darn sarf' realise that 'Gael' and 'Scot' are far
from being synonyms.

I also don't think much of the "so listen on Long Wave" type of
argument. I spent too long in the past stuck with a situation where we
had Radio Scotland on FM but *not* Radio 4.


I must admit I don't see the need for this service - why should Gaelic
speakers have a distinctly different interest in programming terms than
other Scots?

There are, I think, two related issues. One is the language, the other is
the related cultural/social aspects in terms of music, poetry, etc, and the
lives of the communities involved. IIUC There are already some sound radio
stations or opt outs for some areas.

Personally, I do agree with and like having some Gaelic programmes on
BBC1/2 and having coverage of the related history, etc. That makes good
sense to me. That seems to me to be better than giving the topics their own
'ghetto' station. At best, I suspect most in Scotland would then at best
ignore it, and at worst resent it having 'taken away' so many radio
stations that others can still hear via Freeview.

If the problem is that this service is too Glasgow/Edinburgh centric
then it is the programming that needs addressing not the language being
used - and living in Northampton and having Look 'Norwich' as the
regional programme I do understand this criticism.

I don't know, but I have the feeling that there may be some complex
Scottish 'politics' here between various factions arguing their 'corner'
and trying to position themselves. The Gael areas tend to be far from the
'central belt', and perhaps not just in terms of physical geography. :-)

This does make me wonder about the motives of those who made the 'proposal'
and then what they - and others - might do to exploit any ensuring debate
or decisions for their own ends. To me this looks like a minefield for the
BBC. One they might be wiser to avoid entering.

It might make more sense in practice if the change were limited to the
parts of the country where Gaelic is more commonly spoken. i.e. roughly
where there are Gaelic sound radio provisions now. But even that does
strike me as potentially unwise as an outcome.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Point of note from a resident of the Highlands of Jockland.

Estimates I have seen indicate that there are around 60,000 Gaelic speakers
in Scotland and around 300,000 Urdu speakers. So a channel in Urdu would be
more justifiable than one in bloody Gaelic !.

The other problem with Gaelic making it more irrelvant than it already
should be is in the written form there is such a variance.

A document in "classic Gaelic" from a Professor at Edinburgh University
would be hard to read by an everyday "modern Gaelic" speaker in Northern
Scotland and vice-versa. I came across this issue when involved in providing
translated documents for NHS/Councils in Scotland. That is to say documents
translated by Uni. staff rejected by the communties they were provided to as
unusable and documents translated by community members criticised by Gaelic
Uni. staff. as not proper Gaelic.

Basically BBC Alba, what a load of P.C. toss it is to provide it and a total
waste of licence payers money just like the tax money wasted on the very
expensive mickey mouse parliament full of half-wits in Edinburgh.

Must go, time to take my meds. before the red mist takes full hold.
bye.

"Illuminated" wrote in message
...

snip
:
: The other problem with Gaelic making it more irrelvant than it
already
: should be is in the written form there is such a variance.
:

Even more reason to promote the, unified, spoken Gaelic word
then!

In article , Java Jive
wrote:
I am ambivalent about this.

I have always loved the sound of the language.

Me too. But I could say the same about other languages like French,
Welsh, etc. Or many other languages when sung by a skilful singer.
e.g. old Persian songs sung by Shusha, or Indian music by Lakshmi
Shankar...

The very Scots accent itself has been influenced by Gaelic.

Aye, that'll be right, pal. :-)

....And also by other languages, from English to the Northern ones. But
I don't think that means we need to have Scandinavian channels on
Freeview, does it?


Gaelic is an inseperable part of Scottish culture, however much you may
wish to deny it.

Similarly, it is true that a wheel is usually a part of a car, yes. :-)

So there is some overlap or influence. But 'Gael' and 'Scot' are not
synonyms. And as someone else has pointed out, if you want to argue this in
terms of numbers you could make cases for all kinds of 'other influential
languages or cultures'. Alas, the result might be to make shambles of any
national broadcasting if you insist they all have their own stations.

TBH I have found that a number of the younger people I've worked with who
come from Highland areas do tend to regard the campaign to boost Gaelic
as a language as an aspect of the 'Tartan and Shortbread Tin' view of the
country that they'd have preferred to vanish with Brigadoon! :-) This
despite liking the sound of the language or doing things like playing the
pipes themselves. The problem here is that Gael isn't Scot. Things just
aren't that simple so far as I have seen it as an 'incomer'.

The present situation is that programmes in Gaelic and about Gael matters
regularly appear on BBCTV in Scotland. There are also local radio stations
for the areas that use Gaelic. That seems reasonable to me. But chopping
away a slew of UK radio for one Alba station (already on satellite and
iPlayer) for the whole of Scotland - the bulk of whom don't speak Gaelic -
makes nae sense to me. Its a scunner, pal! Despite my having chosen to
have chequebooks where the cheques are printed in the Gaelic. Confusion
to the English! :-)

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

On Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:30:04 -0000, "Jerry"
wrote:

Duh?... You mean, what is wrong answering some other question to
what has been asked, apart from being rather pointless it muddies
the otherwise crystal clear waters...

Oh, right.
--
Alan White
Mozilla Firefox and Forte Agent.
Twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow, overlooking Lochs Long and Goil in Argyll, Scotland.
Webcam and weather:- http://windycroft.gt-britain.co.uk/weather

On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:34:19 -0700 (PDT),
"
wrote:

On 26 Oct, 20:07, "Ivan" wrote:
"The BBC is preparing to spend millions more on BBC Alba, the controversial
Gaellic television station, as it seeks to boost viewing figures."
"Alba, which has lost one third of its viewers since it was launched a year
ago, could be made available on Freeview next year."

"Currently available only on cable and satellite, the channel costs three
times more per viewer than other comparable BBC offerings including BBC 3."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/6440138/BBC-is-preparin...

"The Corporation is planning to divert around four million pounds to
Alba from its radio stations to fund the move. BBC Radio 1,2,3,4 and
Radio Scotland will no longer need the cash as they will be dropped
from the Freeview service in the evenings to make way for the
channel."

Not south of the board, I hope!

Surely the BBC's universal service obligation should prevent listeners
in England, Wales and Northern Ireland receiving a service that is not
available to listeners in Scotland. The BBC must therefore remove
radio stations from Freeview in England during the broadcasting hours
of BBC Alba. They could either broadcast BBC Alba or an English,
Welsh or Northern Ireland service with an equivalent minority interest
or maybe they could bring back the test card.