In response to recent reports of staff concerns over the number of female presenters on BBC Radio Scotland’s new schedule, Luke McCullough, corporate affairs director at BBC Scotland, has defended the station’s commitment to gender diversity. The article, titled ‘Deep unease’ at BBC Radio Scotland as majority of axed presenters are women, published on 28 May, highlighted unease among staff about the removal of female presenters.
New Schedule Breakdown
McCullough clarified that when the new schedule begins, out of 25 daytime programmes across Monday to Friday, six will be presented solely by men, while the remaining 19 will be presented either solely by women or jointly by women and men. Notably, more than half of the programmes will be hosted solely by women. He argued that questioning female diversity in this lineup ignores the actual evidence of the BBC’s schedule in Scotland.
Record Listenership
Since the arrival of new head of audio Victoria Easton Riley last year, BBC Radio Scotland has become the most listened-to service in the nation for the first time in many years. McCullough emphasized that this success is not due to imitating commercial competitors but rather improving service to meet audience expectations with a unique mix of news, sport, music, and culture.
He added that attracting top talent from across Scotland, including from commercial radio, is a natural outcome of these efforts. The station’s operating licence remains unchanged, and the focus is on delivering quality content that resonates with listeners.
