Scots are less “positive” towards the BBC than viewers elsewhere in the UK because of the country’s “polarised society”, the BBC boss in Scotland has claimed.
Hayley Valentine also said that people may not pay for a TV license because of the cost of living crisis and the wide range of programs available on streaming services.
Valentine, who was appointed in October, said the BBC had a “challenge” because negative perceptions of its output were fueled by divisions between politics and football.
He also defended BBC Scotland’s digital channel’s new program – BBC Reporting Scotland: News at Seven – despite fewer than 30,000 people watching the launch on Monday.
Scottish Tory culture spokesman Murdo Fraser said last night: “The BBC should focus on providing high-quality, impartial and value-for-money programming for license payers.
“If it focuses on that, it shouldn’t have a problem attracting viewers.”
Ms Valentine, appearing before MPs on the Scottish Affairs Committee in the Commons, was asked about a study by broadcasting regulator Ofcom which showed that “positive perceptions” of the BBC were worse in Scotland than in some other parts of Britain.
Hayley Valentine is the BBC’s new boss in Scotland
The BBC boss said: “We could sit here and say why we believe we live in an increasingly polarized society and how it is a particular (issue) in Scotland.
“The political situation in Scotland is unique; we’ve talked about football – it can polarize people.
“But I’m interested in what we’re doing now – this is obviously a challenge, but it’s also a huge opportunity for me.
– We have been able to show during the last year that if we succeed, we can change very quickly.
“If we get the content right — if we deliver what we think people want — we have a lot more information about what people want from us and what they enjoy and what they want us to do more of.
“I’m optimistic – we have a really positive case to make.
“If we deliver to Scottish audiences, we can create a good relationship with them and we can build on that.”
Ms Valentine is the former boss of BBC Scotland’s doomed flagship news program The Nine, which was axed last year.
The former head of BBC Midlands in Birmingham was also executive producer of Question Hour before the 2014 independence referendum.
Figures last year showed that thousands of Scots have turned their backs on the BBC after the number of people paying TV license fees fell to its lowest level in more than a decade.
When asked about fears of a “decline in gratitude,” Valentine said: “It’s really important to remember that people have more choices than ever.
“There are many reasons why people may not want to pay their license fee, not the least of which is the cost of living crisis.
“If we can make that difference with content, then we have to make the argument that we’re worth people’s money.
“People have a lot of things to spend their money on – they have a lot of choice about the media they use.
“Audiences in Scotland watch more TV than anywhere else in the country – so there’s a prize there.”
Valentine says Scotland is polarized over things like football
BBC Scotland’s new director suggested the country is often divided politically
Louise Thornton, Head of Multi-Platform Deployment, was part of the team that launched the controversial BBC Scotland digital channel in 2019.
Asked about its low viewing figures, he said: “Six years is a long time in the media world, especially with changing viewing habits.
“We’re in a world of linear decline, there’s no denying that – the data tells us.
“Over the last couple of years the performance of BBC Scotland has actually remained stable.”
But he admitted that iPlayer is “definitely the future of where audiences are going”.
Mr Valentine said he was “incredibly proud” of Nine, but the cash freed up by its cancellation would be used elsewhere, such as funding a new News at Seven program hosted by Amy Irons and Laura Maciver.
He said the new show would specialize in “warm, empathetic” stories and he was “really happy with it so far”.
Last year, the National Audit Office (NAO) said that viewers in Scotland are more likely to think the BBC is out of their lives than people who live south of the border.
The National Audit Office (NAO) said only around 49 per cent agreed that “the BBC is for people like me”, compared to as high as 60 per cent in the south of England.