Rachel_Sandford
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BBC ALBA, the Gaelic television channel in partnership with BBC Scotland released the results of their monthly opinion poll via TNS-BRMB. It seems that the channel, which four months ago had a weekly reach of 220,000 viewers and a “fifteen-minute-plus-reach” (when viewers watch for fifteen minutes or more) of 179,000 viewers, has noticed a significant increase in its number of viewers, rising to over half a million in just four months.
The channel was once only available on Sky 168 and Freesat 110, but in the beginning of June, it was picked up by both Freeview and Virgin Media, making it available to more viewers. Now, the poll results show that the channel has a “total claimed weekly reach” of 530,000 viewers and a fifteen-minute-plus-reach of 430,000 a week. This is a rise of 12.9% and 10.6% respectively. The results also showed that the average time spent on the channel has increased to an hour and forty minutes, and that it has had 29,000 requests on iPlayer.
“We are delighted that our latest viewing figures confirm that audiences across Scotland are watching and enjoying BBC ALBA's daily schedule of programmes. Broadcasting on Freeview and cable, coupled with satellite services, enables all households in Scotland and beyond to access the diverse range of high quality and entertaining programmes that BBC ALBA has to offer,” said BBC ALBA's head of services, Margaret Mary Murray
Given that the poll only considered adult viewers in Scotland, meaning those aged sixteen and over, the channel could actually be doing even better when the rest of the UK and children (as there are children's shows on the channel) are taken into account.
Chairman of MG ALBA, Alasdair Morrison also commented on the improvement, saying “The new viewing figures for BBC ALBA over the first four months since being launched on Freeview are extremely encouraging, particularly since the summer is not regarded as a peak viewing time of the year for any television channel.
However, it is still very much early days since the channel was launched on Freeview and the focus now is to continue to build on the channel's current success to maintain a high level of viewers who are enjoying the premier package of home-grown productions and unique Scottish content with music, sport and documentaries being the most popular genres on the channel.
Since it has launched, the channel has attracted much enthusiasm across Scotland from both Gaelic and non-Gaelic communities and it is pleasing to see so many new viewers embracing the high quality programming that BBC ALBA has to offer.”
The channel was once only available on Sky 168 and Freesat 110, but in the beginning of June, it was picked up by both Freeview and Virgin Media, making it available to more viewers. Now, the poll results show that the channel has a “total claimed weekly reach” of 530,000 viewers and a fifteen-minute-plus-reach of 430,000 a week. This is a rise of 12.9% and 10.6% respectively. The results also showed that the average time spent on the channel has increased to an hour and forty minutes, and that it has had 29,000 requests on iPlayer.
“We are delighted that our latest viewing figures confirm that audiences across Scotland are watching and enjoying BBC ALBA's daily schedule of programmes. Broadcasting on Freeview and cable, coupled with satellite services, enables all households in Scotland and beyond to access the diverse range of high quality and entertaining programmes that BBC ALBA has to offer,” said BBC ALBA's head of services, Margaret Mary Murray
Given that the poll only considered adult viewers in Scotland, meaning those aged sixteen and over, the channel could actually be doing even better when the rest of the UK and children (as there are children's shows on the channel) are taken into account.
Chairman of MG ALBA, Alasdair Morrison also commented on the improvement, saying “The new viewing figures for BBC ALBA over the first four months since being launched on Freeview are extremely encouraging, particularly since the summer is not regarded as a peak viewing time of the year for any television channel.
However, it is still very much early days since the channel was launched on Freeview and the focus now is to continue to build on the channel's current success to maintain a high level of viewers who are enjoying the premier package of home-grown productions and unique Scottish content with music, sport and documentaries being the most popular genres on the channel.
Since it has launched, the channel has attracted much enthusiasm across Scotland from both Gaelic and non-Gaelic communities and it is pleasing to see so many new viewers embracing the high quality programming that BBC ALBA has to offer.”