Feds

Steve Hewlett in The Guardian on Friday had a thumb-sucking piece on the BBC, and mused idly at the end on the prospects for a federal BBC, in response to devo max everywhere else.

I hope this doesn't revive the daft debate about a "Scottish Six". Interestingly, the overnight audience figures for results day show that, despite the Yes campaign's bitterness about BBC coverage, Auntie was the tv source of choice.  The BBC1 Six O'Clock News attracted 381k viewers north of the border, compared with STV's 289k for Scotland Tonight; the Reporting Scotland Referendum special that followed on the BBC hit 420k. At 10pm, the BBC News was watched by 361k in Scotland, with 111k opting for ITV News. At 10.30pm, a second Reporting Scotland referendum special attracted 251k, compared with 75k for the Scotland Tonight special opposite. The BBC Alba figures are, as ever, unknown to the public.

A federal BBC would require real network commissioning power to move out of London. In radio, 5Live is run from Salford, but a suprising amount of its indie choices are London firms. In tv, through Greg Dyke, Mark Thompson and Tony Hall, moves to send BBC3 to Salford have been blocked, and soon, subject to Rona, there's going to be little left to send north. The BBC may be making more drama in Wales, but the commissioning decisions are made on the 6th Floor of Broadcasting House, and nearby restaurants. Arts may be a Scotland production responsibility, but the Yentob Brompton is rarely, if ever, seen on the cycle paths leading to Pacific Quay.

At the edges, a boost for the budgets of the 6.30pm regional news shows might be a good early gesture...