Gaelic short of bread

Over the years, this blog has chased viewing figures for BBC Alba, without much success. 

MG ALBA is the operating name of Seirbheis nam Meadhanan Gàidhlig, or Gaelic Media Service, which was formed under the Communications Act 2003. MG ALBA delivers the BBC ALBA platforms in partnership with the BBC, from its HQ in Stornoway. I offer these paragraphs from MG Alba's submission on the Green Paper on the future of the BBC.  

BBC ALBA has no funding mechanism. BBC ALBA is dependent on the annual, separate, funding decisions of Scottish Ministers in relation to MG ALBA’s contribution and the budget decisions of BBC management in relation to the BBC’s contribution.

This funding was frozen for 10 years which resulted in a real terms reduction of nearly 50% for Gaelic television broadcasting during that period and there is no transparent mechanism to address the funding deficit. This deficit equates to a shortfall of £10M, which has led to a reduction of almost 30% in the number of hours of new programming since 2015. The reduction in new programmes has had a huge impact on audience figures, particularly among younger viewers.