The new director of BBC Scotland has said she would “love” for the broadcaster to be able to show Scotland men’s football games, as she revealed live talks are taking place on the issue.
However Hayley Valentine said screening such games is “not cheap”, and she told MPs the corporation is “working against quite challenging financial constraints”.
Ms Valentine, who took on the top job within BBC Scotland in November, stressed the importance of sport to Scottish audiences when she gave evidence to the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster on Wednesday.
Her appearance comes amid ongoing pressure for more Scotland matches to be shown on free-to-air channels.
Ms Valentine told MPs: “I know how important sport is to Scottish audiences. I’m a big football fan, these moments are huge for us, and of course we would love to have the men’s internationals.
“These things are not cheap and we have to think about value for money in all of our decision-making.
“In order to pay for one thing, there is no extra money, so what are we not doing to fund something else?
“I don’t really want to go much further than that because there are some live discussions going on, but of course I would be delighted if we could bring those to free-to-air audience.”
We're questioning the new Director of @BBCScotland and other senior executives about the work of the BBC in Scotland.
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— Scottish Affairs Committee (@CommonsScotAffs) January 8, 2025
She also said the BBC will cover the Commonwealth Games when the sporting tournament is held in Glasgow in 2026 – adding there are “conversations going on about rights, which I can’t go into”.
However she told MPs: “The financial position is not easy for us to manage, we have some difficult choices to make.”
Green MSP Gillian Mackay said news of talks on Scotland games would “be welcomed by football fans all over Scotland, who want to back our team but are being priced out of it”.
Ms Mackay added: “I hope that these talks succeed and that we are able to get our national team out from behind a paywall.
“Sport should be for everyone, and I want as many young people as possible to be able to grow up watching their heroes in action. That can help us to ensure that our next generation of footballers can feel inspired and dream of playing for their country.
“Many countries already ensure their games are free to view. It would be great if 2025 is the year that Scotland can finally join them.”
Meanwhile, Louise Thornton, BBC Scotland’s head of multi-platform commissioning, defended the performance of the BBC Scotland channel to MPs amid concerns over falling viewer numbers.
She said there has been a decline in “linear” viewing – people watching programmes as they are broadcast – but stressed the importance of the BBC’s iPlayer platform, which allows people to view programmes at a time of their choosing.
She told MPs: “The prominence of Scottish content on iPlayer has improved massively, and we are getting more programmes on the front of iPlayer than ever.
“Although the linear decline we are seeing is a concern, it is just a reality. For me the growth in iPlayer is offsetting that, particularly for Scottish content.”
Ms Thornton added” iPlayer is absolutely the future of where audiences are going, so we need to keep our eyes on the growth there.”
