§ Mrs. Ewingasked the Postmaster-General what parts of Scotland are without one or more services of the British Broadcasting Corporation; and which services are missing or faulty in each case.
§ Mr. StonehouseThe B.B.C. tell me that the population coverages attained by their relevant services in Scotland are as follows:
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Television Population covered BBC1 97.8 per cent. BBC2 53.0 per cent. This service is in course of provision Sound Radio Radio 1-medium wave transmission 89.0 per cent. by day 62.0 per cent. by night Radio 2-medium and long wave transmission 94.0 per cent. Very high frequency transmission 98.0 per cent. Radio 3-medium wave transmission 76.0 per cent. by day 60.0 per cent. by night Very high frequency transmission 98.0 per cent. Radio 4–medium wave transmission 95.0 per cent. by day 87.0 per cent. by night Very high frequency transmission 98.0 per cent. In summary, with the exception of B.B.C.2 (in course of provision) and Radio 1, all the relevant services of the Corporation are available to nearly the whole population of Scotland. Those remaining unserved live for the most part in small scattered communities in mountainous terrain.
The B.B.C. add that it is largely because of the mountainous terrain in much of Scotland that the resources applied there to the provision of broadcasting services are relatively much higher than those applied in England. Thus for Scotland 29 V.H.F. television stations have been or are being built to serve 5 million people (one per 179,000). For England the figures are 54 stations to serve 43.5 million people (one per 810,000).
Detailed information about the B.B.C.'s services are contained in the B.B.C.'s Annual Report and Accounts for 1967–68, including the Report of the Broadcasting Council for Scotland, which was recently presented to Parliament.