§ Mrs. Ray MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to ensure that Gaelic is carried on digital terrestrial television; and if he will make a statement. [16579]
§ Mr. FisherI have been asked to reply.
Scottish Television and Grampian Television are required to broadcast on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) their existing terrestrial analogue services, which must include at least one hour a week on average of programmes in Gaelic. S4C Digital Networks (SDN) have been awarded the licence to operate the DTT multiplex which will carry Channel 5 and S4C. SDN are also required to broadcast on that multiplex in Scotland a minimum of half an hour each day of programmes in Gaelic during peak time—between 6 pm and 10.30 pm, and the BBC, Scottish Television and Grampian are each required to make at least 30 hours of Gaelic programming a year available to SDN, free of charge, for re-broadcasting as part of their programme service. These provisions, taken together with the increase in capacity which digital terrestrial television will bring, should provide the opportunity for an increase in the amount of Gaelic programming available on television services.