The Celtic League Secretary General, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, has written to the Scottish government First Minister and Culture Minister to stress that plans for Gaelic TV should include a commitment to include the station on the Freeview terrestrial platform.
The Secretary General says (see below) failure to ensure a Freeview slot for the channel would severely limit the reach of the service to and is "a major omission" in the roll-out of the new service.
"Dear Minister Patricia Ferguson MSP
Gaelic TV Broadcasting
I am writing following the announcement last week by that £3 million funding would be made available to support the Gaelic Media Service (GMS) digital TV channel get on air.
While the Celtic league welcomes this additional funding, we would nevertheless like to press the Scottish Executive to ensure that the Gaelic language TV channel is also carried on the Freeview digital service. It was our initial impression that this would automatically be the case and were disappointed to learn otherwise.
For the Gaelic language, or any of the Celtic languages for that matter, to become widely available it needs to be given a Freeview slot. Anything less severely limits the reach of the service to the general public and is therefore a major omission in its roll-out.
We hope this clarifies our position and our members will be able to view the new service on Freeview in the near future.
Yours sincerely
Rhisiart Tal-e-bot
c.c. First Minister Jack McConnell MSP"
See also Celtic News Nos:
2164 GAELIC TV SERVICES MUST BE GIVEN A FREEVIEW SLOT Mar 26 2007 2160 ANOTHER BOOST FOR GAELIC BROADCASTING Mar 24, 2007 2134 CALL FOR BROADCASTING OPTIONS FOR BRETON LANGUAGE Mar 12, 2007 2117 NEW GAELIC DIGITAL TV SERVICE Mar 4, 2007
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
26/03/07
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