STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n
Get all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n
Thousands of people have signed a petition calling on BBC Radio Scotland to reverse its decision to cancel a radio show dubbed a \u201ccultural lifeline\u201d.<\/p>\n
The station announced a new weekend late-night schedule on Friday, removing long-standing late-night music programmes, including The Iain Anderson Show, Billy Sloan, and\u00a0Natasha Raskin Sharp.<\/p>\n
Bosses say they will continue BBC Radio Scotland\u2019s commitment to showcasing the best from Scotland\u2019s music industry and unsigned bands through Roddy Hart\u2019s Mixtape, which will air on Saturdays and Sundays.<\/p>\n
However, the Scottish Music Industry Association has called for a pause on plans to allow the station to undertake consultation with the sector.<\/p>\n
In an open letter signed by Robert Kilpatrick, CEO and creative director of SMIA, he described the changes as an \u201cerosion of a dedicated, culturally rooted space in the schedule where Scottish artists \u2013 across a range of genres, backgrounds and career levels \u2013 can be discovered, contextualised and championed\u201d.<\/p>\n
A petition launched to save The Iain Anderson Show\u00a0has garnered almost 14,000 signatures and is also calling on BBC Radio Scotland to reconsider its decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor decades, Iain has done more than spin records. He has unearthed new voices, given first airtime to emerging Scottish artists, and threaded songs together with stories, culture, and care\u201d, the petition explains.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe builds context, not chaos. He creates community, not content.<\/p>\n
\u201cLose the show, and we lose a rare place where Scottish musicians are truly heard \u2013 and where listeners discover music that would never reach them otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n
As well a pause on the plans, the SMIA is urging BBC Scotland to set out a clear strategy for how it will meet its public service obligation to represent, support and platform the full breadth of Scottish music and for the station to commit to \u201cmaintaining a distinct, nationally recongisable space within its schedule dedicated to Scottish music discovery and development, ensuring Scotland\u2019s diverse creative identity is not diluted through homogenised programming\u201d.<\/p>\n
In response to the open letter, a spokesperson for BBC Radio Scotland said: \u201cIt\u2019s not unusual for radio stations to undergo changes, particularly in an increasingly competitive audio market and, whilst we understand some audiences may be disappointed, it is important that BBC Radio Scotland continues to\u00a0listen to audience feedback\u00a0and evolve its offer.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite recent noise on social media, BBC Radio Scotland announced on Friday the details of our new weekend programmes \u2013\u00a0Roddy Hart\u2019s Mix Tape\u00a0will continue our long-held tradition of championing and discovering new music and artists in Scotland and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cBBC Radio Scotland remains proud to showcase the full breadth of Scotland\u2019s musical talent, from established performers to the next generation of artists, across its schedule.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Another Country\u00a0to Travelling Folk, Take the Floor to Vic Galloway,\u00a0specialist music has always been a vital part of what we do,\u00a0alongside our Young Trad, Jazz and Classical Musician and BBC Introducing Artist of the Year awards. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe remain deeply committed to celebrating it all in our schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition to save The Iain Anderson Show can be viewed online<\/a>, as well as the SMIA open letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n STV News is now on WhatsApp<\/p>\n Get all the latest news from around the country<\/p>\n
![\"WhatsApp](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763978589_968_whatsapp-qr.png\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of people have signed a petition calling on BBC Radio Scotland to reverse its decision to cancel…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[96,128,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-292056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-music","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=292056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/292056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=292056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=292056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=292056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}