Item 3 is to consider the information that we require for our review of the timing and format of oral questions. If members have thoughts on information that would be useful, they can either express them now or let the clerk know about them soon so that processes can be put in place.
I have a couple of comments to make. I am interested in how we will find out the number of members who have requested to ask a supplementary question but who have not been called. I notice that radio is not mentioned in the note by the clerk. More people probably listen to the radio during the day than we acknowledge, particularly when they are on their way somewhere or on their way back from somewhere. It would be interesting to know what the radio producers and companies are saying about First Minister's questions and generally. The producers could tell us what they do and what coverage they have in their bulletins and programmes.
Those are valid points. I think that the answer to the first one is that when a member presses their request-to-speak button it is recorded on the Presiding Officer's system. We will obviously check that.
But is a record of that kept?
We have set in train with our clerking colleagues in other parts of the Parliament arrangements to record that information weekly.
Will they record just numbers, rather than names?
Yes.
I must remind other members to press their request-to-speak buttons.
I suggest that we also explore whether we can get figures on recorded hits to the live webcast of oral questions.
We should ensure that we get the information that we need for television, because it is helpful. The Broadcasters Audience Research Board studies television audience numbers. It has a panel of 1,000 members. They record through a meter in their home when they sit on their couch and what happens when they turn on their television. There are only about 100 members in Scotland. The monitoring system is as sophisticated as it can be in the circumstances.
In paragraph 8 of the note I mention finding out the average viewing figures for news bulletins.
Yes, but that is different from finding out overall viewing figures at a given time of day. There might be 600,000 people in Scotland watching the lunchtime news on the BBC and on Scottish TV on a given Thursday lunch time, but there are a heck of a lot more potential viewers out there, because other people are watching other programmes. We are talking about audience share. The nature of the audience is important. The people to whom I have spoken at the BBC have told me that a lot of the people watching the lunchtime news or "Holyrood Live" tend to be older, because they are the people who happen to be at home at that time. Later in the day, the audience is much younger. We need to understand the age profiles of the audience if we are serious about trying to reach chunks of Scotland that we have not reached previously and pull people into watching oral questions. It might be dry for them—I notice that Karen Gillon is having trouble staying for this item—but there is an issue about trying to increase the market share. The only way that we can consider that properly is by examining the overall audience and studying age profiles, not just the news bulletin niche.
I was interested in what you said, Bruce. However, let us say that I am 19 and I get up at half past 1 and put my telly on—I take it that that is what you were referring to when you talked about there being a younger audience later in the day.
I was thinking of young mothers coming home after taking their children back to school after lunch, rather than teenagers who are lying in their beds until later in the day.
But are they watching terrestrial television or digital television?
BARB can tell us that. The information is on its website.
That would be interesting. I am interested in how we would compete with the omnibus edition of soaps. The afternoon might be young mothers' time to catch up on their recorded television programmes.
I do not think that we will ever compete with soaps. I am trying to work out how we can give ourselves the best chance of competing. We will never go head to head with some of the big soaps, but there might be opportunities to expand our audience.
We should perhaps refer your comments to the broadcasting office, to ask it to discuss them and come back with information if it can or we can discuss them with the Parliament's advisory committee on broadcasting.
I will give Andrew Mylne a copy of some of the notes that I have made and the figures that I have.
I refer to the first bullet point in paragraph 8 of the note from the clerk, which is on viewing figures for "Holyrood Live". Given the questions that we had about the variability of the figures, it would be good to get not just the average figures for the 10 past 3 slot, but some time-series data.
We did get that for FMQs. The sample sizes that Bruce Crawford was talking about explain the large variations; one more person switching on or off probably makes a difference of 12,000 or 13,000 in the viewing figures. That is an issue to do with how the analysis is carried out, with which the advisory committee can help us.
What Bruce Crawford said about how BARB collects its data was interesting. We should get people's view on the robustness of the data. We should also hear about how likely age profiles are judged and about audience share. I notice that the note refers to asking BBC and Scottish TV about their coverage of FMQs in news bulletins. Could we ask Grampian Television too?
It is down as a member of the advisory committee.
So will it be asked the same questions as the BBC and Scottish TV?
Yes, we can ensure that.
There is also Border Television to consider.
I remind members that on Friday morning at 9.30 we have an opportunity to have a discussion with the Ceann Comhairle and members of the Dáil. Jamie McGrigor and Mark Ballard have indicated that they will be able to attend and I will be there. If any other members are free on Friday morning, they are welcome to come along. It will be an opportunity to discuss with our Irish colleagues some of the issues that we have been discussing. Thank you for your attendance.
Meeting closed at 11:42.
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