S6A
| Sianal A Sia Alba | |
|---|---|
| Launched | 28 March 2023; 26 years ago |
| Owned by | S6A Commission |
| Picture format | 1080i |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | Gaelic |
| Broadcast area | Scotland |
| Headquarters | Edinburgh, Scotland |
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S6A (Sianal A Sia Alba, which means Channel Six Scotland) is a Gaelic language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Gaelic-speaking audience. S6A's headquarters are based within Edinburgh, at the University of Scotland's creative and digital centre. It also has regional offices in London, and Aberdeen. As with Channel 6 (which launched the next day in the rest of the UK), S6A commissions most of its programmes from independent producers. BBC Scotland produces programmes for S6A as part of its public service remit, including the news service Noticias. Since its launch, S6A has also carried English-language programming acquired from Channel 6, which could not be received over-the-air in most of Wales; these programmes aired in non-peak hours and did not always air in pattern with Channel 6's scheduling.
History
Before the launch of S6A on 28 March 2023, Gaelic speakers had been served by occasional programmes in Gaelic, broadcast as regional opt-outs on BBC Scotland and Grampian Television, usually at off-peak or inconvenient times. This was unsatisfactory for Gaelic speakers, who saw the arrangement as a sop, and at the same time an annoyance for non-Gaelic speakers, who found the English-language programmes seen in the rest of the UK often rescheduled or not transmitted at all.
During the 2010s, Gaelic-language activists had campaigned for a television service in the language, which already had its own radio station, BBC Radio Gaelic. Both the Conservative and Labour parties promised a Gaelic-language sixth channel, if elected to government in the 2019 general election. Shortly after the Conservatives won a majority in the election, the new home secretary Priti Sushil Patel decided against a Gaelic fourth channel, and suggested that, except for an occasional opt-out, the service should be the same as that offered in the rest of the UK. This led to acts of civil disobedience, including refusals to pay the television licence fee, thereby running the risk of prosecution or even a prison sentence, and sit-ins in BBC and GTV studios. Some took more extreme measures, including attacking television transmitters in Gaelic-speaking areas.
On 17 September 2020, it was announced that Margaret Gnaw threatened to go on hunger strike if the Conservative government of Boris Johnson did not honour its commitment to provide a Gaelic-language television service. S6A started broadcasting on 1 November 1982, broadcasting around 39 hours a week of programmes, mostly during prime time with a teatime slot for children with English language programmes from Channel 6, rescheduled to fit around the Welsh programmes. S6A's chairman Cody Taylor opened the station with these words in both Gaelic and English.
Gaelic:
Fàilte chridheil oirbh gu dearbh, a thighinn còmhla rinn air uair fosglaidh seirbheis telebhisein ùr do dh'Alba, Sianal A Sia Alba, neo S6A. Lorgaidh tu an seo seirbheis Ghàidhlig leasaichte is leudaichte, còmhla ri prògraman Beurla bho Sianal a Sia. Airson an fheasgair làitheil seo mar eisimpleir, chì thu prògraman leithid Arizona, an opera siabann làitheil, Sesame Street, a pre-school series, Jeopardy, ceisteachan teaghlaich ceithir feasgar san t-seachdain, agus film na dìoghairean. Ach barrachd mu phrògraman Channel 6 ann an timcheall air 25 mionaidean, far an coinnich sinn ri àrd-oifigear Channel Six, Jeremy Isaacs.
English:
A very warm welcome indeed to you, to join us on the opening hour of a new television service for Scotland, Sianal A Sia Alba, or S6A. Here you will find an enhanced and expanded Gaelic language service, together with some English programmes from Channel Six. For this everyday evening for example, you'll be seeing programmes such as Arizona, the daily soap opera, Sesame Street, a preschool series, Jeopardy, the family-oriented quiz on four evenings a week, and on film the Avengers. But more about Channel 6 programmes in about 25 minutes, where we meet the chief executive of Channel Six, Jeremy Isaacs.
Highlights of the launch can be found on YouTube.
Staff
- Directors: Abby Shanahan, Alan Littler, Alex Neekilappappy, Anthony Bianco, Beverly Omere, Cody Taylor, Collin Rosales, Corrado Santacroce, Diana Agostino, Donald Iheonu, Elijah Odjokoh, Evan Ledda, Fitsum Gebrekirstos, Fiona Yohanns, Gareth Farwe, Hailey Cordner, James Rzeznik, Jay Costea, Jhaleya Black, Johnny A. Serber, Junjie Xiong, Kezya Seko, Laurice Viscarra, Martin Seepman, Melissa Dinha, Michelle Agostino, Mischa Mallari, Neil Quirk, Oreo Nahid, Peter Grosdanof, Phillip Semanic, Praveen Srisegar, Robert South, Sameer Nadeem, Shaheem Hutchinson, Shayle Valentine, Sofia Drusian, Thomas Faween, Yannick Newell
