MSP wants BBC to screen more Festival programmes

MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville has written to the director-general of the BBC and the controller of BBC Scotland to ask them to consider expanding the corporation's coverage of the Edinburgh Festival.

She said the corporation could have a bigger role in bringing leading productions to a wider audience, and that live coverage in particular lags behind that for other events, while acknowledging that the corporation does produce some "excellent" programmes about the Festival. She said: "The BBC does produce some good quality coverage of the Festival - but I believe there is a growing consensus that it remains too limited.

"We've had another highly successful Festival season and I feel the BBC could do more to bring the best productions and events to a wider audience.

"In particular, the amount of live coverage is very poor in comparison to other events such as the Proms. That's why I've written to the BBC for details of the amount of coverage they are providing and asking that they look again at whether the corporation could better serve the public by expanding its role in the Edinburgh festivals."