Broadcast figure is correct

In her response to the latest interim report from the Scottish Broadcasting Commission, the head of programmes at BBC Scotland claims we are "simply wrong" to say that Scottish programmes on BBC1 and BBC2 in Scotland represent only 5 per cent of the broadcast schedules (your report, 27 March).

I must reassure your readers that the figure is correct. In the BBC Scotland Annual Review 2006/07, the most recent published, it is reported that there were 869 hours of television output for Scotland. Given that broadcast hours on BBC1 Scotland and BBC2 Scotland total 17,520, 869 hours of programming represents just under 5 per cent of the total schedule for viewers.

I appreciate that it is always possible to interpret figures in different ways and I would not wish the important debate about Scottish broadcasting to become simply a numbers game. However, the 5 per cent figure was raised with BBC's top management at their oral evidence session on 25 February. All of our transcripts are cleared prior to publication by those giving evidence and at no time has the BBC disputed the figure.

BLAIR JENKINS, Chair, Scottish Broadcasting Commission, Atlantic Quay, Glasgow