As Head of BBC Scotland Steve Carson steps down, we look at his successes and failures
Guilt and Rebus? Well, as TV programmes go, they’re not too shabby, are they?
The crime series emerged under the watch of Steve Carson, the Ulsterman who came to the mainland and set about re-engaging an audience as Head of BBC Scotland.
And yes, it doesn’t matter that Guilt had been doing the Hollywood rounds for some time, nor that Rebus was a re-hash, sold to us in the first instance by the curmudgeonly Ken Stott, later by the nice John Hannah and ultimately by the seemingly perfect Richard Rankin.
What matters is that Steve Carson has had some ripping success stories - but has now departed for a new career with RTE in Ireland. Will he be missed beyond measure?
The television chief spoke recently of his seven years in charge in which he achieved “record levels of licence fee investment in Scotland, the biggest ever range of live sport coverage, and strong audience growth online across the BBC’s iPlayer, Sounds News and Sport products.”
With no harsh definitions attached, most of these terms are a little elastic. What Steve Carson cites are a strengthening on Gaelic services, establishing a new BBC Audio base and “evolving" the news service
But there’s little doubt the BBC boss came with great credentials. Brought up in Belfast where his late father Tom was a journalist on the Belfast Telegraph, Steve Carson graduated from Manchester University before joining the BBC. In 2000 he became director of Programmes at RTE and rejoined the BBC as head of Northern Ireland Productions in 2013.
In 2017 he became head of multi-platform commissioning and responsible for the launch of the BBC Scotland channel two years later. But how we define if Carson’s tenure were a success story? The Glasgow-based operation is no longer able to carry so many programmes to the network, which has long been a benchmark of success.
The BBC Scotland channel’s The Nine, the news programme with a £7m budget and a staff of 80 journalists, never looked like getting off the ground. Carson maintained: “The Nine is a good programme and is appreciated by its audience, but I get it that people are looking for the bad news.”
Well, they found band news. And they found more bad news amongst between the hour of seven and eight o’clock. “That’s when stuff just got run over,” said Carson. “That’s when the soaps and the One Show are at their peak. So, we focus on the eight to eleven area and then the more experimental shows later on.”
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Yet, the channel has found its natural audience, with the likes of documentaries such as Nae Pasaran, Asian Weddings and The Station. And Carson’s period in charge allowed for an influx of comedy, such as The Scotts. But what of his future?
Commenting on Carson's return, RTE Director-General Kevin Bakhurst said: “The Director of Video, along with the Director of Audio, will be two pivotal positions in the reshaping and transformation of RTE.”
Steve Carson will oversee TV content for the Dancing with the Stars Ireland network, following the launch of the network’s new strategic plan. “Steve’s exceptional experience and track record of creativity, with the BBC in Northern Ireland and Scotland and formerly with RTE, positions him to deliver real success across all genres,” said Mr Bakhurst.
It seems rather a little responsibility for someone with shoulders as broad as Steve Carson. Who knows, perhaps his return to RTE is regarded as a test piece. Steve Carson’s wife is RTE star Mirian O’Callaghan. Until now, the couple have been mostly reliant upon catching up at weekend. Perhaps this is their attempt at a conventional marriage.
Regardless, Steve Carson did say of his stint at BBC Scotland; “It has been the honour of my life to serve as director for the past four years.”
Although he didn’t mention Granite Harbour.
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