Newsletter March 2009

A chàirdean,

We’ll be heading for Caernarfon later this month for the Celtic Media Festival, and there are plenty of Gaelic programmes on the shortlist. Entries from the six Celtic nations provide stiff competition, but we’re confident that that the Gaelic programmes will win awards. Our congratulations go to all the producers whose programmes have been shortlisted.

March is going to be a great month for football fans, with live football from the SFL on BBC ALBA when Partick Thistle meet Dundee on 22nd, as well our regular as-live coverage of SPL matches every weekend on the channel, which is on Freesat 110 and Sky 168.

And if the football fan in your household is hogging the remote control, you can catch up on other BBC ALBA programmes on the iPlayer at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer. And now for the first time Virgin Media customers can get BBC ALBA content on the Virgin iPlayer. Virgin customers have been waiting patiently for the channel to become available on cable. It isn’t there yet, but we hope the wait won’t be much longer, and of course we’ll let you know as soon as we have any more news about progress on cable carriage.

Remember to visit www.mgalba.com and www.bbcalba.co.uk for up-to-date schedules and news, and I hope you continue to enjoy BBC ALBA.

Le dùrachd,

Donald Campbell
Chief Executive

Celtic Media Festival

This year the Celtic Media Festival is taking place in Caernarfon, Wales. This will be the 30th year of the festival and we hope it will be a memorable year for MG ALBA and BBC ALBA. The festival runs from the 25th to 27th March and BBC ALBA has several programs that are shortlisted for awards this year. These include Air an Rathad produced by Eyeline Media and starring our own presenter Fiona MacKenzie, and Moja TV’s Ann am Bàta, nam Aonar, the story of Niall Iain MacDonald crossing the Minch in a rowing boat to raise money for the RNLI and Western Isles Association for Mental Health.

BBC ALBA

The BBC ALBA idents (in everyday English that means those little clips with the moving statues and floating traffic cones) are also up for an award, as are the daily news programme An Là, long-running children’s show Dè a-Nis? music show A’ Chuirm, and Canadian producer Alison McAlpine’s Second Sight, drawing on Don Angie MacLean’s vast knowledge of history and folk tales. You can see the full shortlist at www.celticmediafestival.co.uk/shortlist.

Sgleog

Have you visited Sgleog recently? The website has just had a makeover and now boasts a cool new look and a whole range of quizzes, games, videos and competitions. Sgleog is a Gaelic website for young people, run by Cànan and supported by MG ALBA. You can find Sgleog at www.sgleog.com as well as on YouTube and Facebook.
Sgleog website

Football crazy

Football fans will be glued to BBC ALBA every weekend this month, with SPL games every weekend, and live SFL coverage on Sunday 22nd March. Be sure to tune in.

SPL: St Mirren v Aberdeen Saturday 07 March 20.00
SPL: Motherwell v Dundee United Saturday 14 March 20.00
SPL: Hibs v Aberdeen Saturday 21 March 20.00
SFL – Beò! Partick Thistle v Dundee Sunday 22 March 15.10

Other forthcoming highlights

Cathy MacDonald’s interviews with Scotland’s top celebrities continue over the next few weeks, as she chats to Paralympic athlete Aileen McGlynn, motor-racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart and the X Factor’s Leon Jackson. Make Monday night at 10pm a regular date with Cathy and her guests.

Sinne is Alba Thursday 05 March 21.00 The first in a new series looking at communities in today’s multi-cultural Scotland, starting with the Chinese community
Cuide ri Cathy Monday 09 March 22.00 Cathy meets Paralypmics athlete Aileen McGlynn
Dè a-Nis? Wednesday 11 March 18.00 Catch the last in the current series
Cuide ri Cathy Monday 16 March 22.00 Cathy in conversation with motor-racing legend Sir Jackie Stewart
Sasta Wednesday 18 March 18.30 Art, craft and animation in a brand new series for younger viewers
Cuide ri Cathy Monday 30 March 22.00 Cathy finds out what gives Leon Jackson the X Factor

Keep an eye on www.mgalba.com and www.bbcalba.co.uk for the complete schedule, and remember that you can see BBC ALBA on Sky 168 and Freesat 110. And if you missed the fabulous Turas a’ Bhradain, Alex Norton’s interview with Cathy, or Alex MacDonald’s reminiscences in Taisdealach earlier in the week, you can catch up on these and many more BBC ALBA programmes online at www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer.

Michelle

Getting to know … Michelle Morrison

Michelle has been a Production Assistant at MG ALBA since November 2007. She’s 21 and comes from Barvas on the West Side of Lewis.

You’re a newcomer at MG ALBA. What did you do before this?

I was a studying Gaelic at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig in Skye and I got a summer job at Pròiseact nan Ealan through Comunn na Gàidhlig’s student placement scheme, working on a song and folklore project. The following year I was back at Pròiseact nan Ealan, this time working on the St Kilda Opera. I’ve also worked for the Fèisean teaching Gaelic song, and I still manage to squeeze that in now and again.

Tell us about your job at MG ALBA

I work on the programme data connected with all our content, including archive material. I have to make sure that the paperwork is complete before any programmes are transmitted on BBC ALBA, so that all the broadcast rights are cleared and copyright and royalty payments are made. It certainly keeps me busy, and there’s always something new to learn.


BBC ALBA is on Sky 168 and Freesat 110.
BBC ALBA is a partnership service between MG ALBA and the BBC