Wikipedia

Good Morning Scotland

This article is about the Scottish breakfast radio programme. For the regional news bulletins during "Good Morning Britain", see STV News.

Good Morning Scotland
Other namesGMS
GenreNews, current affairs
Running timeWeekdays: 06:00–09:00 (180 minutes)
Saturday: 08:00–09:00 (60 minutes)
Country of originScotland
LanguageEnglish
Home stationBBC Radio Scotland
SyndicatesBBC Radio nan Gàidheal
Hosted byGary Robertson
Laura Maxwell
StarringSport
Phil Goodlad
Gully Singh
Weather
Judith Ralston
Gillian Smart
Edited byEmma Marr
Senior editorChris Cowan
Recording studioBBC Pacific Quay, Glasgow
Original release31 December 1973 (1973-12-31) –
November 2025
Audio formatStereophonic sound
Websitehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074hf7

Good Morning Scotland is a Scottish morning news and current affairs radio programme on BBC Radio Scotland, broadcast weekdays from 06:00 to 09:00, and Saturday’s from 08:00 to 09:00, produced by BBC News Scotland. It was established in 1973, making it the longest-running radio show broadcast from Scotland and it remains one of the most popular.

The modern edition of the show is based in many respects on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, it consists of regular news, sport, business, travel and weather bulletins along with interviews, in-depth reports and a daily religious slot Thought for the Day.[1]

In October 2025, the corporation announced the programme would end following widespread media speculation.[2] A new show in the same time slot, called Radio Scotland Breakfast, launches on 24 November. It will be led by BBC presenters Martin Geissler, Laura Maciver and Phil Goodlad.[3]

History

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The programme was launched on the morning of 31 December 1973 with presenters David Findlay and John Milne. Prior to GMS, radio producers Geoff Cameron and Allan Muirhead were responsible for producing a daily opt-out from Today, called Today in Scotland. Its popularity led to the launch of Good Morning Scotland.[4]

In 1980, to celebrate 50 years of broadcasting from the BBC's Edinburgh studios at Queen Street, Good Morning Scotland was simulcast on BBC One Scotland for a week, pioneering breakfast television on the BBC (ITV station Yorkshire Television had broadcast a breakfast programme for six weeks during 1977 and thus laid claim to the first semi-regular British breakfast television broadcast).

In 2006 there some major changes to the show, including a change of presenters with Gary Robertson brought in.[5]

The programme had an estimated 455,000 listeners in 2008, which fell to 380,000 the following year.[6]

In early 2015, weekend editions of the programme were introduced and broadcast from 08:00 - 10:00. But since February 2021, Good Morning Scotland has been broadcast Monday to Saturday, with the Sunday edition replaced by Sunday Mornings, a faith-based programme and current affairs, political programme The Sunday Show.

In mid-2025, the Saturday edition of Good Morning Scotland was shortened to one hour (08:00-9:00) after longtime BBC presenter Shereen Nanjiani left the broadcaster[7] leading to schedule changes.[8]

Shortly after this change, BBC Scotland announced the end of Good Morning Scotland, citing changing audience habits for a revamped breakfast offer. The final edition airs on Friday 21 November.[3]

Local variations

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The first half of the programme is also broadcast on BBC Scotland's Gaelic-language station, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal before its Gaelic counterpart Aithris Na Maidne (Morning Report) begins at 07:30.

Listeners in Orkney opt-out between 07:30 and 08:00 for Around Orkney, a 30-minute magazine programme with features, local news and weather, diary, jobspot, mart report and postbag.

There are also local news bulletin opt-outs from Selkirk for the Borders, Dumfries for the South West, Aberdeen for the North East and Inverness for the Highlands.

Current presenters

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Former presenters

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Morning Extra

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Morning Extra was an associated phone-in programme broadcast from 09.05 - 10.00. Presented by Graham Stewart, it usually debated one of the biggest stories running on Good Morning Scotland. It was previously only 40 minutes long but was extended in 2008 to an hour.

The programme was axed in 2010 and replaced with a phone-in, Call Kaye, presented by Kaye Adams (later replaced by Morning Call). The last edition of Morning Extra aired on 26 February.

References

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  1. ^ "Farewell to Good Morning Scotland - where did it all go wrong?". The Herald. 28 October 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  2. ^ Reporter, Marc Horne, Senior News (9 October 2025). "Good Morning Scotland poised to be scrapped in BBC Radio overhaul". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 29 October 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b Reporter, Marc Horne, Senior News (28 October 2025). "Good Morning Scotland to be replaced with 'pacey' news show". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 29 October 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ Stewart, Graham (30 December 2013). "40 Years of Good Morning Scotland". BBC. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  5. ^ "Gary Robertson to be new voice of BBC's Good Morning Scotland". The Herald. 30 May 2006. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  6. ^ McGinty, Stephen (4 February 2010). "Radio Scotland losing 1,500 listeners a week". The Scotsman. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  7. ^ "Shereen Nanjiani signs off from BBC Radio Scotland after 17 years". BBC News. 14 June 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  8. ^ "Saturday Show to launch new-look Radio Scotland weekend". BBC News. 3 September 2025. Retrieved 29 October 2025.
  9. ^ Steven, Alasdair (16 July 2014). "Obituary: John Milne, journalist". The Scotsman. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  10. ^ "Neville Garden". The Herald. 25 September 2002. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  11. ^ Laing, Allan (25 April 1998). "Radio's new air force". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
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