A feature of the channel would be an hour-long 9:00 p.m. weeknight newscast produced from Scotland, covering national and international headlines from a Scottish perspective.

Hall also announced that the BBC would increase its overall spending on factual and drama productions in Scotland by £20 million annually.

[2][3] Ofcom granted provisional approval to the new service in April 2018, but showed concerns for its proposal to only dedicate half of its lineup to new programmes (seeing it as removing potential opportunities for independent producers), and directed the BBC to ensure that the channel does not have an undue impact on competing news outlets (including newspapers and other broadcasters, with the former expressing concern that the BBC would poach employees from newspapers to build its expanded Scotland news operation).

[4] Ofcom granted final approval to the service in June 2018: the BBC subsequently announced a planned launch for February 2019.

[5][6] In preparation for the launch of the new channel, BBC Two Scotland was discontinued and replaced by the networked version beginning 18 February.

[10] The first main programme to air on BBC Scotland was the 9th series premiere of Still Game on the channel's first day.

[11] The channel’s first drama commission Guilt was a significant success, receiving a strong critical reception and winning a number of awards.