The first BBC radio broadcast in the Gaelic language was aired throughout Scotland on Sunday 2 December 1923; this was a 15-minute religious address by Rev.
The first regular programme was singer Neil MacLean's Sgeulachdan agus Oran ('Stories and songs'), broadcast from the Aberdeen studio.
After the Second World War, Finlay J. Macdonald (later co-founder of Gairm) joined Hugh MacPhee in the Glasgow studios; he was replaced in 1954 by Fred Macaulay.
There was a Friday evening news slot which George Orwell, writing at that time in Jura, criticised for its "amateurishness".
A number of radio plays were produced, including An Tunnag Fhiadhaich, a translation by Lachlan MacKinnon of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck (1951).
Because few areas of the West Highlands and virtually none of the islands could receive television signals before the early 1960s, Gaelic TV was not an issue at first, though there had been coverage of the Mòd.
The first genuine Gaelic TV programme was in the light entertainment category: Se Ur Beatha ('You're welcome') in 1964.
[4] With the funding the BBC were able to produce a small number of children's Gaelic programmes during term-time starting in October 1985, with Padraig Post, Dòtaman and Bzzz.
On 11 February 2002, CBeebies Alba was launched as the new programming slot for Children's Gaelic Programmes, initially broadcast on BBC One Scotland at 2:55 pm – 3:25 pm every weekday from the initial launch, BBC One Scotland stopped showing Children's Gaelic programmes (which for some reason had Channel 4's Natalie programme as part of the slot starting in 1993) in June 2002 (with the exception of the children's Mod repeat until October 2009) and they moved to BBC Two Scotland during CBeebies under the name CBeebies Alba, beginning in November 2002, Like BBC One Scotland, The timeslot varied in the earlier years.
Gaelic language programmes are broadcast during the day from Monday to Saturday and the channel joins BBC Radio Scotland after closing transmission.
A bilingual Scottish Pop Chart show, produced to commission by MFR (Moray Firth Radio) in Inverness is also broadcast each week on several of these stations.
The weekly series Learning Gaelic by Edward Purcell with John M Bannerman and Archie Henry began in 1949.
In 2021, BBC Alba, in collaboration with Sabhal Mòr Ostaig and the Scottish Government, introduced 'SpeakGaelic', presented by Joy Dunlop.
With the spread of Gaelic-medium units in primary schools, attended also by children from English-speaking households, there was a need for education series aimed at children in the early stages of immersion-phase language-learning: Baile Mhuilinn (TV) and Fiream Faram (Radio) both appeared in 1998.