First official images of new BBC Scotland news programme released

The first images of the set for a new hour-long BBC news programme in Scotland have been released.

Launching in February, The Nine will air on BBC Scotland’s new channel and focus on national as well as international stories.

It will mainly be hosted by Rebecca Curran and Martin Geissler in an open-plan set at the broadcaster’s Glasgow office.

Hayley Valentine, editor, said: “The Nine aims to be a world-class programme combining international, UK and Scottish news with the needs of a Scottish audience at the heart of everything we do.

“We hope to bring the audience the best of the BBC both from Scotland and around the globe, plus some exciting new on-screen talent.

“We want to bring audiences stories they won’t find anywhere else. We are looking at fresh, creative and engaging ways of telling stories that matter to Scottish audiences.”

The flagship news programme will be broadcast Monday to Friday between 9pm and 10pm, in addition to weekend bulletins.

Ms Curran and Mr Geisler will co-present Monday to Thursday, while Laura Miller and John Beattie will present the news hour each Friday.

It comes as part of new investment from the broadcaster in Scotland, creating 80 new jobs in news services.