10,000 signatures reached
To: Hayley Valentine, Director, BBC Scotland
Tell BBC Scotland to Save River City
The BBC has shockingly announced they plan to cancel River City, one of Scotland's most viewed and best loved TV shows. River City attracts half a million viewers per episode and has an iconic status in Scottish TV culture. This decision is an attack on Scottish-made TV drama, Scottish TV workers, and the soap's 200,000 loyal viewers.*
Sign our petition to reverse the cut and Save River City!
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*Figure updated April 2025.
Sign our petition to reverse the cut and Save River City!
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*Figure updated April 2025.
Why is this important?
Paul W Fleming, Equity General Secretary, called the move "short-sighted" and a "disaster for Scottish television", saying the move would have a disproportionately negative impact on Scottish performers - many of whom get their first TV job on River City - and the wider Scottish to production landscape. The £9 million annual budget is excellent value for money given the hours of programming produced throughout the year for a successful show pulling in a regular audience of 500,000 per episode.
The Glasgow-based show is well-loved by Scottish audiences, enjoys strong ratings, and won ‘Best Drama’ at the RTS Scotland 2023 awards. It is the only domestic Scottish soap running on TV and outperforms other TV series by more than 2.5 times. It provides work for dozens of Scottish actors every year. River City is thriving and successful in its current format.
There is no way that the BBC can replace the level of investment and job creation that River City provides to the Scottish economy and Scottish culture sector. Any alternative proposals the BBC offers will inevitably hurt Scottish culture workers and and TV production.