A report into the decline of Scottish television production has cited "a lack of engagement with the Scottish sector by London-based commissioning editors" as a key factor.

The Scottish Broadcasting Commission's interim report into the Scottish television sector, which was released today, added that the lack of a "discernible overarching strategy for the sector in Scotland" and the "geographical distance from the [London] power base" were other important issues.

The SBC also criticised the practice of arbitrarily labelling network programmes as Scottish for reporting purposes, "while in fact [they have] very little financial or creative connection with Scotland". The body has urged the BBC and Ofcom "to secure greater transparency and consistency" on the geographic attribution of programmes.

ITV's executive chairman Michael Grade is quoted by the SBC as saying that "the brutal truth is that the ideas aren't [in Scotland]" and that the Scottish production sector has "a talent exit problem". The SBC said that ITV "made it clear in evidence to the Commission that they did not regard themselves as obliged to source network programmes from Scotland at all" on the basis that "they operate in a free market for ideas and talent and Scottish producers are not succeeding in that context". Grade is reported as saying that the broadcaster takes Ofcom's 8% quota-by-value target of commissioning in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland "seriously" and explained: "I always say in this business there’s nothing wrong with any media enterprise that a couple of hits wouldn’t cure. If somebody in Scotland could come up with a couple of hits, you watch the money. The trains, the planes will be full of bullion coming up from people wanting to spend money in Scotland."

The SBC said that efforts in the Scottish sector needed to be refocused onto developing "returning series rather than single commissions" and that the industry had "not managed to develop companies of scale and the 'critical mass' that leads to major network series and further growth".

The commission welcomed the BBC's investment at Pacific Quay, noting that it "could bring some £40-50m into our creative economy", and added that "new technologies in digital production and distribution have also opened up global online markets, where there are few barriers to entry and every prospect of new sources of revenue".