THE SCOTTISH National Party have got big plans for broadcasting if they win the election. Since taking over the SNP culture, media andsportbrieflastautumn,MSP Stewart Maxwell has drawn up a set of proposalstoputhisstampon departmental policy.

These will be discussed with party chiefs in the coming weeks and should lead to a formal statement of intent in March, ahead of the launch of the party manifesto the month after.

Many ideas still sound sketchy, but there seems little doubt that Scottish television might look very different in the event of an SNP administration.

With or without independence, the SNP also want to see media policy-making powers shifted from Westminster to Holyrood and UK broadcast regulator Ofcom replaced by a Scottish equivalent.

These seismic shifts would mean that the rules and regulations on everything from offensive programming, through publicservicebroadcastingtothe auction of the broadcasting spectrum, would be decided in Scotland in future.

The Nationalists also want to see much more Scottish programming on BBC Scotland, starting with a locally produced Six O'Clock News.

Ifthecountryvotedyesinthe independence referendum, expected to beheldinthefirsttermofanSNP administration, it would mean an end to BBC Scotland altogether. It would be replacedbyaScottishBroadcasting Corporation(SBC),withanSBC1 channel with a much more Scottish flavour.

The debate about devolving media policy is one that has cropped up several times since the launch of the Scottish parliament. It has not helped that media policywasreputedlyearmarkedfor devolution, but taken off the list by Tony Blair and Donald Dewar before 1999.

"The more powers that are devolved the better," says Maxwell. "Broadcasting policyiscentraltothewaythata country grows and develops."

Scottish Labour have also looked at more power being devolved in this area.In an interview with the Sunday Herald lastsummer,JackMcConnellcalledfor broadcasting policy to be at least partiallydevolvedinthefaceofconcernsthatthe"competitive environment is leading to centralisation".

ThisprocesssawScottishRadio Holdings (SRH) absorbed by Emap in 2005, and SMG looks likely to be taken overbyBelfast-basedUTVinthe coming weeks.

Meanwhile,Scotland'stwolargestindependent TV producers, IWC Media and The Comedy Unit, both sold out to RDF because they thought they had betterfuturesinaLondon-based powerhouse than if they stood alone.

McConnell's silence since then has led to rumours that he has been pulled back into line by Westminster, but his comments seemed to make it clear that this is not just a Nationalist concern.

Media consultant Mike Kidd agrees that powers need to be devolved. He believes it has led to anomalies such as Scotland not enjoying universal access to even 2G phone signals and facing a disproportionatelylargenumberof homes without all the Freeview channels after digital switchover.

"The strongest argument is that it is such an influential part of our cultural activity. It sits uneasily with the fact that cultural policy is devolved," he says.

David Hutchison, a media lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian University, argues that in practical terms, policy powers wouldhavetobesharedbetween Holyrood and Westminster.

He says: "If you went any further it becomes tricky unless Scotland was independent. How could the likes of the BBC be subject to the policies of two administrations, for instance?"

On the subject of regulation, Maxwell makes it clear that a Scottish regulator would sell the broadcasting spectrum in adifferent way from how Ofcom seems to want to.

Instead of holding a completely free auction, a new regulator proposed by the Nationalists would hold some back for special interest groups. This could pavethewayforlocalScottishTV stations, for example.

The SNP also want to seek to avoid repeats of situations such as the current EmapjobscutsattheformerSRH stations, which have seen the London media conglomerate accused of breaking assurances it gave to MSPs and staff at the time of the takeover.

Maxwell says that he would require written guarantees about things such as jobs and Scottish output to prevent this from happening in future.

Stressing that it is not yet party policy, hesays:"Theregulatorcouldhave powers to fine, as well as name and shame, to bring pressure to bear on the company in question."

He thinks it unlikely, however, that it would ever be able to reverse takeovers.

Maxwell says the reforms of the BBC arenecessarybecauseScotland currently pays around £250 million in licence fee money, but BBC Scotland only gets around £150m back (plus another £10m from other sources).

Obviouslysomeofthe£100m shortfall goes towards EastEnders, Top Gearandalltheothernetwork programmes that Scots like to watch, but the Nationalists contend that we still receive a raw deal when all these beans are counted.

A telltale sign, Maxwell argues, is the amount of money that is spent on networkproductionsnorthofthe Border. According to themost recent figures from Ofcom, network spending onScottishproductionsonallthe terrestrial channels was less than 4% of the total, even though Scotland makes up almost 9% of the population.

Becausethisisnotthecasein comparable countries such as Denmark and Ireland, their state broadcasters can employ many more people for each euro of licence fee money.

Instead of opting out of the network schedule to show Scottish programmes, increased output under the SNP would makeitfeelmorelikeBBCScotland was opting in when it wanted to.

ButMaxwellwouldwantthistoonly be a step towards an independent SBC. As well as creatingmorejobs,hesaysthe increasedproductionwould"show Scotland to the world through our eyes.Itwouldalsoassistinthecultural regeneration of the country."

To help pay for the high cost of producing desirable genres such as drama,itwouldenterintojointproductiondealswithequivalent broadcasters in othercountries.AndinMaxwell's personal opinion, it could also top up its coffers by selling advertising. "This would not be during children's television andnot in the middleof programmes, but perhapsaroundtheedges.Itwould possibly be at half-time inafootballmatch,forexample," he says.

David Hutchison finds much of this unconvincing, questioning whether ad revenues can be reliable when they are already disappearing online. He says: "I would welcome a move towards opting in rather than opting out, but we have to be realistic about costs and tastes.

"Many Scottish viewers like the UK media.Iftheyfoundthatinsteadof EastEnders or Strictly Come Dancing they were getting a joint production from Denmark or Canada, I think there would be many unhappy people."

He adds: "I cannot think of one small countrythatmanagestofinancea service anything like as strong as the BBC - even a country like Canada struggles to produce a wide range of indigenousmaterialthatpeoplewantto watch. It is channels showing American programmes that attract the audiences."

Maxwell accepts that this is a danger, but he contends that SBC would import the best of English fare in the way that RTE does in Ireland. "You would have to be careful that you produced a good mix of programmes that included the best of popular UK programmes," he says.

Clearlythereisstillmuchto straightenout,whichwilladdto feelings that the SNP still have to shift theirmindsetfromopposition to the realities of government should they get the assent of voters. But there seems no doubt that the more that people vote for Scotland to be detached from the UK, the more broadcasting will change. It is just one of many arguments that seem set to run and run over the next few months.