River City did not pass value for money test, BBC Scotland boss tells MSPs
Bosses announced plans to cancel the show, which has been running since 2002, next year, claiming viewing patterns had shifted.
The decision has raised concerns about impacts on the screen sector in Scotland.
But, appearing at Holyrood's Culture Committee on Thursday, BBC Scotland director Hayley Valentine said: 'I didn't take this lightly and I did think about the consequences for cast, for crew, for people who are impacted by the decision, of course I did.
'However, we have to put our audience's needs first and the audience for River City has declined significantly over the past five years.'
Ms Valentine pointed to a number of new dramas set to be produced by the broadcaster, saying: 'What we'll do with these new dramas, which will absolutely cost more to make, but we'd expect them to deliver much bigger audiences than River City does.
'In terms of value for money for the audience, I'm afraid that River City didn't pass that test for us any longer, and the new dramas, we really hope will.'
The police drama, Shetland, Ms Valentine said, brings in about 700,000 viewers in Scotland and up to eight million elsewhere in the UK, compared to just 200,000 for River City.
Addressing concerns about the future of the sector, she said: 'River City is not the only game in town in terms of access to drama in Scotland, whether you're an actor, whether you're a director, whether you're a producer, whether you're a trainee.
'We offer these opportunities across a really wide range of content, it's not just River City that does that for us.'
Ms Valentine also pointed to budgetary issues at the broadcaster, telling MSPs she doesn't 'have the money to do everything that I want to'.
'There are a million things that I'd like to do that aren't possible.
'So I have to make difficult decisions.
'This decision was made on the basis that the audience figures are not performing for us in the way that we need them to.'
Cast and crew, as well as actors' union Equity, have already appeared before the committee to warn of the impact of the soap's cancellation.
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The letter's subject was BBC Scotland cancelling River City, an act I had previously described as cultural vandalism. My correspondent had a cooler disposition and a better way with words. Summing up how the soap had been brought low in recent years, she wrote: 'Its viewing figures were adversely affected by stop/start production runs, erratic scheduling and a general lack of promotion.' Spot on. And then came this: 'I began watching River City out of loyalty to my city, but came to the view that it makes an important contribution to the culture of central Scotland.' BBC Scotland HQ at Pacific Quay Watching out of loyalty to my city. How wonderful, how generous, how Scottish is that? Of the thousands of words written and spoken about River City, all the BBC statements, the petition to save the show, the debate in the Scottish Parliament, not one sentence hits home as hard as that contribution. Watching out of loyalty to my city. 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Was there ever a chance of building on the UK-wide iPlayer audience for River City by running a promotion campaign? Where are the figures showing potential job and training opportunities lost versus those created? Was there any analysis or was this simply a case of executives thinking they knew best? I understand BBC Scotland's ambition. It wants another Baby Reindeer. It wants the next Adolescence. But it doesn't have the money of a Netflix or an Apple+, which makes it all the more important to ensure that it is making decisions for the right reasons. When it comes to River City, I'm not sure it is. Just as to govern is to choose, running the BBC is all about choice. Who is out and who is in, who gets the money and who doesn't. BBC Scotland decided, ultimately, that River City was expendable. It has made the arguments about viewing figures and opportunities offered elsewhere, but I think there is another factor at work here. For my money - £174.50 licence fee - River City was vulnerable because it was a Scottish working-class soap made by working-class casts and crews. No one thought there would be the backlash there has been. It wasn't like cancelling Question Time with its well-connected panellists and audiences (now there's an idea). The class ceiling exists in the media in general - heck, in society as a whole. It's not just BBC Scotland. Indeed, BBC Scotland has done more than most to widen access and should be commended for it. Now and then, a youngster will appear who doesn't sound like your typical BBC sort. They thrive on the attention and encouragement, but then at some point they hit that class ceiling. They don't get invited into the room where it happens, so they can't shape the corporation's future, and the story of inequality rumbles on. Representation matters. As the old saying goes, if you can see it, you can be it. For many working-class Scots, River City was 'their' soap, and therefore 'their' way into TV. Doors opened that had too often been closed, and if it could happen for the guy down the road, it could happen for you. You cannot put a price on that kind of positive PR. The same goes for viewer loyalty. Fans of River City have had their patience tested to a degree that would not have happened with any other show. Yet they've kept faith with the programme. Even now, they trust executives will repay that faith and cancel the cancellation, but will they? Back to you, BBC Scotland. Alison Rowat is a senior politics and features writer on The Herald. Contact
