[Keith]

Presumably at least part of the reason for the change is cost cutting. I'm guessing moving to 7pm means they may be able to reuse some reporters and location crews who may have still been set up from the 6pm national news. Also, by being only half hour long it means fewer reports are required to fill the time.

I do wonder whether this change might even be the first step towards an eventual closure of BBC Scotland channel. A straight off closure would have been highly contended. Instead, first reduce the channel's news content and move it to a timeslot nearer the BBC One news, so it's less high profile.

Then if the BBC decides to close BBC Scotland (channel) they could offer an hour long news bulletin on BBC One Scotland that came entirely from Scotland, featuring a mix of Scottish and national news. It could potentially have some of the national news between 6.30 and 7pm, if they needed to reuse a reporter who doing a live for the national bulletin. (Definitely different from the "Scottish Six" politicians once called for, and some viewers actually wanted.) It would also allow for BBC Two Scotland to be reinstated for additional opt-outs.