The signals being broadcast from Pacific Quay weren’t great from the start. Almost 20 years ago, the BBC's new development opened at a cost of £188 million, around £60 million more than the original prediction, and since that time viewers and radio listeners have been wondering whether their bang for their buck has ever really matched.

Why has this giant Egyptian temple of a building, with its relaxation pods and lavish facilities, not produced a proportionate increase in home-grown drama? Why has commissioning power not significantly shifted north of the border?

And why has Pacific Quay become a backdrop for protests and political frustration rather than a cultural engine?

We’ll come to that, but the news this week that job cuts are on the way, with as many as 60 roles potentially being cut, comes as no real surprise. The BBC in Scotland, which is overseen by Hayley Valentine, is a crumbling edifice. For example, only one in eight Scots watched the BBC Scotland digital channel each week last year, despite it costing licence payers more than £200 million.

The BBC in Scotland can no longer afford to create and transmit its long-running drama series River City. Already, Radio Scotland has made savage cuts to its broadcasting roster, with a series of names being dropped, from Billy Sloan to Kaye Adams, in a bid to move to cheaper, lower-brow formats that are hoped will generate wider audiences.

BBC Scotland channel 'could be closed' as broadcaster plans job cuts

Gregor Fisher reveals BBC chiefs have pulled the plug on sitcom Only Child

What has the BBC Scotland channel ever done for us?

'Tardis should land in Glasgow': Call for Doctor Who to be filmed in the city

So far, the strategy hasn’t........

© Herald Scotland