Culture, Heritage and Arts for Argyll and the Isles (or CHARTS) is a creative community and networking organisation, established by Argyll and Bute Council with support from Creative Scotland in 2019.
Inner Ear, in partnership with CHARTS, undertook a comprehensive evaluation of live streaming activity and its potential for the creative, heritage and arts sectors across Argyll and the Isles. Our report, authored by Tim Wright and featuring original case study interviews by Fay Young, analyses audience engagement, technology, practical challenges and the impact of digital media on cultural organisations.
Why Live Streaming Matters
Live streaming is rapidly becoming one of the most effective ways to reach new audiences, share original content, and build lasting connections. As our report found, engagement driven by live streamed events is high when compared with typical CHARTS membership engagement figures. Live streaming makes it possible to overcome geographical and logistical barriers, offering unique and authentic cultural experiences to a worldwide audience.
“The ability to reach widespread remote audiences meets an identifiable global demand for Scottish culture, presenting a good opportunity to develop increased awareness of the goods and services of members.”
Key Findings from the Evaluation
- High demand: There is strong appetite for live streaming among both CHARTS members and their audiences, particularly those unable to attend events in person due to distance or travel constraints.
- Technical innovation: Despite broadband and connectivity challenges in rural Scotland, creative solutions and flexible streaming strategies can deliver high-quality results.
- Audience reach: The data shows that a significant proportion of viewers for streamed events come from outside Scotland—and even outside the UK. For example, 61% of viewers for the CHARTS Showcase Event were from outside Scotland, and international audiences regularly participate in live Scottish cultural broadcasts.
- Social and commercial impact: Live streaming events can raise awareness, build community, and even generate revenue through models such as sponsorship, patronage or pay-per-view, particularly when targeting the global Scottish diaspora and culture-lovers.
From Report to Action
Inner Ear’s work included technical delivery, live audience analytics, and the creation of best practice resources to help CHARTS members get started with live streaming. The full report details practical recommendations—such as leveraging mobile streaming, building collaborations, and engaging audiences with interactive formats—that any creative or heritage organisation can apply.
Excerpt from the report:
“The benefits of streaming to the CHARTS members could be realised in a number of ways—from simple awareness raising, to potential direct and indirect revenue generation, and, importantly, positioning the area to take advantage of the emerging trends in tourism which are important sources of customers for the CHARTS membership.”
Inner Ear won an Argyll and Bute Council tender to conduct and deliver a suite of services comprising live streaming and technical production management of a showcase launch event, creation of five mini documentary features, live streaming workshops, audience development consultancy and this research project.
Argyll and Bute is a large, rural region of West Scotland that includes Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, four peninsulas and the Southern Hebridean Islands. To evaluate the potential for live streaming creative projects by CHARTS members, Inner Ear asked consultant Tim Wright to conduct a mixture of quantitative and qualitative analysis, drawing on case studies conducted by Fay Young. The report was edited by Dougal Perman and Fay Young.
Ready to Stream Your Next Project?
If you want to reach new audiences, build engagement and future-proof your creative work, Inner Ear can help you plan, produce and evaluate live streaming for your organisation or event.
Contact Inner Ear for advice, bespoke training or full live streaming production services.