STV
Encyclopedia
STV is the brand used by both ITV
licensees in Northern and Central Scotland, formerly known as Grampian Television
(now legally STV North) and Scottish Television
(now legally STV Central) respectively. The brand was adopted on Tuesday 30 May 2006 replacing both franchises' identities. Its positioning, identity and brand guidelines were developed by Elmwood Design's Edinburgh office. The STV branding was previously used by Scottish Television from around 1970 to August 1985. Both licensees are owned by STV Group plc.
and STV News broadcast separate bulletins to Northern Scotland (including an opt-out for the Tayside area), Glasgow & West Central Scotland, and Edinburgh & East Central Scotland. There is no STV South as Southern Scotland is part of the Border Television
region (Border being owned by ITV plc
) and programmes are presented there under the ITV1
Border
brand.
Emphasising the fact that STV is essentially one channel across the two regions, there is now a single managing director (Bobby Hain - former managing director of Scottish Television
), a single director of programmes (David Brook - former strategy director of Channel 4
) and a single head of news (Gordon MacMillan - former head of news of Scottish TV). Terms in the renewed licences for both STV Central and STV North also mean that regional non-news programmes are shared (and identically scheduled) across both licences.
Although the stations are only required to produce 1.5 hours a week of regional non-news programmes (a single arrangement covering both North and Central regions), the chief executive of STV Group plc, Rob Woodward, told MPs at a Westminster briefing in October 2008 that the station would aim to increase its regional output from 2009 onwards.
Alongside daily regional news coverage, regular STV programming includes the nightly current affairs programme Scotland Tonight
and rugby highlights programme STV Rugby
. The company also produces many Gaelic
programmes, some of which are now produced for the Scots Gaelic-language channel, BBC Alba, alongside archive material including Speaking our Language
and Machair
. On a network scale, one of STV's most famous exports is the long-running crime drama Taggart
, set in Glasgow
.
The network's range of programmes was dramatically expanded during the 1990s under director Alistair Moffat
. Previous TV programming includes the serial dramas Take the High Road
, Garnock Way
& High Living, gameshows Now You See It and Wheel of Fortune
, crime series Crimedesk with Bill Knox
, long-running documentary series Weir's Way, lifestyle show Room at the Top, and Glen Michael
's Cartoon Cavalcade, which lasted 26 years. Another of the station's best-known programmes, Scotsport
, ran continuously for 51 years until May 2008 and remains one of the world's longest-running television sports programmes.
, Doc Martin
, Midsomer Murders
, Poirot, Lewis and a number of other high profile ITV network dramas from its schedules, instead preferring to concentrate on programming made within Scotland. The practice of dropping networked shows had been in operation for other programmes since November 2008 when STV announced it would opt-out of programmes they claimed were not performing well in their broadcast region, including Sharpe's Peril
, Al Murray's Happy Hour
, Moving Wallpaper
, Benidorm
and The Alan Titchmarsh Show
. ITV's coverage of the FA Cup
was also dropped.
ITV claimed that STV were in breach of their network agreements by making this decision and are subsequently suing STV for £38 million. Latterly, STV counter claimed by launching its own legal action against ITV plc, claiming the company was owed money and unhappy about promotional advertising of ITV services. The then executive chairman of ITV plc, Michael Grade
claimed ITV was the "victim" in the ongoing dispute.
Amid many protests, the company's chief executive Rob Woodward admitted in December 2009 that STV had made a 'major mistake' by dropping some of the networked dramas and replacing them in some cases with imported output, repeats and films. The company pledged to continue with its plan to produce more regional programming and opt out of networked output with further plans announced in August 2010.
On 27 April 2011, ITV and STV settled its legal dispute, with ITV receiving £18 million from STV. The £18 million consists of a £7.2 million cash payment payable in 2011 and £10.8 million either in programme rights at the end of the year or cash, as adjusted, depending on further discussions with ITV. The programming rights payment is capped at a maximum of £15 million. In addition, STV will receive £2.4 million of credit for programme opt outs in 2011. STV said it believed it was in the best interests of shareholders to end the long period of uncertainty. The parties have agreed the basis of a more collaborative relationship for the future.
would launch an investigation over claims that STV allowed the Scottish Government to influence its schedules and replace networked series with Scottish based programmes. An Ofcom report released four months later cleared STV of allowing political interference within feature series, but 18 short social action programmes were found to have been influenced too closely by sponsorship from Government agencies and initiatives.
area of the city. The first programme broadcast by STV from the Theatre Royal studios was This is Scotland on 31 August 1957. In 1974, the company sold the Theatre Royal to Scottish Opera for conversion back to a full theatre and national opera house and moved into custom-built studios next door. The association with Cowcaddens
ended in July 2006 when the station moved to new, smaller studios in Pacific Quay
, alongside the Glasgow Science Centre
.
In Edinburgh, STV converted the Gateway Theatre in Leith Walk into colour studios during the mid-late 1960s - a facility which proved especially useful in 1969 when a fire gutted studio A at the Theatre Royal, killing two firemen. The Edinburgh studios later became a permanent production centre for Take the High Road
before being closed in the early 1990s to save costs. STV's Edinburgh base now consists of smaller studio and office facilities for local news and advertising operations.
headquarters moved to new smaller studios in the city's West Tullos area
in June 2003, vacating a converted tram depot that had been used since Grampian Television's launch in September 1961. Expansions to the Queens Cross complex were made in 1983 and 1987 - the former as part of a £5 million investment into the company's technical facilities.
Around the time of the station's launch, Grampian also established premises in Dundee, later moving to Albany House in 1980 and Harbour Chambers in 1998. In April 2008, a new Dundee studio for local news and advertising operations was opened in the Seabraes area of the city.
Grampian opened a base for local Highlands & Islands newsgathering in Inverness
in 1983, situated in Huntly Street, which remains open today. A studio complex in Stornoway
was opened in 1993 to accommodate the expansion of the station's Scots Gaelic programming production. The studios closed in 2000 following the axing of the Gaelic news service, Telefios
.
Grampian also established secondary studios in Edinburgh during the late 1960s from where some of the station's light entertainment programming was produced. The studios were closed in 1969.
). The station launched on 6 June 2010, initially broadcasting on Freeview channel 51, from the Black Hill, Keelylang Hill and Bressay
transmitters and now broadcasts from all post-digital switchover transmitters in its coverage area. STV HD is also available on cable, on Virgin Media channel 113. To begin with, STV HD is a single service across all of STV’s transmission areas. It carries the programmes as seen in West Central Scotland, including news and commercials, with no regional variations. STV says it is currently working with Sky, Freesat
and ITV Network with a view to making STV HD available via satellite as soon as possible.
The channel was added to the Freeview EPG on 1 June 2010, the Virgin Media EPG on 4 June and satellite tests began on 25 May.
will launch their own timeshift
services, STV+1 and UTV+1 in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. STV later confirmed that it would launch STV+1 at 8pm on 11 January 2011. The channel is available to Freeview viewers on channel 33 and Virgin Media
cable customers on channel 114. The channel is not officially available on the Freesat
and Sky satellite services but may be manually tuned in. There are two regional variations of STV+1; one for north and one for central Scotland.
The north receives the Aberdeen based news and advertisements and the Central Belt
service carries Edinburgh-based news and advertisements allowing viewers in the East who cannot watch STV's 6pm & 10:30pm news programmes for the micro-region to watch the bulletins an hour later.
STV North (formerly Grampian Television
) is based in Aberdeen and serves Northern Scotland. The main news programme serving the area is the North edition of STV News at Six
, alongside short regional bulletins (STV News) and a weekly news programme for the deaf (STV News Review). The main 6pm programme on weeknights includes local opt-outs from Dundee
(serving Tayside
& North East Fife
) and Aberdeen (serving the North East
, Highlands
& Islands) on week nights. The two sub-regions also receive separate commercials.
STV Central (formerly Scottish Television
) is based at the STV Group headquarters in Glasgow and serves Central Scotland.
Two editions of STV News at Six
are produced and broadcast each weeknight from Glasgow (for the city & the west of the central belt) and Edinburgh (for the capital city, South Fife
and the Lothians). The two sub-regions also receive separate late night news bulletins and local commercials. Lunchtime and weekend news bulletins are broadcast from Glasgow across the Central region.
Altogether, the regions and sub-regions serve a population
of 3,849,000.
East
Tayside & North East Fife
in Northern Ireland
, has resisted adopting the generic ITV1
branding that is now commonplace throughout the ITV plc
regions in the southern Scottish borders, England and Wales
and the Channel Islands
, although it has now adopted a single Scottish identity for both its franchises. The only mentioning of the ITV1 brand on Channel 3 in the STV regions occurs during ITV Breakfast
(Daybreak
and Lorraine
), which operates as a separate station, and during some networked programmes themselves.
, consists of news, sport, entertainment, weather, competitions and programming information. The website also features a video catch-up service, STV Player
, offering a chance to see networked and regional programming aired on the station for 30 days after their original broadcast. Exclusive online programming in the form of regular video blogs are also produced for the website. In September 2010 TV Genius
's content discovery platform
was chosen by STV to incorporate an online recommender system for its STV site.
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
licensees in Northern and Central Scotland, formerly known as Grampian Television
Grampian Television
Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
(now legally STV North) and Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
(now legally STV Central) respectively. The brand was adopted on Tuesday 30 May 2006 replacing both franchises' identities. Its positioning, identity and brand guidelines were developed by Elmwood Design's Edinburgh office. The STV branding was previously used by Scottish Television from around 1970 to August 1985. Both licensees are owned by STV Group plc.
Programming
The two licences still produce regional programmes, although the only difference between them is the respective news programmes and overnight output: STV News at SixSTV News at Six
STV News at Six is a Scottish regional news programme, covering the two STV franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland, produced by STV Central in the Central region and STV North in the Northern region.The programmes were launched on Monday 23 March 2009, replacing Scotland Today in...
and STV News broadcast separate bulletins to Northern Scotland (including an opt-out for the Tayside area), Glasgow & West Central Scotland, and Edinburgh & East Central Scotland. There is no STV South as Southern Scotland is part of the Border Television
Border Television
Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
region (Border being owned by ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
) and programmes are presented there under the ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
Border
Border Television
Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
brand.
Emphasising the fact that STV is essentially one channel across the two regions, there is now a single managing director (Bobby Hain - former managing director of Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
), a single director of programmes (David Brook - former strategy director of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
) and a single head of news (Gordon MacMillan - former head of news of Scottish TV). Terms in the renewed licences for both STV Central and STV North also mean that regional non-news programmes are shared (and identically scheduled) across both licences.
Although the stations are only required to produce 1.5 hours a week of regional non-news programmes (a single arrangement covering both North and Central regions), the chief executive of STV Group plc, Rob Woodward, told MPs at a Westminster briefing in October 2008 that the station would aim to increase its regional output from 2009 onwards.
Alongside daily regional news coverage, regular STV programming includes the nightly current affairs programme Scotland Tonight
Scotland Tonight
Scotland Tonight is a Scottish news and current affairs programme, covering the two STV franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland, produced by STV News...
and rugby highlights programme STV Rugby
STV Rugby
STV Rugby is a Scottish regional television programme featuring highlights of RaboDirect Pro12 rugby matches involving Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors...
. The company also produces many Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
programmes, some of which are now produced for the Scots Gaelic-language channel, BBC Alba, alongside archive material including Speaking our Language
Speaking our Language
Speaking our Language was a Scottish Gaelic learners television programme that ran from 1993 to 1996. Running for 72 episodes through four series, the series was produced by Scottish Television and presented by Rhoda MacDonald, STV's then-head of Gaelic output...
and Machair
Machair (TV series)
Machair was a Scottish Gaelic television soap opera produced by Scottish Television Enterprises between August 1992 and September 1998.The series was created and developed by Peter May and Janice Hally who was also the storyliner and principal scriptwriter...
. On a network scale, one of STV's most famous exports is the long-running crime drama Taggart
Taggart
Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network...
, set in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
.
The network's range of programmes was dramatically expanded during the 1990s under director Alistair Moffat
Alistair Moffat
Alistair Moffat is an award winning writer and journalist, former director of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and Rector of the University of St Andrews.-Education:...
. Previous TV programming includes the serial dramas Take the High Road
Take the High Road
Take the High Road was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, and set in the fictional village of Glendarroch , and claims to have about 2 million fans, including the Queen Mother...
, Garnock Way
Garnock Way
Garnock Way was a short-lived Scottish soap opera, produced by Scottish Television for the ITV network, running from 1976 to 1979. Set in a mining community in a town halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh...
& High Living, gameshows Now You See It and Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (UK game show)
Wheel of Fortune is a British television game show created by Merv Griffin. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes...
, crime series Crimedesk with Bill Knox
Bill Knox
William Knox was a Scottish author, journalist and broadcaster, best known for his crime novels and presenting the long-running STV series Crimedesk....
, long-running documentary series Weir's Way, lifestyle show Room at the Top, and Glen Michael
Glen Michael
Glen Michael is a former children's television presenter and an entertainer. His career at Scottish Television spanned several decades with the popular show Glen Michael's Cartoon Cavalcade...
's Cartoon Cavalcade, which lasted 26 years. Another of the station's best-known programmes, Scotsport
Scotsport
Scotsport was a Scottish sports television programme, broadcast on STV in northern and central Scotland, as well as on Border Television in southern Scotland. It was recognised as the world's longest-running sports television magazine....
, ran continuously for 51 years until May 2008 and remains one of the world's longest-running television sports programmes.
Withdrawal of networked output
In July 2009, STV announced that it was withdrawing some networked programmes such as The BillThe Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, Doc Martin
Doc Martin
Doc Martin is a British television comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Mark Crowdy, Craig Ferguson and Dominic Minghella. The show is filmed on location in the fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, United Kingdom, with filming of most interior scenes...
, Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
, Poirot, Lewis and a number of other high profile ITV network dramas from its schedules, instead preferring to concentrate on programming made within Scotland. The practice of dropping networked shows had been in operation for other programmes since November 2008 when STV announced it would opt-out of programmes they claimed were not performing well in their broadcast region, including Sharpe's Peril
Sharpe's Peril
Sharpe's Peril is a British television drama, part of a series that follows the career of Richard Sharpe, based on the novels of Bernard Cornwell.- Production history :...
, Al Murray's Happy Hour
Al Murray's Happy Hour
Al Murray's Happy Hour was a chat show presented by comedian Al Murray and produced by Avalon TV. The first series aired in early 2007. It is broadcast on the British terrestrial TV network, ITV, and the first series was broadcast on Saturday nights at 10pm. The second series aired on Fridays at 10pm...
, Moving Wallpaper
Moving Wallpaper
Moving Wallpaper was a British satirical comedy-drama television series set in a TV production unit. It ran on ITV for two series in 2008–2009. The subject of the first series was the production of a soap called Echo Beach, each episode of which aired directly after the Moving Wallpaper episode...
, Benidorm
Benidorm (TV series)
Benidorm is an award-winning British television comedy-drama that is produced by Tiger Aspect for ITV and written by Derren Litten, co-writer of The Catherine Tate Show, exploiting the working-class stereotype of this popular tourist destination....
and The Alan Titchmarsh Show
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
The Alan Titchmarsh Show is a British daytime TV chat show broadcast between 3 and 4pm weekdays on the ITV Network.-Format:The programme made its debut on ITV in 2007. It focused on the theme of "The Best of British" focusing on food, entertainment and celebrities in a mid-afternoon slot...
. ITV's coverage of the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
was also dropped.
ITV claimed that STV were in breach of their network agreements by making this decision and are subsequently suing STV for £38 million. Latterly, STV counter claimed by launching its own legal action against ITV plc, claiming the company was owed money and unhappy about promotional advertising of ITV services. The then executive chairman of ITV plc, Michael Grade
Michael Grade
Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
claimed ITV was the "victim" in the ongoing dispute.
Amid many protests, the company's chief executive Rob Woodward admitted in December 2009 that STV had made a 'major mistake' by dropping some of the networked dramas and replacing them in some cases with imported output, repeats and films. The company pledged to continue with its plan to produce more regional programming and opt out of networked output with further plans announced in August 2010.
On 27 April 2011, ITV and STV settled its legal dispute, with ITV receiving £18 million from STV. The £18 million consists of a £7.2 million cash payment payable in 2011 and £10.8 million either in programme rights at the end of the year or cash, as adjusted, depending on further discussions with ITV. The programming rights payment is capped at a maximum of £15 million. In addition, STV will receive £2.4 million of credit for programme opt outs in 2011. STV said it believed it was in the best interests of shareholders to end the long period of uncertainty. The parties have agreed the basis of a more collaborative relationship for the future.
Ofcom investigation
In March 2010, the Telegraph reported that OfcomOfcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
would launch an investigation over claims that STV allowed the Scottish Government to influence its schedules and replace networked series with Scottish based programmes. An Ofcom report released four months later cleared STV of allowing political interference within feature series, but 18 short social action programmes were found to have been influenced too closely by sponsorship from Government agencies and initiatives.
STV Central
The STV studios in Glasgow were originally located in the former Theatre Royal in the CowcaddensCowcaddens
Cowcaddens is an area of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is virtually in the city centre and is bordered by the areas of Garnethill to the south and Townhead to the east....
area of the city. The first programme broadcast by STV from the Theatre Royal studios was This is Scotland on 31 August 1957. In 1974, the company sold the Theatre Royal to Scottish Opera for conversion back to a full theatre and national opera house and moved into custom-built studios next door. The association with Cowcaddens
Cowcaddens
Cowcaddens is an area of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is virtually in the city centre and is bordered by the areas of Garnethill to the south and Townhead to the east....
ended in July 2006 when the station moved to new, smaller studios in Pacific Quay
Pacific Quay
Pacific Quay is an area south of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is located at the former Plantation Quay and Princes' Dock Basin. The Princes' Dock Basin was the largest on the River Clyde when it was opened in 1900. It ceased to be used in the 1970s as the volume of Shipping using the...
, alongside the Glasgow Science Centre
Glasgow Science Centre
Glasgow Science Centre is a visitor attraction located on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a purpose-built science centre composed of three principal buildings which are the Science Mall, an IMAX cinema and the Glasgow Tower...
.
In Edinburgh, STV converted the Gateway Theatre in Leith Walk into colour studios during the mid-late 1960s - a facility which proved especially useful in 1969 when a fire gutted studio A at the Theatre Royal, killing two firemen. The Edinburgh studios later became a permanent production centre for Take the High Road
Take the High Road
Take the High Road was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, and set in the fictional village of Glendarroch , and claims to have about 2 million fans, including the Queen Mother...
before being closed in the early 1990s to save costs. STV's Edinburgh base now consists of smaller studio and office facilities for local news and advertising operations.
STV North
STV North's AberdeenAberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
headquarters moved to new smaller studios in the city's West Tullos area
Tullos
Tullos is an area of Torry, a suburb of Aberdeen, Scotland. The area takes its name from the Vale of Tullos which lies between Tullos Hill and Torry Hill. Tullos derived its name from a corruption of the Gaelic ‘Tulach’ meaning a hill....
in June 2003, vacating a converted tram depot that had been used since Grampian Television's launch in September 1961. Expansions to the Queens Cross complex were made in 1983 and 1987 - the former as part of a £5 million investment into the company's technical facilities.
Around the time of the station's launch, Grampian also established premises in Dundee, later moving to Albany House in 1980 and Harbour Chambers in 1998. In April 2008, a new Dundee studio for local news and advertising operations was opened in the Seabraes area of the city.
Grampian opened a base for local Highlands & Islands newsgathering in Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
in 1983, situated in Huntly Street, which remains open today. A studio complex in Stornoway
Stornoway
Stornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.The town's population is around 9,000, making it the largest settlement in the Western Isles and the third largest town in the Scottish Highlands after Inverness and Fort William...
was opened in 1993 to accommodate the expansion of the station's Scots Gaelic programming production. The studios closed in 2000 following the axing of the Gaelic news service, Telefios
Telefios
Telefios was a Scottish Gaelic-language news programme, broadcast on both Grampian Television and STV from 1993 to 2000.Its name is a portmanteau of the word fios meaning "knowledge" or "information", and telebhisean ....
.
Grampian also established secondary studios in Edinburgh during the late 1960s from where some of the station's light entertainment programming was produced. The studios were closed in 1969.
STV HD
It was announced on 21 April 2010 that STV intend to launch an HD channel on digital TV, before the 2010 World Cup. The channel follows the launch of ITV1 HD which became available on 2 April 2010. However, ITV1 HD is not available to Scottish viewers (except Southern Scotland who are served by ITV Tyne Tees & BorderITV Tyne Tees & Border
ITV Tyne Tees & Border is a non-franchise ITV regional news service covering the North of England/Southern Scotland and incorporating the former ITV Tyne Tees and ITV Border regions...
). The station launched on 6 June 2010, initially broadcasting on Freeview channel 51, from the Black Hill, Keelylang Hill and Bressay
Bressay transmitting station
Bressay Transmitting Station is a broadcasting transmission facility for the Shetland Islands, located on the isle of Bressay, owned and operated by Arqiva...
transmitters and now broadcasts from all post-digital switchover transmitters in its coverage area. STV HD is also available on cable, on Virgin Media channel 113. To begin with, STV HD is a single service across all of STV’s transmission areas. It carries the programmes as seen in West Central Scotland, including news and commercials, with no regional variations. STV says it is currently working with Sky, Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...
and ITV Network with a view to making STV HD available via satellite as soon as possible.
The channel was added to the Freeview EPG on 1 June 2010, the Virgin Media EPG on 4 June and satellite tests began on 25 May.
STV+1
On 4 January 2011, Freeview announced details for the launch of ITV1+1, together with the possibility that both STV and UTVUTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...
will launch their own timeshift
Timeshift channel
A timeshift channel is a television channel carrying a time-delayed rebroadcast of its "parent" channel's output. This channel runs alongside their parent: the term "timeshift" does not refer to a network broadcasting at a later time to reflect a local timezone unless the parent is also available...
services, STV+1 and UTV+1 in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. STV later confirmed that it would launch STV+1 at 8pm on 11 January 2011. The channel is available to Freeview viewers on channel 33 and Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
cable customers on channel 114. The channel is not officially available on the Freesat
Freesat
Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008...
and Sky satellite services but may be manually tuned in. There are two regional variations of STV+1; one for north and one for central Scotland.
The north receives the Aberdeen based news and advertisements and the Central Belt
Central Belt
The Central Belt of Scotland is a common term used to describe the area of highest population density within Scotland. Despite the name, it is not geographically central but is nevertheless situated at the 'waist' of Scotland on a conventional map and the term 'central' is used in many local...
service carries Edinburgh-based news and advertisements allowing viewers in the East who cannot watch STV's 6pm & 10:30pm news programmes for the micro-region to watch the bulletins an hour later.
Regions
STV serves central and northern Scotland. Within STV, Scotland is split into two regions and four sub-regions. Networked and regional programming is the same in both regions, apart from regional news and advertising. Within both regions, there are further opt-outs providing sub-regional news and commercials.STV North (formerly Grampian Television
Grampian Television
Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
) is based in Aberdeen and serves Northern Scotland. The main news programme serving the area is the North edition of STV News at Six
STV News at Six
STV News at Six is a Scottish regional news programme, covering the two STV franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland, produced by STV Central in the Central region and STV North in the Northern region.The programmes were launched on Monday 23 March 2009, replacing Scotland Today in...
, alongside short regional bulletins (STV News) and a weekly news programme for the deaf (STV News Review). The main 6pm programme on weeknights includes local opt-outs from Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
(serving Tayside
Tayside
Tayside Region was a local government region of Scotland from 15 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. It was created by the 1973 Act following recommendations made by the 1969 Wheatley Report which attempted to replace the mishmash of counties, cities, burghs and districts, with a uniform two-tier system...
& North East Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
) and Aberdeen (serving the North East
Grampian
Grampian was a local government region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996. It is now divided into the unitary council areas of:*Moray*Aberdeenshire*City of AberdeenThe region had five districts:*Aberdeen*Banff and Buchan...
, Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
& Islands) on week nights. The two sub-regions also receive separate commercials.
STV Central (formerly Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
) is based at the STV Group headquarters in Glasgow and serves Central Scotland.
Two editions of STV News at Six
STV News at Six
STV News at Six is a Scottish regional news programme, covering the two STV franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland, produced by STV Central in the Central region and STV North in the Northern region.The programmes were launched on Monday 23 March 2009, replacing Scotland Today in...
are produced and broadcast each weeknight from Glasgow (for the city & the west of the central belt) and Edinburgh (for the capital city, South Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
and the Lothians). The two sub-regions also receive separate late night news bulletins and local commercials. Lunchtime and weekend news bulletins are broadcast from Glasgow across the Central region.
Altogether, the regions and sub-regions serve a population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 3,849,000.
- STV North (pop: 981,000):
- STV Aberdeen (pop: 724,000) - Aberdeen City, AberdeenshireAberdeenshireAberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
, Eilean Siar, Highland (except Lochaber)Highland (council area)Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
, MorayMorayMoray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...
, Orkney and Shetland - STV Dundee (pop: 267,000) - AngusAngusAngus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...
, Dundee City, (North) FifeFifeFife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, Perth and KinrossPerth and KinrossPerth and Kinross is one of 32 council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland council areas. Perth is the administrative centre...
- STV Aberdeen (pop: 724,000) - Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire
- STV Central (pop: 2,826,000):
- STV Edinburgh (pop: 572,000) - ClackmannanshireClackmannanshireClackmannanshire, often abbreviated to Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife.As Scotland's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed 'The Wee County'....
, East LothianEast LothianEast Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, EdinburghEdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, (South) FifeFifeFife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, MidlothianMidlothianMidlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
and West LothianWest LothianWest Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire.... - STV Glasgow (pop: 2,295,000) - Argyll and ButeArgyll and ButeArgyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council...
, Highland (Lochaber only)Highland (council area)Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
, East AyrshireEast AyrshireEast Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders on to North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway...
, East DunbartonshireEast DunbartonshireThis article is about the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. See also East Dunbartonshire .East Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders onto the north-west of the City of Glasgow. It contains many of the suburbs of Glasgow as well as containing many of...
, East RenfrewshireEast RenfrewshireEast Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975 it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde...
, FalkirkFalkirk (council area)Falkirk is one of the 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland. It borders onto North Lanarkshire to the south west, Stirling to the north west, West Lothian to the south east and, across the Firth of Forth to the north east, Fife and Clackmannanshire...
, GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, InverclydeInverclydeInverclyde is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire - which current exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area - located in the west...
, North AyrshireNorth AyrshireNorth Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...
, North LanarkshireNorth LanarkshireNorth Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...
, RenfrewshireRenfrewshireRenfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...
, StirlingStirling (council area)Stirling is one of the 32 unitary local government council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about 87,000 . It was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Stirling district of the former Central local government region, and it covers most of the former...
, South LanarkshireSouth LanarkshireSouth Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
, South AyrshireSouth AyrshireSouth Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway....
, West DunbartonshireWest DunbartonshireWest Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. Bordering onto the west of the City of Glasgow, containing many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages as well as the city's suburbs, West Dunbartonshire also borders onto Argyll and Bute, Stirling, East...
.
- STV Edinburgh (pop: 572,000) - Clackmannanshire
- The areas of Dumfries and GallowayDumfries and GallowayDumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
and the BordersScottish BordersThe Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
are currently served by ITV Tyne Tees & BorderITV Tyne Tees & BorderITV Tyne Tees & Border is a non-franchise ITV regional news service covering the North of England/Southern Scotland and incorporating the former ITV Tyne Tees and ITV Border regions...
.
STV Central
West- Black Hill: Channel 43
- Darvel: Channel 23
- Rosneath: Channel 61
- Torosay: Channel 25
East
- Craigkelly: Channel 24
STV North
North East, Highlands & Islands- DurrisDurris transmitting stationThe Durris transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated close to the town of Stonehaven, within Durris Forest, within the area also known historically as Kincardineshire . It is owned and operated by Arqiva....
: Channel 25 (digital) - Knockmore: Channel 23
- Rosemarkie: Channel 49
- Rumster ForestRumster Forest transmitting stationThe Rumster Forest transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility near the town of Wick, in Caithness, Scotland . It is owned and operated by Arqiva....
: Channel 24 - Eitshal: Channel 23
- Keelylang Hill: Channel 43
- BressayBressay transmitting stationBressay Transmitting Station is a broadcasting transmission facility for the Shetland Islands, located on the isle of Bressay, owned and operated by Arqiva...
: Channel 25
Tayside & North East Fife
- AngusAngus transmitting stationThe Angus transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated approximately five miles due north of the city of Dundee, Scotland . It includes a guyed steel lattice mast which is 229.5 metres in height. Mounted at the top are the UHF television antennas,...
: Channel 53 (digital)
Retaining identity
STV, together with its counterpart UTVUTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...
in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, has resisted adopting the generic ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
branding that is now commonplace throughout the ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
regions in the southern Scottish borders, England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
and the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
, although it has now adopted a single Scottish identity for both its franchises. The only mentioning of the ITV1 brand on Channel 3 in the STV regions occurs during ITV Breakfast
ITV Breakfast
ITV Breakfast Limited is the national ITV breakfast television contractor, broadcasting in the United Kingdom...
(Daybreak
Daybreak (ITV)
Daybreak is the weekday breakfast television programme on the British commercial ITV network that broadcasts on weekday mornings from 06:00 to 08:30 and is currently presented by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley from Monday to Thursday with Dan Lobb and Kate Garraway on Fridays...
and Lorraine
Lorraine (TV programme)
Lorraine is the early weekday morning, lifestyle and entertainment show for the British ITV network, presented by Lorraine Kelly. ITV Breakfast produces Lorraine, which airs every weekday from 08:30 until 09:25, following Daybreak...
), which operates as a separate station, and during some networked programmes themselves.
Online presence
STV's official website, stv.tvStv.tv
www.stv.tv is the URL of the website of the Scottish television channel, STV. The website currently offers the usual sections of News, Sport, Entertainment, Weather, Competitions, Forums and STV programme information, with TV listings...
, consists of news, sport, entertainment, weather, competitions and programming information. The website also features a video catch-up service, STV Player
STV Player
The STV Player is a website based video on demand service accessible though the main STV website and separately in the distinct domain name stvplayer.tv. Current programmes are available for 30 days after transmission on the main STV channel, with archive programming available longer-term...
, offering a chance to see networked and regional programming aired on the station for 30 days after their original broadcast. Exclusive online programming in the form of regular video blogs are also produced for the website. In September 2010 TV Genius
TV Genius
TV Genius is a United Kingdom-based software company that specializes in TV search engines, TV recommendation engines, and EPG development. TV solutions are provided across TV, mobile, web, set top boxes and devices like Playstation and Nintendo Wii. The company works with television operators in...
's content discovery platform
Content Discovery Platform
A Content Discovery Platform is an implemented software platform for consumers to search for television content online using recommender system tools such as recommendations or TV search engine...
was chosen by STV to incorporate an online recommender system for its STV site.
External links
- stv.tv - Official Website