STV (TV channel)


STV is a Scottish free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the STV Group. It is made up of the Central Scotland and Northern Scotland ITV public broadcaster licences, formerly known as Scottish Television and Grampian Television respectively.
The STV brand refers to the on-air name used by Scottish Television for much of its history - notably in the 1970s and early 1980s. This brand remained in conversational use amongst the local public afterwards.
The modern STV brand was adopted on Tuesday 30 May 2006 replacing both franchises' previous identities. The sense of continuity in the name was demonstrated when STV celebrated its 60th birthday in 2017, with special programmes broadcast on STV itself and STV2.
STV is now the only part of the Channel 3 network that is not owned by ITV plc. The station does not carry ITV1 branding or show ITV1's network presentation except during news broadcasts, and between 6am and 9.25am, when it is replaced by the ITV-owned-and-branded national franchise ITV Breakfast.

History

On 2 March 2006, it was announced by SMG plc that Scottish Television would revert to the brand name of 'STV', used from the start of colour broadcasting in 1969 until 30 August 1985, and which the station was still informally known as. At the same time, Grampian Television would also become known as STV North. The new-look branding was launched on 30 May 2006.
In January 2007, the station launched separate news services for the East and West of the STV Central region, initially as a five-minute opt out within the 6:00pm edition of Scotland Today on weeknights.

2010s

Regional news coverage was expanded again in May 2011 with the launch of separate half-hour editions of STV News at Six for the East and West, and localised late night news bulletins each weeknight.
STV were awarded local TV licences in January 2013 to operate two digital television channels in Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively, for up to 12 years. STV Glasgow launched on Monday, 2 June 2014 with an expanded schedule of local news, features and entertainment programming. STV Edinburgh launched on 12 January 2015. The two channels were later closed and merged with three other local TV licences to form a new national network, STV2, in April 2017. Existing regional news bulletins continued to air on the main STV Central service.
In June 2018, the Edinburgh-based bulletins were axed and replaced with shorter opt-outs within a Central Scotland edition of STV News at Six, co-anchored from the Glasgow and Edinburgh studios.

Withdrawal of networked output

In July 2009, STV announced that it was withdrawing some networked programmes such as The Bill, 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, with England matches and highlights programmes also withdrawn. The vacated football slots would be filled by the regular programme line-up, as well as films or special events, with one such example being the first debate in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election airing against a friendly between England and Ghana at Wembley on March 29 2011. If an FA Cup game went to extra time or penalties, STV would add additional filler programming until it was time to re-join the ITV network.
ITV plc claimed that STV were in breach of their network agreements by making this decision and sued STV for £38 million. STV launched its own legal action against ITV plc, claiming the company was owed money and unhappy about promotional advertising of their services. The then executive chairman of ITV plc, Michael Grade claimed his company 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 plc and STV Group plc settled their legal dispute, with the former 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 plc. 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.
In March 2012, a deal was announced between ITV and the other Channel 3 licence holders which would transform its commercial relationship with them after the broadcasters negotiated new Channel 3 networking arrangements. The deal would see STV and UTV become "affiliates" of the network, meaning they would pay an up-front fee for the rights to broadcast ITV content. At the time, the licence holders paid a percentage of the Channel 3 network costs based on their share of qualifying revenue. On 23 August 2012 STV confirmed the new network agreement with ITV was in operation.

Ofcom investigation

In March 2010, The Daily Telegraph reported that Ofcom 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.

Programming

The two licences still produce regional programmes, although the only difference between them is the respective news programmes: STV News broadcasts separate bulletins to Northern Scotland and Central Scotland. There is no "STV South" as Southern Scotland is part of the ITV Border region owned by ITV plc.
Emphasising the fact that STV is essentially one channel across the two regions, there is a single director of channels, and a single head of news. Terms in the renewed licences for both STV Central and STV North also mean that regional non-news programmes are shared across both licences.
Today, news and current affairs forms the bulk of STV's regular programming on Channel 3, which includes the topical analysis programme Scotland Tonight. The company formerly produced many Gaelic programmes, some of which are now shown on the Gaelic-language channel, BBC Alba, 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.

News

  • ''STV News at Six''

    Current affairs

  • ''Scotland Tonight''

    Sport

  • Scotsport
  • STV Rugby
  • ''STV Sports Centre''

    Features and documentaries

  • The Five Thirty Show
  • ''The Hour''

    Entertainment

  • Catchphrase
  • Postcode Challenge
  • Moviejuice
  • The Cash Machine
  • ''Win Cash Live''

    Children's

  • ''wknd@stv''

    Studios

STV Central

The STV studios in Glasgow were originally located in the former Theatre Royal in the Cowcaddens 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 a fireman.
The Edinburgh studios later became a permanent production centre for Take the High Road before being closed in the early 1990s to save costs. A smaller news and advertising operation was established at George Street in the city centre, before moving to premises at Fountainbridge in 2012, from where regional news bulletins and the short-lived STV Edinburgh channel originated. In 2024, the Edinburgh studio was closed before moving again to Queensferry Road the following year.

STV North

STV North's Aberdeen headquarters moved to new smaller studios in the city's 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 Queen's 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, before moving again to offices at the Dundee Technology Park in 2025.
Grampian opened a base for local Highlands & Islands newsgathering in Inverness in 1983, situated in Huntly Street, which has since . 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, but are now part of MG Alba which took over the site as its headquarters.
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.