STV Player is a

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

service owned by

STV Group STV Group plc (formerly known as Scottish Television plc, Scottish Media Group plc and SMG plc) is a media company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Beginning as a television broadcaster in 1957, the company expanded into newspapers, advertising and r ...

and available free-of-charge across the UK, online, on mobile and on all major TV platforms, including

Sky Glass Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

Amazon Fire TV Amazon Fire TV (stylized as amazon fireTV) is a line of digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon. The devices are small network appliances that deliver digital audio and video content streamed via the Internet to a connected ...

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of hardware digital media players manufactured by American company Roku, Inc. They offer access to streaming media content from online services. The first Roku model, developed in collaboration with Netflix, was introduced ...

Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancesto ...

Android TV Android TV is a smart TV operating system based on Android (operating system), Android and developed by Google for television sets, digital media players, set-top boxes, and soundbars. A successor to Google TV (operating system), Google TV, it fe ...

Freeview Play Freeview is the United Kingdom's sole Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, digital terrestrial television platform. It is operated by Digital UK Ltd and DTV Services Ltd, a joint venture between the BBC, ITV plc, ITV, Channel ...

and

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

. Officially launched in July 2009 following a

soft launch A soft launch, also known as a soft opening, is a preview release of a product or service to a limited audience prior to the general public. Soft-launching a product is sometimes used to gather data or customer feedback, prior to making it widely ...

the previous year, STV Player was initially established as an online catch-up service for viewers of the STV channel in Scotland. The platform has since rolled out UK-wide as an advertising-based video on demand (AVOD) service with a focus on international drama box sets. In February 2019, STV Player+ was launched, allowing viewers with a monthly subscription to stream and download Player content without pre-roll or mid-roll advertising. In January 2021, after launching on

Sky Q Sky Q is a subscription-based television and entertainment service operated by British satellite television provider Sky, as a part of its operations in Austria and Germany, Ireland, Italy and in the UK. The name also refers to the Sky Q set- ...

in all four regions of the UK the previous month, STV Player reported that its monthly active user base had grown by a fifth and online viewing on the platform had doubled year-on-year. It was nominated for "best on demand service of the year" at the

Edinburgh International Television Festival The Edinburgh International Television Festival is an annual media event held in the United Kingdom each August which brings together delegates from the television and digital world to debate the major issues facing the industry. The Festival ...

's annual awards ceremony in 2021.

Programming

STV Player provides a combination of Channel 3 network content such as ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'', ''The Masked Singer'' and ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'', home-grown productions such as ''

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. The programme is presented by ''STV News at Six'' Central anchor John MacKay on ...

'' and ''

Taggart ''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries "Killer" from 6 until 20 Septembe ...

,'' and international drama box sets including ''The Bridge'', ''Janet King'' and ''Ice''. Channel 3 network content is not available to viewers outside Scotland, as

ITVX ITVX (formerly ITV Hub) is a British online video-on-demand service operated by ITV. The service offers predominantly features content from ITV1, as well as ITV Digital channels and some licensed content. The service was known as ITV Player fr ...

owns the rights to show this in

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc is listed on th ...

regions. In April 2020, STV announced plans to provide every episode of classic soap opera ''

Take the High Road ''Take the High Road'' (renamed ''High Road'' from 1994 to 2003) was a Scottish soap opera produced by Scottish Television, which started in February 1980 as an ITV network daytime programme, and was broadcast until 2003. It was set in the ficti ...

'', produced by its production arm

STV Studios STV Studios (previously STV Productions, SMG Productions, and originally known as Scottish Television Enterprises) is the television production arm of the STV Group plc. Headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, and with an office in London, England ...

between 1980 and 2003, on STV Player. A content deal with distributor

Banijay Banijay (formerly Banijay Entertainment and later Banijay Group) is a French television production and distribution company which is the world's largest international content producer and distributor with over 120 production companies across 22 ...

in July 2021, described at the time as STV Player's "biggest ever", brought over 1,200 hours of new drama and factual programming to the platform for viewers across the UK.

Capacity issues

In April 2014, STV Player experienced downtime during its broadcast of '' Salmond & Darling: The Debate''—the first televised debate for the

2014 Scottish independence referendum A independence referendum, referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" ...

. STV had secured exclusive rights to the broadcast, and refused to offer it to any other broadcaster (including the BBC and

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the he ...

), while STV's network ITV did not choose to pick up the live airing of the debate across the rest of the UK (excluding the

ITV Border ITV Border, previously Border Television and commonly referred to as simply Border, is the Channel 3 service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the England/Scotland border region, covering most of Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway, the Sc ...

region), leading to higher-than-anticipated demand for the internet stream. STV apologized for the capacity problems, while

BBC Parliament BBC Parliament is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel from the BBC that broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the House of Commons, House of Lords and Select Committees of the British Parliament, the Scottish Parliam ...

aired the full debate broadcast the next day.

Supported platforms

The website uses

Brightcove Brightcove, Inc. () is a Boston, Massachusetts–based software company that produces an online video platform. History Brightcove was founded in 2004 by Jeremy Allaire, who served as Executive Chairman until April 2016, and Bob Mason. The co ...

Flash technology, similar to those used by the services provided by the BBC and

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

. It is available on various operating systems, including Windows, Mac and Linux, and multiple internet browsers, such as Chrome,

Firefox Mozilla Firefox, or simply Firefox, is a free and open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation and its subsidiary, the Mozilla Corporation. It uses the Gecko rendering engine to display web pages, which implements current ...

and

Safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an impor ...

. An Android app was released on 9 September 2011, and iOS on 22 December 2011. STV Player launched on

Freesat Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Digital UK. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Free ...

in October 2016, and on

Sky UK Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...

in November 2019. In December 2020, it was announced that STV Player would be installed on

Now TV Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * No ...

devices, automatically appear on the home screens for all users. At the same time STV Player becomes available UK wide to

customers. STV launched UK wide on the

platform in June 2020

References

External links

* {{Navboxes, list1= {{STV Group {{Video digital distribution platforms {{UK Based TV on demand {{Media in the United Kingdom, television {{VOD services 2009 establishments in Scotland 2009 establishments in the United Kingdom Android (operating system) software Archives in Scotland Internet properties established in 2009 Internet television channels iOS software Linux software macOS software Media players Scottish websites STV Group Television websites Video on demand services Windows media players