STV is a free-to-air

public broadcast Public broadcasting (or public service broadcasting) is radio, television, and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence. Public broadcasters receive ...

television channel owned and operated by the

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 ...

. It is made up of the Central Scotland and Northern Scotland ITV public broadcaster licences, formerly known as

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...

(now legally STV Central Ltd) and

Grampian Television Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and which, decades later, was merged with the Central Belt channel STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isle ...

(now legally STV North Ltd) 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 STV2 was a British local television network in Scotland, operating five city-based TV licences serving Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Ayr. It was owned and operated by STV Group plc. Initially broadcast as two separate stations � ...

. STV is now the only part of the Channel 3 network that is not owned by

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV (TV network), ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. 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 ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited (previously known as ''GMTV, GMTV Limited'') is the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television licensee, broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of ITV plc in November ...

History

On 2 March 2006, it was announced by SMG plc (now 'STV Group 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,

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 ''Scotland Today'' was a Scottish regional news programme covering Central Scotland, produced by STV Central (formerly Scottish Television). Despite its name suggesting a national remit, the programme was actually limited to stories around STV's C ...

'' on weeknights.

2010s

Regional news coverage was expanded again in May 2011 with the launch of separate half-hour editions of ''

STV News ''STV News'' is a Scottish news division produced by STV. The news department produces two regional services covering STV's Channel 3 franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland. STV News programmes are produced from studios in Glasgo ...

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 STV Glasgow is a British local television station serving Glasgow and surrounding areas. The station was owned and operated by STV Group plc in partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University. The channel was closed on Sunday 23 April 2017 an ...

launched on Monday, 2 June 2014 with an expanded schedule of local news, features and entertainment programming.

STV Edinburgh STV Edinburgh was a British local television channel based in Edinburgh which launched on 12 January 2015. It was owned and operated by STV Group plc in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University. The channel was closed on Sunday 23 April 20 ...

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,

, in April 2017. Existing regional news bulletins continue to air on the main STV Central service.

Withdrawal of networked output

In July 2009, STV announced that it was withdrawing some networked programmes such as ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'', ''

Doc Martin ''Doc Martin'' is a British medical comedy-drama television series starring Martin Clunes as Doctor Martin Ellingham. It was created by Dominic Minghella developing the character of Dr Martin Bamford from the Nigel Cole comedy film '' Saving ...

'', ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'', ''

Poirot Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by the English writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is Christie's most famous and longest-running character, appearing in 33 novels, two plays (''Black Coffee (play), Black Coffee'' and '' ...

'', ''

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * " Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohe ...

'' 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'' is a 2008 British TV film, usually shown in two parts, which is part of an ITV series based on Bernard Cornwell's historical fiction novels about the English soldier Richard Sharpe during the Napoleonic Wars. Unlike most pa ...

'', ''

Al Murray's Happy Hour ''Al Murray's Happy Hour'' is a British comedy talk show presented by comedian Al Murray and produced by Avalon TV. The first series aired in early 2007 on ITV. The programme is characterised by Murray's stand-up, guest interviews and live mus ...

'', ''

Moving Wallpaper ''Moving Wallpaper'' is a British satirical comedy-drama television series set in a TV production unit. It ran on ITV for two series in 2008–09. The subject of the first series was the production of a soap called '' Echo Beach'', each episode ...

'', ''

Benidorm Benidorm ( , , ) is a municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Known as the “New York City, New York of the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean”, Benidorm has been a tourist destinatio ...

'' and ''

The Alan Titchmarsh Show ''The Alan Titchmarsh Show'' is a British daytime chat show presented by Alan Titchmarsh. It was first broadcast on ITV on 3 September 2007 until 14 November 2014 and aired on weekday afternoons. The show's main focus is the "Best of British" th ...

''. ITV's coverage of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

was also dropped. 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 Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth (born 8 March 1943) is an English Media proprietor, television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive ...

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 ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' reported that

Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...

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: ''

'' broadcasts 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

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 and Dumfries and Galloway, th ...

region owned by

. Emphasising the fact that STV is essentially one channel across the two regions, there is a single director of channels (Bobby Hain – former managing director of

), 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

, the stations have long aimed to deliver more output. Today, news and current affairs forms the bulk of STV's regular programming on Channel 3, which includes the topical analysis programme ''

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 ...

''. The company formerly produced many

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

programmes, some of which are now shown on the Gaelic-language channel,

BBC Alba BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day. The name ' is the Scottish Gae ...

, including '' Speaking our Language'' and ''

Machair A machair (; sometimes machar in English) is a fertile low-lying grassy plain found on part of the northwestern coastlines of Ireland and Scotland, particularly the Outer Hebrides. The best examples are found on North and South Uist, Harris ...

''. On a network scale, one of STV's most famous exports is the long-running crime drama ''

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 Septe ...

'', set in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

News

*'' STV News at Six'' (2009–present)

Current affairs

*''

'' (2011–present)

Sport

*''

Scotsport ''Scotsport'' is a Scotland, Scottish sports television programme, broadcast on STV (TV channel), STV in northern and central Scotland between 1957 and 2008, as well as on ITV Border in southern Scotland. It was first broadcast in 1957 as ''S ...

'' (1957–2008) *''

STV Rugby ''STV Rugby'' was a Scottish regional television programme featuring highlights of Pro12 rugby union matches involving Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors. The programme, produced by the STV News department in Glasgow, was first broadcast in the ...

'' (2009–2012) *'' STV Sports Centre'' (2010–2011)

Features and documentaries

*'' The Five Thirty Show'' (2008–09) *'' The Hour'' (2009–11)

Entertainment

* ''Catchphrase'' (2013–present) * '' Postcode Challenge'' (2007–2011) * ''Moviejuice'' (2000–present) * ''The Cash Machine'' (2019) * ''Win Cash Live'' (2015)

Children's

*''

wknd@stv ''wknd@stv'' was a short-lived children's programming strand on Scottish television channel, STV. The block aired on Saturdays and Sundays, usually starting at 9:25am (the first ever edition began at 9:55am). It began on Saturday 17 January 2 ...

'' (2009)

Studios

STV Central

The STV studios in Glasgow were originally located in the former Theatre Royal in the

Cowcaddens Cowcaddens (; , )
is an area of the city of

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 (; , )
is an area of the city of

ended in July 2006 when the station moved to new, smaller studios in

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 by the Clyde Navigation Tr ...

, alongside the

Glasgow Science Centre Glasgow Science Centre is a visitor attraction located in the Clyde Waterfront Regeneration area on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Queen Elizabeth II opened Glasgow Science Centre on 5 July 2001. It is one of Scotland's ...

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

'' before being closed in the early 1990s to save costs. STV's Edinburgh base now consists of smaller studios for local news and advertising operations. In April 2012, the Edinburgh operation was moved from George Street in the city centre to a new studio at

Fountainbridge Fountainbridge is a former industrial district in Edinburgh, Scotland, a short distance west of the Old Town. It is built around the street of the same name, which begins at the West Port and continues (as Dundee Street) towards Gorgie and Da ...

STV North

STV North's

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

headquarters moved to new smaller studios in the city's

Tullos Tullos is an area 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 this extract from ...

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. Grampian opened a base for local Highlands & Islands newsgathering in

Inverness Inverness (; ; from the , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness") is a city in the Scottish Highlands, having been granted city status in 2000. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highland ...

in 1983, situated in Huntly Street, which has sinc
re-located to Stoneyfield Business Park
A studio complex in

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

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'' was a Scottish Gaelic-language news programme, broadcast on both Grampian Television and Scottish Television from 4 January 1993 until 2000. Its name is a ''portmanteau'' of the word ''fios'' meaning "knowledge" or "information", a ...

'', 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.

Subsidiary channels

STV HD

On 21 April 2010, STV Group plc. announced their intention to launch an HD channel on digital TV, before the

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. The station launched on 6 June 2010, initially broadcasting on

Freeview Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...

channel 51, from the Black Hill, Keelylang Hill and

Bressay Bressay is a populated island in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland. Geography and geology Bressay lies due south of Whalsay, west of the Isle of Noss, and north of Mousa. With an area of , it is the fifth-largest island in Shetland. The po ...

transmitters, and now broadcasts from all post-digital switchover transmitters in its coverage area. STV HD was also made available on

Virgin Media Virgin Media Limited 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 ...

channel 113 in STV's transmission area soon after the launch of

. The channel follows the launch of

ITV1 HD ITV1 HD is a British free-to-air HDTV, high-definition public broadcast television network operated by ITV plc, the company which is contracted to provide 13 ITV1 services across the UK. ITV1 HD simulcasts them in high-definition. ITV1 HD is avai ...

, which became available on 2 April 2010 to viewers in the Scottish borders (who are served by

), England and Wales. STV Group plc. had been in talks with

BSkyB Sky UK Limited (formerly British Sky Broadcasting Limited (BSkyB)), trading as Sky, is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television, broadband internet, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers ...

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 Everyone TV (itself owned by all of the four UK Public broadcasting, public service broadcasters, BBC, ...

and the

ITV Network ITV, legally known as Channel 3, is a British free-to-air public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television network. It is branded as ITV1 in most of the UK except for central and northern Scotland, where it is b ...

with a view to making STV HD available via

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

and Freesat soon after the channels' initial launch. A test version of the channel was available free-to-air via satellite, but had to be manually tuned as it was not included on either the Sky or Freesat EPGs. In September 2013, STV announced via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that STV HD will be available for the first time on the Sky and Freesat from April 2014, nearly four years after first launching the channel on Freeview and Virgin Media. STV HD was added to Freesat and Sky on 28 April 2014. Currently, STV HD is delivered across four transmission areas: North, West, East and Tayside. Only the North and West regions are broadcast Free-to-Air, the other two are

Free-to-View Free-to-view (FTV) is a term used for audiovisual transmissions that are provided free without any form of continual subscription. It differs from free-to-air (FTA) in that the program is encrypted. Free-to-view vs. free-to-air The free-to-vie ...

and encrypted, and require a Viewing Card to watch them. The reason has to do with how those other two regions are broadcast on a pan-European satellite beam, which if broadcast unencrypted would potentially lead to licensing issues.

STV +1

On 4 January 2011, Freeview announced details for the launch of ITV1 +1, together with the possibility that both STV and UTV would 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 8 pm on 11 January 2011. The channel is available to Freeview viewers on channel 35 and Virgin Media cable customers on channel 114. The timeshift channel STV +1 has been replaced with the micro Channel 3 region serving the Dundee area on satellite. STV +1 had been available on satellite till then, but not carried on either Sky EPG or Freesat channel guides. There are two regional variations of STV +1 on Freeview and Virgin. One for North and one for Central Scotland. The North service shows Aberdeen-based news and commercials and the Central service carries the West region news bulletins and commercials. The Edinburgh news programme is substituted in the evening on the Central +1 service. STV +1 is available to stream on

STV Player STV Player is a video on demand service owned by STV Group and available free-of-charge across the UK, online, on mobile and on all major TV platforms, including Sky Glass, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Freeview Play, Frees ...

on various platforms.

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

) 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''/''Good Morning Scotland'') on weekdays. The main 6 pm programme on weeknights includes local opt-outs from Aberdeen (serving the North East and

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

and Islands) and

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

(serving

Tayside Tayside () was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 16 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named after the River Tay. History Tayside region was created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act ...

and North East Fife). The two sub-regions also receive separate commercials. STV Central (formerly

) 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 Edinburgh (for

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, the

Lothians Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...

and parts of Central Scotland), and Glasgow (for western parts of Central Scotland and

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

). The two sub-regions also receive separate late night news bulletins and local commercials. Lunchtime bulletins are broadcast from Glasgow across the Central region – the Glasgow newsroom also produces pan-regional bulletins for the North and Central regions at weekends. Altogether, the regions and sub-regions serve a population of 4,993,590. *STV North (pop: 1,309,110): **STV Aberdeen (pop: 827,390) –

, Aberdeenshire,

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

(''except

''),

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

na h-Eileanan Siar The Outer Hebrides ( ) or Western Isles ( , or ), sometimes known as the Long Isle or Long Island (), is an Archipelago, island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It is the longest archipelago in the British Isles. The islan ...

, Orkney and

Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...

**STV Dundee (pop: 481,720) –

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

, Dundee, North East Fife,

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...

*STV Central (pop: 3,684,480): **STV Edinburgh (pop: 1,191,030) –

Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; ; ), or the County of Clackmannan, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, Council areas of Scotland, council area, registration counties, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland ...

, East Lothian,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Fife (''except North East Fife''),

Midlothian Midlothian (; ) is registration county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and one of 32 council areas of Scotland used for local government. Midlothian lies in the east-central Lowlands, bordering the City of Edinburgh council ar ...

and

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

**STV Glasgow (pop: 2,493,450) –

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...

East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders Glasgow City Council Area to the south, North Lanarkshire to the east, Stirling (council area), Stirling to the north, and West Dunbartonshire to the west. East ...

East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire (; ) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It was formed in 1996, as a successor to the Eastwood (district), Eastwood district of the Strathclyde region. The northeastern part of the council area is close to Glasgow and ma ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, Glasgow,

Inverclyde Inverclyde (, , , "mouth of the Clyde") is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire, which ...

North Ayrshire North Ayrshire (, ) is one of 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland. The council area borders Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire to the northeast, and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the east and s ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

, Renfrewshire,

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire (; , ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. South Ayrshire had an estimated population in 2021 of 112,45 ...

South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary authorities of Scotland. It borders the south-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains some of Greater Glasgow's suburban towns, as well as many rural towns and villages. It also shares bor ...

West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland, local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the north-west of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. ...

. *The areas of

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway (; ) is one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, located in the western part of the Southern Uplands. It is bordered by East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, and South Lanarkshire to the north; Scottish Borders to the no ...

and the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

are currently served by

Presentation

2006

The celebrity look remained until 2006, when the Scottish and Grampian names were traded in for one unified look: STV. The first ident package featured an elongated blue 'S', with scenes of Scottish people in various locations passing around the 'S' from person to person in differing scenes, until one person places the S in the centre of the screen.

2009

An updated look was introduced on 23 March 2009, consisting of a picture postcard scene which would flip over to the right to reveal another theme. This flipping increases in pace and as the camera pulls back before the STV logo forms against a gradient blue background.

2014

On 2 June 2014, STV's logo was given a slight update. The logo is now 3D, and the white "tv" is now situated on a gradient blue triangle while light blue curves appear on the 3 sides. The "S" colour was changed to gradient light blue.

Online presence

stv.tv was first launched in May 2006, with the merger of

Scottish TV Scottish Television (now legally known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchisee for Central Belt, Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation si ...

and Grampian TV, both becoming "STV". The first incarnation of the website was simply the old Scottish TV website with the new STV logo and some new colours, whilst work was ongoing behind the scenes to launch a brand-new site, with new features. Website builder, Dog Digital helped launch the new-look site in July 2006, with the aim of being Scotland’s main source of online information and entertainment, targeting a wide Scottish audience, with a younger market bias. Dog's remit had been to devise, deliver and develop a strategic

digital marketing Digital marketing is the component of marketing that uses the Internet and online-based Information technology, digital technologies such as desktop computers, mobile phones, and other digital media and platforms to promote products and service ...

plan for the new online channel, including the design and integration of the new brand, navigation, and digital marketing in the form of a sizeable online campaign which would be activated to raise awareness of the new online channel. Along with the expected News, Sport, Weather and Programme pages, the site also had other stand-alone sections: ''stvbingo.tv'', ''stvdate.tv'' and ''stvout.tv''. STV later took interest in other classified sites, including money-saving and consumer website, ''PeoplesChampion.com'' and ''SmartyCars.com'', a car-selling and motoring site. All of these stand-alone sites would later close, one by one. STV began overhauling the website in August 2008, with the launch of their online catch-up service, ''stv.tv/video'', developed by online video specialists, Brightcove. Over the coming months, the various sections of the site were updated with the new layout, and more programme pages were created, including for shows from the

. In early 2009. STV launched its new online classified recruitment service, ''stvjobs.com''. The site was supported by a multi-million pound media campaign including TV, Radio, Cinema, Online, Direct and Outdoor Advertising. The website closed in 2013. In July 2009, the Video section of the site was relaunched as "

", with added functionality, including parental controls and TV schedules. ''STV Casino'', in partnership with NetPlay TV, was launched on air and online in September 2009, and closed February 2010. The following year, STV launched another casino website, ''STV Live Casino'' in July 2011. This site was also closed down. ''STV Holidays'' was launched in 2011, in partnership with Barrhead Travel. The website would later be rebranded as "''ScottishPassport.com''", to accompany the STV series, before closing down altogether. ''STV Local'', an initiative which aimed to create a network of hyper-local websites across Scotland, was launched in June 2011. The first areas to launch were Airdrie, Bellshill, Coatbridge, Cumbernauld, Motherwell and Wishaw. The service was rolled out across the whole of Scotland over the following two years. The local services were closed in July 2013, before the launch of dedicated websites for the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow later that year. The initiative was then quietly dropped, with the City websites redirecting to their relevant sections of the STV News website. In October 2016, after the success of the ''

STV Children's Appeal STV Children's Appeal (previously named STV Appeal) is a Scottish people, Scottish charitable organization, charity appeal organised by STV (TV channel), STV and Tom Hunter, The Hunter Foundation, in aid of the STV Charitable Trust (number SC042 ...

'', the company launched ''The Scottish Children’s Lottery''. The Scottish Children’s Lottery operated independently of STV in accordance with the requirements of the licences from the UK Gambling Commission. The lottery was sold to MBC ELM Limited in 2021. In mid-2017, STV Player was made the homepage of stv.tv, with the small News and Competitions sections on the homepage removed, with just a link to those pages at the header and footer of the page.

Notes

References

External links

STVSTV Group plc
{{Navboxes, list1= {{STV Group plc {{ITV {{Television in Scotland {{Media in the United Kingdom, television 2006 in Scotland Mass media in Glasgow ITV (TV network) Scottish brands STV Group Television channels and stations established in 2006 Television channels in Scotland Television series by STV Studios

History

2010s

Withdrawal of networked output

Ofcom investigation

Programming

News

Current affairs

Sport

Features and documentaries

Entertainment

Children's

Studios

STV Central

STV North

Subsidiary channels

STV HD

STV +1

Regions

Presentation

2006

2009

2014

Online presence

See also

Notes

References

External links