STV
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Based in | Aberdeen & Glasgow |
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| Broadcast area |  Scotland(Central and Northern) |
| Launched | 30 May 2006 |
 One of STV's idents, first aired in May 2006. |
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| Slogan | "Must See TV" altogether scotland |
| Replaced | Grampian Television (Northern Scotland); Scottish Television (Central Scotland) |
| Website | stv.tv |
| Owned by | SMG plc |
STV is the brand used by both ITV licensees in Northern and Central Scotland, formerly known as Grampian TV (now legally STV North Ltd.) and Scottish TV (now legally STV Central Ltd.) respectively. The brand was adopted on Tuesday, 30 May 2006 replacing both franchises' identities, similar to that of ITV1. Its positioning, identity and brand guidelines were developed by Elmwood Design's Edinburgh office.[1] Both licensees are owned by SMG plc, which also owns such other brands as Virgin Radio and Ginger Productions.
The STV studios in Glasgow were originally located in the former Theatre Royal in the Cowcaddens area of the city. The first program broadcast from the Theatre Royal studios was "This is Scotland" on the 31st of August, 1957. In 1974, the organisation sold the Theatre Royal to Scottish Opera for conversion back to a lyric theatre, and moved into custom-built studios next door. The association with Cowcaddens ended in July 2006 when they moved to new studios in Pacific Quay, alongside BBC Scotland and the Glasgow Science Centre. STV's Aberdeen studios moved to a new purpose-built site in the city's Tullos area in 2003, vacating a converted tram shed that had been used since Grampian's launch in 1961. STV also has broadcasting centres in Edinburgh, Dundee, Inverness and Stornoway.
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[edit] Programming
The two licences still produce regional programmes, although the only difference between them is the respective news programmes: North Tonight covering Northern Scotland and Scotland Today covering 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 Scotland, there is now a single director of programmes (Derrick Thomson - former managing director of Grampian TV) and, from September 2007, a single head of news (Gordon MacMillan - former head of news of Scottish TV).[2] 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.
STV produces current affairs and political programming, including Politics Now, and daily light entertainment and news programme The Five Thirty Show. One of STV's best known brands is Scotsport, one of the world's longest running sports television programmes, that heads STV's sports coverage. The channel also produces many Gaelic programmes. Whilst a lot of STV's output is for its own broadcast area, some programmes are also broadcast to the Scottish part of the Border Television area and some across the whole of the United Kingdom. One of STV's most famous exports is the long-running crime drama Taggart, set in Glasgow (credited as SMG Productions).
More recent STV programmes include the popular Beyond Explanation, presented by Dundonian actor Brian Cox. The programme looked at mysterious sightings across Scotland over the last few centuries. The channel also produce crime show Unsolved: Getting Away With Murder which covered past unsolved criminal cases in Scotland. The programme was shown across Scotland and drew high viewing figures while increasing the number of calls made to the Police by witnesses of various incidents who saw the show. STV have also recently broadcast the Scottish dating show Club Cupid, which was filmed in Dundee and a 6-part history series, Highlands, in which Taggart star John Michie discovers the dark history of the Scottish Highlands.
Since June 2007, STV News teams in the Northern and Central regions have also produced exclusive programming for the station's website, stv.tv, in the form of video blogs. The Real MacKay (Scotland Today), Northern Exposure (North Tonight) and Weather Blether (STV Weather) have gained cult status and continue to be produced on a regular basis.
Previous TV programming includes the dramas Take the High Road, Garnock Way and 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.
[edit] 50th Birthday
On 25 August 2007 STV began using a special logo on all idents, promotions, breakbumpers and the STV website, in the run-up to Scottish Televisons 50th birthday on 31 August. The phrase "entertaining Scotland for 50 years" was also added to the idents.
On Christmas Eve 2007, a special documentary based on Scottish TV's 50 years in the business was aired in both Central and Northern Scotland, although STV has been broadcasting only in Central Scotland for 50 years, whereas the ITV franchise in Northern Scotland (STV North, previously Grampian Television) began in 1961.
[edit] Channels and Frequencies
STV is broadcast on the following main transmitters (and their dependent relays):
- Channel 43 (650MHz) on the Black Hill transmitter
- Channel 24 (498MHz) on the Craigkelly transmitter
- Channel 23 (490MHz) on the Darvel transmitter
- Channel 61 (794MHz) on the Rosneath transmitter
- Channel 25 (506MHz) on the Torosay transmitter
- Channel 60 (783MHz) on the Angus transmitter
- Channel 25 (506MHz) on the Durris transmitter
- Channel 25 (506MHz) on the Bressay transmitter
- on the Knock More transmitter
- on the Rosemarkie transmitter
- on the Rumster Forest transmitter
- on the Eitshal transmitter
- on the Keelylang Hill transmitter
[edit] Regions
STV serves central and northern Scotland. Within STV, Scotland is split into 4 regions, Programming is the same across all regions, apart from the local news.
STV North (formerly Grampian Television) is based in Aberdeen. North Tonight is the news programme serving STV North. It has local news opt-outs from Dundee (serving Tayside & North East Fife) and Aberdeen (serving the North East, Highlands & Islands). STV North also has a studio in Inverness which is currently being upgraded to allow it to offer a local news opt-out during North Tonight, no date has yet been set for the opt-out to start.
STV Central (formerly Scottish Television) is based at the SMG headquarters in Glasgow. Scotland Today is the news programme serving STV Central. It has local news opt-outs from Glasgow (serving the city and the west of the central belt) and Edinburgh (serving the capital city, Fife and the Lothians).
Altogether, there are 4 regions serving a population of 3,849,000.
- STV North (pop: 981,000):
- STV Aberdeen (pop: 724,000) - Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Eilean Siar, Highland, Moray, Orkney and Shetland
- STV Dundee (pop: 267,000) - Angus, Dundee City, (North) Fife, Perth and Kinross
- STV Central (pop: 2,826,000):
- STV Edinburgh (pop: 572,000) - Clackmannanshire, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Falkirk, (South) Fife, Midlothian and West Lothian
- STV Glasgow (pop: 2,295,000) - Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Stirling, South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire.
- The areas of Dumfries and Galloway and the Borders are currently served by ITV1 Border Scotland.
[edit] Retaining identity
STV, together with its counterpart UTV 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.
[edit] stv.tv
The website of STV. Currently offers the usual sections of News, Sport, Entertainment, Weather, Competitions, Forums and STV programme information, with TV listings. It also offers other specialised services such as online dating and gaming.
[edit] STV Mobile
STV Mobile will be a 24/7 proposition which allows advertisers to interact with consumers, using all media channels.[3]
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- stv.tv
- Scotland on TV - An SMG website showcasing programmes taken from STV's archives
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