30th May 2006

STV returns to Scottish airwaves

The STV brand is owned by STV Group plc. It was launched in Glasgow in 1957 as Scottish Television, but the name was changed to Scottish Media Group (SMG) when it acquired media interests outside of television broadcasting. These included newspapers, radio stations, cinema advertising, production companies, and a football club. Thus, in 1985, the STV brand disappeared from Scottish television screens.

However, it made a triumphant return in 2006 when it was once again used across the network. STV had replaced Grampian Television in northern Scotland, and Scottish Television in Central Scotland, and was broadcasting on free to air digital TV, satellite and cable networks. The STV brand was therefore a logical choice for a service that was broadcasting to the majority of the country.

STV and ITV

Southern Scotland is covered by ITV, and was formerly part of the Border franchise within the ITV network. ITV and STV share many programmes, but STV also produces a significant number of its own programmes of Scottish interest that are not shown south of the border. It produces Scottish-set crime drama Taggart, which is broadcast nationwide.

In 2014 and 2015, the group launched local television stations for Glasgow and Edinburgh respectively, which were renamed STV2 when other cities, including Dundee and Aberdeen, were added to the network.

STV Group has bases in both Scotland and London, but its main production hub and headquarters is at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. It has other Scottish studios in Dundee, Inverness, Edinburgh, and Aberdeen.