STV2 will launch this evening with a ‘distinct and exciting schedule, featuring a variety of new programmes for Scotland including an enhanced hourly news service, a live daily magazine show, an award winning soap, features on local sport, the best of UK and international drama as well as classic movies’.
The new channel will broadcast the first integrated Scottish, UK and international news programme, STV News Tonight. Anchored by Halla Mohieddeen live from Glasgow, the half hour programme will air weeknights at 1900 on STV2 and offer a comprehensive news service featuring Scottish, UK and international news from a Scottish perspective.
The channel will also provide a weekly insight into political life in Scotland with Scottish Politics This Week, giving viewers the opportunity to catch up on the week’s debates from Westminster and Holyrood.
A range of quality acquisitions will form part of the new schedule, including Ireland’s most popular soap Fair City. A daily diet of classic and acclaimed movies will bring Hollywood stars like Hugh Grant, Gary Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow and Bette Davis to the STV2 small screen. Every weekday at 9pm, the channel will offer top quality UK and foreign language drama including Finnish hit drama, Black Widow and acclaimed UK drama Secret State. Viewers will also have the opportunity to watch much loved classic dramaTaggart, still one of the most popular crime dramas in Britain.
Popular weekday magazine show Live at Five will expand its reach on STV2 with outside broadcasts from across Scotland. Presented by David Farrell, Hayley Matthews and Jennifer Reoch, the family friendly programme introduces great guests, cooking from local chefs, live performances by local bands and features reflecting what’s going on across Scotland.
The STV2 schedule will also bring viewers live guests, and music and entertainment news. Weekly show E… presented by Laura Boyd and Gerry Cassidy will provide a guide to what is going on across Scotland with celebrity interviews, features and reviews of live music, TV and film. And Ewen Cameron will host The Late Show, a tongue-in-cheek weekly chat show every Thursday on STV2.
The channel will also provide a home for many of the cultural events around Scotland, kicking off with a one hour special from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in its first week. Conservatoire Sessions will showcase the work of the academy’s keyboard department, with some of the school’s top students performing pieces by composers including Rachmaninoff and Stravinsky.
The channel will create a platform for local sport as well as providing the latest from the football world each weeknight and weekends throughout the football season on Peter and Roughie’s Football Show.
The STV2 schedule will also include hourly news bulletins with stories from across Scotland in three dedicated half hour news programmes at 1300, 1800 and 2200.
Bobby Hain, director of channels at STV, said: “STV2 is the new channel for Scotland designed to reflect life across the country. The channel will provide a unique opportunity to broadcast content that isn’t available for viewers anywhere else, including in-depth coverage of local sport and live events and exciting acquisitions including soap and drama, alongside an enhanced news service with local, UK and international stories.”
STV2 will broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will reach approximately 85% of viewers in STV’s transmission area. In addition to Freeview, access will be available online and via Sky and Virgin. The service will also be available online via the STV Player.
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