People and businesses across the country are now profoundly impacted by the coronavirus and we recognise the vital role that public service broadcasters like STV will play through this extended period of disruption.
We are a free to air, universally available and highly trusted source of news, entertainment and information and we will use our privileged place in your life to have a positive impact now and in the longer term:
For you, our viewers
We will do everything we can to maintain our service and keep our shows on air across all genres, in particular to ensure you are informed with trusted news about the crisis both on TV and online, as well as providing you with much needed entertainment.
Our news service
Our dedicated team of journalists continue to collect and broadcast news content across Scotland, providing the most locally focused news service, together with dedicated Holyrood and Westminster coverage.
Our current affairs programme, Scotland Tonight, will offer additional coverage of the coronavirus pandemic and now has a 7.30pm peaktime slot on Thursday evenings in addition to Monday to Wednesdays at 10.40pm
Our broadcast schedule
We will deliver a comprehensive range of new programmes. Our schedule largely relies on pre-recorded shows like The Chase and Tenable in the afternoons and 9pm dramas like Liar and Belgravia.
It was also announced that Coronation Street and Emmerdale – the two most popular programmes in Scotland – will continue to run for the coming months, albeit on a reduced schedule pattern of 8 episodes per week from Monday 30th March as the production teams implement new health advice.
While The Voice UK knock out stages continue this weekend, it has also been announced that the live semi-final and final have been postponed on 28th March and 4th April and we aim to replace them with Voice specials.
In addition the production teams are working hard to maintain the Britain’s Got Talent live shows when they return later this spring. Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway will still air this weekend, without a live studio audience for the first time.
Across drama, entertainment and factual entertainment you still have a huge range of new and returning shows to look forward to, including the dramas Liar, Belgravia and Quiz, as well as entertainment from Alan Carr’s Epic Gameshow, Gordon, Gino & Fred’s Road Trip and the return of the Britain’s Got Talent auditions next month.
STV Player
With thousands of hours of content, the STV Player is the home of the STV schedule online and much more. It is also now universally available across Scotland following its recent launch on the Sky platform and on Apple TV, alongside over 30 other platforms and connected devices.
There are currently over 50 box sets for you to choose from on the Player across drama, entertainment and factual, with something for everyone.
You can catch up on the latest big dramas, like Flesh and Blood, McDonald & Dodds, Vera, Cold Feet and Endeavour.
We have also added over 1000 hours of exclusive Player-only content like drama series Rake, Janet King, The Last Enemy, The Code, Deep Water, The Slap, Acceptable Risk and Hamish Macbeth.
And there’s a chance to remember classic STV dramas like Taggart, Rebus, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and Take the High Road. Beyond drama there are great factual titles, including hours of Scottish scenery, documentaries and true crime, including titles like Grand Tours of Scotland, Cold Justice, Unveiled, Changing Faces, and Street Hospital.
More new content for the STV Player will be announced soon.
STV Children’s Appeal
No one will be hit harder by the coronavirus than our most vulnerable communities. We have therefore granted emergency funding of £400,000 from monies raised during the 2019 STV Children’s Appeal to FareShare, who will redistribute food to communities across Scotland.
We are actively seeking to work collaboratively with other charities to ensure that funding gets to those who need it most right now, and will be adapting our future STV Children’s Appeal fundraising activities in 2020 to ensure we focus on the most pressing causes during this crisis.
Looking ahead
These are hugely challenging times for everyone but my fantastic colleagues at STV are committed to delivering the best possible service for viewers, partners and our local communities over the coming months, and I would like to thank them for their professionalism and dedication.
We’ll continue to work together with industry, commercial partners, government and you our viewers to entertain, inform and provide vital support where we can across Scotland.
Simon Pitts
Chief Executive Officer, STV
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