Radio Clyde and Forth are celebrating as latest combined listening figures* reveal the leading stations are now reaching over one million listeners** every week.
This would see listeners filling both Hampden Park and BT Murrayfield (which have a combined capacity of 119,010) more than eight times! Continue reading Radio Clyde and Forth celebrate reaching over ONE MILLION LISTENERS every week
Baroness Ford, Chair of STV, must reconsider an invitation to appear before Holyrood’s Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Relations Committee, says convener Joan McAlpine MSP. Continue reading Think again: STV chief urged to reconsider Holyrood invite
A regional builder has given a cash boost to a local radio station to help fund a mobile recording studio. Continue reading Builder backs local community radio station
STV has announced a comprehensive new 3-year growth strategy aiming to establish the integrated producer-broadcaster as “Scotland’s home of news and entertainment”. The new strategy will bring changes to STV’s management, culture and organisation – including the closure of STV2 with the loss of 25 jobs. Continue reading STV for Everyone … but no room for STV2
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.
Scotland’s new BBC TV channel is a welcome step in the right direction, but must be properly resourced, Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said yesterday. Continue reading Guarded welcome for BBC Scotland plans
A Green MSP is campaigning for all of Scotland’s qualification football matches to be made available to watch on terrestrial television.
Ahead of Scotland’s game against England on Friday, Alison Johnstone MSP is calling for the SFA to sign a deal with a free-to-air broadcaster to allow more fans to watch Scotland attempt to qualify for a major tournament. Matches involving Gordon Strachan’s team are broadcast exclusively on Sky until 2018.
However, Scotland’s game with the Auld Enemy at Wembley will screen live on STV, but only because of the English FA’s broadcast agreement with sister channel ITV.
Alison Johnstone, health spokesperson for the Scottish Greens and MSP for Lothian, said: “More and more sport is moving to subscription-based TV channels. The BBC lost rights to show the Open golf to Sky and punters wanting to watch European football have to tune in to BT Sport for the Champions League and the Europa League.
“Fans shouldn’t feel like they have to fork out large sums of money to pay for sports channels, nor should they feel the need to cram into a pub to see a game. It’s understandable that the SFA will want to do a deal with the highest bidder, but considering England qualifiers are shown for free on ITV, there’s no reason why Scotland games can’t be shown on one or more terrestrial channel.
“We want children in Scotland to be inspired by the athletes they see on TV and a deal for future qualification matches on terrestrial could help us to produce the next Kenny Dalglish or Denis Law. At very least, it’ll encourage more children to go outside, kick a ball and play with friends.”
Alison, a qualified athletics coach and former competitive runner, added: “Ofcom’s code on designated live sports events rightly lists the World Cup and the European Championship finals as must-show games on territorial TV. It would be better if it was MSPs, rather than MPs, deciding what goes on that list and I suspect many at Holyrood would support free-to-air Scotland games if the ability to do so is devolved.” Continue reading Gemme on?
STV Edinburgh and STV Glasgow will join forces to bring the best of the festival into homes across the central belt next month. They are pairing up to broadcast the Edinburgh Festival 2015 programme live from Akva bar and cafe from Wednesday 5 August.
The show will see hosts Ewen Cameron and Hayley Matthews from STV Edinburgh’s flagship programme The Fountainbridge Show team up with STV Glasgow’s David Farrell and Jennifer Reoch to bring the best international talent and local acts to the screen over the course of the festival.
Paul Hughes, channel editor of STV’s City channels said: “The Edinburgh Festival is the world’s biggest arts festival and it’s on our doorstep. It’s an exciting opportunity for STV’s City channels to cover an event that’s both local and global at the same time bringing the festival to our viewers in a way we never have before.”
The one-hour show will be broadcast live at 7pm each weekday evening from the canal-side Akva bar and restaurant at Edinburgh Quay.
Councillor Richard Lewis, Edinburgh’s Festivals and Events Champion, said: “Every year, visitors and media from all over the world descend on the Scottish capital to experience our festivals. No one is more immersed in the festival atmosphere than the local reporters who cover Edinburgh in August.
“This new show will give viewers a unique insight into the heart of each festival. It’s great that STV is shining a spotlight on Edinburgh in this way and I hope it will encourage viewers to visit the city for themselves.”
As well as the Edinburgh Festival 2015 programme, STV Edinburgh and STV Glasgow will be featuring highlights of the festival on the Edinburgh Festival 2015 catch-up programme from 8:30pm Monday to Friday and the Edinburgh Festival See What You Missed show each weekend.
Edinburgh Festival 2015 is sponsored by the Barbados Tourism Authority and is available on Freeview channel 23, Sky channel 117 and Virgin channel 159.
