Scotland Decides: ‘the most ambitious live programme STV has ever broadcast’
STV has confirmed an extensive overnight results programme on Thursday 18 September, presented byBernard Ponsonby and Aasmah Mir, with live reports from all 32 declarations across Scotland and complemented by in-depth online coverage on stv.tv throughout the night.
On the day of the crucial vote, Thursday 18 September, STV will bring viewers comprehensive programming starting with a special edition of STV News at Ten at 2200, presented live from Edinburgh by John MacKay, which will mark the end of the referendum campaign and report the story of Scotland’s historic vote, with coverage from across Scotland.
From 2240 until 0600, STV will broadcast an all-night results programme, Scotland Decides. The programme will be hosted by political editor Bernard Ponsonby and TV and radio presenter Aasmah Mir with a panel of leading politicians, commentators and analysts, and STV’s news teams will report live from all 32 declarations across Scotland as they happen through the night. Extensive online coverage will be provided on stv.tv with result updates and analysis throughout the night.
Scotland Decides will be broadcast across the ITV network, and STV News at Ten will be broadcast by ITV Border Scotland.
STV has unveiled its extensive schedule of referendum programming to bring viewers in-depth coverage of all the key issues, news and discussions from both sides of the campaign, along with comprehensive results coverage and analysis in the days following the vote.
The full schedule of STV referendum week programming:
During week beginning Monday 15 September, STV’s news programme STV News at Six will be presented from Holyrood by John MacKay bringing the key referendum news to viewers across the country.
On Friday 19 September at 0600, following its overnight results programme, STV will air Scotland This Morning – How the Nation Voted, hosted by John MacKay and Andrea Brymer. The programme will examine the outcome of the historic vote with reactions from around the country as Scotland wakes up to the result.
Friday’s coverage continues with a special half hour edition of STV News at 1330 followed by an hour long STV News at Six, presented from Holyrood and covering all the latest developments and featuring live reports from across Scotland and Westminster.
Finally, a special edition of Scotland Tonight presented by Rona Dougall will air at 2230 on Friday 19 September, bringing full analysis of the vote and political reaction, and a half hour long STV News Special will air on Saturday 20 September at 1830.
Gordon Macmillan, head of news at STV, said: “The STV News team is preparing to deliver an extensive, in-depth and ambitious schedule of coverage to bring STV viewers all the crucial stories around the vote and its aftermath, including the overnight Scotland Decides programme which will be the most ambitious live programme STV has ever broadcast.
“STV has shown a commitment to be the leading platform for the debate and, as we reach the conclusion of the referendum campaign, this programme schedule demonstrates our ongoing ambition to reflect the voices of Scotland.”