STV

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The correct title of this article is stv. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.

For other uses of the stv acronym see STV (disambiguation)

**stv**

Based in	Aberdeen & Glasgow
Broadcast area	Northern and Central Scotland
Launched	30 May 2006
One of the new stv idents, first aired in May 2006.
Replaced	Grampian Television (Northern Scotland); Scottish Television (Central Scotland)
Website	stv.tv
Owned by	SMG plc

stv is the brand used by both ITV licensees in Northern and Central Scotland, formerly known as Grampian TV and Scottish TV (itself previously known by the capitalised STV) respectively. The brand was adopted on Tuesday, 30 May 2006 (with positioning, identity and brand guidelines developed by Elmwood Design's Edinburgh office [1]). Both licensees are owned by SMG plc, which also owns such other brands as Virgin Radio and Ginger Productions.

The stv studios in Glasgow were located on Renfield Street in Cowcaddens since its launch in 1957, but moved to new studios in Pacific Quay in July 2006, alongside BBC Scotland and the Glasgow Science Centre. stv's Aberdeen studios are based at a new purpose-built site in the city's Tullos area.

The two different companies still produce differing regional programmes: North Tonight covers Northern Scotland, and Scotland Today covers Central Scotland. There is no "stv (south)" as Southern Scotland is part of the Border Television region (Border being owned by ITV plc) and programmes are presented there under the ITV1 Border brand.

All on-screen presentation carries the stv logo, which now has the website address on them: stv.tv.

stv produces current affairs and political programming, including Politics Now and Sunday Live. One of stv's best known brands is Scotsport, the world's longest running sports television programme, that heads stv's sports coverage. stv also produces many Gaelic programmes. Whilst a lot of stv's output is for its own broadcast area, some programmes are also broadcast to the Scottish part of the Border Television area and some across the whole of the United Kingdom. One of stv's most famous exports is the long-running crime drama Taggart, set in Glasgow.

More recent stv programmes include the popular Beyond Explanation, presented by Dundonian actor Brian Cox. The programme looked at mysterious sightings across Scotland over the last few centuries. stv also produced crime show Unsolved: Getting Away With Murder which covered past unsolved criminal cases in Scotland. The programme was shown across Scotland and drew high viewing figures while increasing the number of calls made to the Police by witnesses of various incidents who saw the show.

stv, together with its counterpart UTV in Northern Ireland, has resisted adopting the generic ITV1 branding that is now commonplace throughout the ITV plc regions in England and Wales and the Channel Islands, although it has now adopted a single identity for both its franchises.

[edit] stv.tv

Screenshot of stv.tv

www.stv.tv is the URL of the website of stv. The website currently offers the usual sections of News, Sport, Weather, Competitions and stv programme information, with TV listings. It also offers other specialised services such as online dating and gaming.

The site received a brand new look in early July, to tie in with the new-look channel.

It is also now possible to watch news reports relating to articles, the lunchtime news bulletins and also some classic stv outtakes on the new site. Additionally, for a fee, users can watch stv's live coverage of the UEFA Champions League.