STV News is a Scottish news division produced by STV. The news department produces two regional services covering STV's Channel 3 franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland.

STV News
Also known asSTV News at Six
GenreRegional News
Directed byCentral edition:
Alasdair Murray
Keith Samuel
Andrew Turnbull
North edition:
Ruaraidh MacLeod,
Laura Peace
Presented byCentral edition:
John MacKay
Kelly-Ann Woodland
North edition:
Norman MacLeod
Andrea Brymer
Theme music composerPaul Leonard-Morgan[1]
Country of originScotland
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producersLinda Grimes Douglas
(Head of News & Current Affairs)
Production locationsCentral edition:
Glasgow, Scotland
Edinburgh, Scotland
North edition:
Aberdeen, Scotland
EditorsCentral:
Nichola Kane
(Edinburgh)
Andrew Browne
(Glasgow)
North:
David McKeith
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running timeSTV News at Six:
30 minutes;
STV News:
Durations vary
Production companiesSTV Central,
STV North
Original release
NetworkSTV,
STV2
Release23 March 2009 (2009-03-23) –
present
Related

STV's news programmes are produced from studios in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen with reporters also based at newsrooms in Dundee and Inverness and political correspondents based at Holyrood and Westminster. Freelance correspondents and camera crews are based on the Orkney and Shetland Isles, Wick and Fort William with a permanent Western Isles correspondent based in Stornoway.

In addition to its daily bulletins and online services, STV News also produces the current affairs programme Scotland Tonight along with feature documentaries.

Broadcast edit

 
The four subregions that receive different variations of STV News at Six

Two separate editions of STV News at Six air on STV Central and STV North each weeknight at 6:00 pm. ITV Evening News, the networked news programme, follows at 6:30 pm.

The main evening programmes are supplemented by shorter STV News bulletins seven days a week:

  • Good Morning Scotland (not to be confused with the BBC Radio Scotland programme of the same name) updates for the North and Central regions during Good Morning Britain at around 6:10 am, 7:10 am and 8:10 am each weekday. Both bulletins are broadcast from Glasgow.
  • Lunchtime bulletins for the North and Central regions at 1:55 pm each weekday, following the ITV Lunchtime News.
  • Late news bulletins for the North and Central regions at 10:30 pm each weeknight, following ITV News at Ten.
  • Weekend bulletins, broadcast across all regions from Glasgow – one on Saturday evenings, one on Sunday evenings.

In the Central region, STV News at Six is presented jointly from STV's Glasgow and Edinburgh studios. The programme includes opt-outs for separate news, sport and weather for the East and West of the region.

In the North, viewers in Tayside and northeast Fife receive a separate 5-minute bulletin during the main STV News at Six each weeknight, presented and produced from STV's studios at Seabraes in Dundee and directed from a technical gallery in Aberdeen. While the Tayside bulletin is broadcast, viewers further north see more news from the north-east, Highlands and Islands, broadcast from the main studio in Aberdeen.

All North, East and pan-regional bulletins are broadcast one hour after their original airing on STV +1. Bulletins are also available for catch-up for 1 day after broadcast on the STV Player streaming service.

Digital edit

STV News operates a digital news service via its website and mobile apps. It has staff working on their website, creating original journalism and collaborating with journalists in the news teams in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness.[2]

Overview edit

STV News at Six launched on Monday 23 March 2009 as part of a major station revamp. The nightly news programmes were previously known as Scotland Today in the STV Central region and North Tonight in the STV North region, with both programmes carrying local opt-outs from January 2007 onwards.

Previously in the Central region,[3][4] viewers in the West and East areas received 5-minute bulletins within the main 6 pm programme – STV News West covered the area from Tobermory to Falkirk, with the presenter based in the main studio in Glasgow. Meanwhile, STV News East covered the area from Anstruther to Dunbar and was presented and produced at STV's Edinburgh studios. The full-length separate STV News at Six programmes for the two areas were launched on Monday 23 May 2011.[5][4]

STV2 national news edit

On Monday 2 June 2014, a secondary news service, STV Glasgow News, was launched as part of the local television channel STV Glasgow. This was followed by the launch of a news service for STV Edinburgh on Monday 12 January.

Both channels were merged with new local TV services for Aberdeen, Ayr and Dundee in April 2017 to form STV2, providing national news bulletins throughout the day with half-hour programmes at 1 pm and 10 pm on weekdays.

In September 2016, STV announced it would launch a news programme combining Scottish, UK and international news coverage. STV News Tonight was produced and broadcast from Glasgow using STV's resources from across Scotland and the UK and international resources of ITN.[6] The half-hour programme, launched on Monday 24 April 2017, was presented by Halla Mohieddeen and aired each weeknight at 7 pm on STV2.[7]

Cutbacks edit

On 16 May 2018, STV announced 59 redundancies, including 34 from its news division. STV2 ceased broadcasting at the end of June 2018,[8] marking the end of STV News Tonight and the station's national news service.[9]

On STV itself, the Edinburgh-based edition of STV News at Six was axed and replaced with shorter opt-outs within a Central Scotland programme.[10] STV North's regional news services were not affected, although nine jobs – three journalists and six technical posts – were lost at the company's Aberdeen studios.

NUJ members at STV voted in favour of strike action against the job cuts, although the union decided against immediate action after the company ruled out compulsory redundancies.[11]

The last edition of STV News Tonight aired on Friday 29 June 2018, followed by the final East edition of STV News at Six on Friday 7 September 2018.

The team edit

Main anchors edit

STV News at Six
STV region Anchor Location Roles
Central John MacKay Glasgow Scotland Tonight presenter
Kelly-Ann Woodland Edinburgh
Emma Cameron Edinburgh/Glasgow Relief presenter; What's On Scotland co-presenter
North Norman MacLeod Aberdeen Occasional lunchtime/late presenter
Andrea Brymer Aberdeen Occasional lunchtime/late presenter

References edit

  1. ^ "Glasgow-based composer goes from STV to Limitless possibilities". STV Entertainment. STV. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2011.[dead link]
  2. ^ "Who we are". STV News. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  3. ^ ].pdf "STV confirms launch of extra news programme and more localised bulletins" (PDF). STV Group plc. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Here is the news from Edinburgh: STV to produce UK's most local news service". STV News. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  5. ^ ].pdf "STV confirms launch of extra news programme and more localised bulletins" (PDF). STV Group plc. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
  6. ^ "STV to launch integrated Scottish and international news show". STV News. STV. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Anchor of flagship STV News Tonight show announced". STV News. STV. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  8. ^ Glenday, John (16 May 2018). "Struggling STV 2 to be taken off air in online shift". The Drum. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  9. ^ On-air talent lead 'angry' STV staff to outdoor union meeting, BBC News, 16 May 2018
  10. ^ Union to ballot over industrial action as almost 60 journalism jobs set to go, Hold the Front Page, 17 May 2018
  11. ^ NUJ eases off strike threat after STV pledges to avoid compulsory redundancies as it looks to cut staff, Press Gazette, 19 June 2018

External links edit

Preceded by
Ciaran Jenkins
RTS Journalism Awards
Young Talent – Peter Smith

2014
Succeeded by
Mstyslav Chernov
Preceded by
N/A
RTS Scotland Awards
News Coverage: Clutha Helicopter Crash

2014
Succeeded by
BBC Scotland Investigates: The Dog Factory
Preceded by
???
RTS Scotland Awards
News Programme (STV News at Six – Central)

2016
Succeeded by
Preceded by
???
RTS Scotland Awards
Television Journalist – Bernard Ponsonby

2016
Succeeded by
N/A
Preceded by RTS Scotland Awards
News Programme (STV News at Six – North)

2018
Succeeded by
STV News at Six – Central
Preceded by
Kevin Anderson
RTS Scotland Awards
Young Journalist – Ben Philip

2018
Succeeded by
Ceri Isfryn
Preceded by
STV News at Six – North
RTS Scotland Awards
News Programme (STV News at Six – Central)

2019
Succeeded by
STV News at Six – North
Preceded by
STV News at Six – Central
RTS Scotland Awards
News Programme (STV News at Six – North)

2020
Succeeded by
Eòrpa, (Episode 1 Slavery)
Preceded by
Eòrpa, (Episode 1 Slavery)
RTS Scotland Awards
News Programme (STV News at Six – Central)

2022
Succeeded by
Incumbent