 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Scotland |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | British Sky Broadcasting SMG plc |
| History | |
| Launched | 1 November 1996 |
| Closed | 31 May 1998 |
| Replaced by | Sky Sports |
Sky Scottish was a short-livedsatellite television channel operating on theanalogue service broadcasts between 6.00pm and 8.00pm.
The service was a joint venture betweenBritish Sky Broadcasting andITV franchiseScottish Television ownersSMG plc, was aimed atScots living outside Scotland who would not otherwise be able to receive Scottish-related programming, such as that also transmitted byGrampian or theBBC.[1]
The station's main programmes included an extra edition of Scottish Television's regional news programmeScotland Today and episodes ofTake the High Road from 1994.Celtic F.C.'s 1997 pre-season friendlies were shown on the channel.Scotsport was also shown on the channel as well as spin-off showExtra Time, and there was alsoThe Football Show presented byJim Delahunt and Peter McGuire.
Despite BSkyB and SMG entering into a seven-year contract to run the service,[2] it was closed down after 18 months. Its closure was explained as the channel having failed to meet its financial targets.[3] Reports suggested that onlyThe Ibrox Club Hour andThe Celtic Park Hour, programmes relating toRangers andCeltic football clubs, had attracted more than 10,000 viewers.[4]
Speaking about its demise, the managing director of SMG at the time was Donald Emslie, described the service as having "been a valuable learning experience" for his company.[5] SMG's finance director, Gary Hughes, stated that the service had shown "it is very difficult to access a Scottish audience outside Scotland",[1] but also that Scottish audiences wanted more home-grown programmes.
Only the Ibrox and Celtic Park fanzine programmes managed to reach more than 10,000 viewers.
| Television |
|  | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production | ||||||||
| See also | ||||||||
 | This article relating to television in Scotland is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |
