Television in Scotland mostly consists of UK-wide broadcasts, with regional variations at different times which are specific to Scotland. TheBBC andITV networks both began broadcasting in the country during the 1950s. There were further expansions in the early 1960s with the arrival ofGrampian,Border andBBC2 television. ITV services operate asSTV in the country, owned and operated by theSTV Group based in Glasgow.Scottish Gaelic language broadcasts are aired on theBBC Alba channel. Distinct and separate channels relating to Scotland includeBBC Scotland andThat's TV Scotland, which is made up of five different broadcasting licences forAberdeen,Ayr,Dundee,Edinburgh andGlasgow following the closure of theSTV2 channel in 2018.[1]
Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs) represented the main source of demand, financing and commissioning for television programmes in Scotland. The output of PSBs primarily focus on drama, documentary, factual (specialist and entertainment) and current affairs programme productions. Television production in the country is benefited by having a number of regional PSBs around the country, including BBC Scotland and BBC Alba, whilstChannel 4 has a production hub located in the country. Scotland is the only country of the United Kingdom to have its own affiliat of the ITV network, STV.[2] Television production in Scotland generated an estimate £184.7 million inGross Value Added (GVA) in 2022,[2] and spent an estimated £196.6 million in television broadcasting production in the country in 2019.[2]
The experience of commercial expansion of television services in Scotland since has been broadly similar to that in the UK generally. Terrestrial television is available throughDTT platformFreeview along withvarious other channels. Cable services are available to limited parts of the country withVirgin Media, satellite television is provided bySky andIPTV services are available withBT TV andTalkTalk TV.
Television transmissions in Scotland first began on 14 March 1952 when Britain's sole state broadcaster of the time, the BBC, started broadcasting from thetransmitting station atKirk o'Shotts using the405-line television system. These early transmissions offered no significant separate content; all BBC programming came direct from London with only very occasional Scottish variation made using an outside broadcast unit.[3] With time, BBC television in Scotland gradually accrued some limited rights to "opt out" of the UK network,[4] particularly after the entry of theIndependent Television (ITV) network into the picture, but it was well over 60 years before the corporation allowed an autonomous BBC television channel for the country when it finally launched a still relatively limitedBBC Scotland TV service in February 2019.
ITV'sScottish Television (STV) began transmissions on 31 August 1957.[5]Grampian Television, the ITV service for the North-East of the country, was launched in the Spring of 1960.Border Television, with its headquarters inCarlisle, transmitting across the south of Scotland and north of England, followed suit on 1 September 1961.BBC 2 arrived in Scotland in 1966, two years after its initial launch in London. At first this was a black and white service on 625-linesCCIR System I from the Black Hill transmitter. In 1967, when BBC 2 upgraded toPAL colour across the UK, this included Scotland.
Although BBC One UK network programmes upgraded to colour in 1969, local output at first was still in black-and-white. STV likewise made the upgrade to colour in December 1969, and BBC Scotland's Queen Margaret Drive Studio "A" in Glasgow followed suit in 1971, one of the first of the regional BBC studios to make the upgrade.
STV, now legally known as "STV Central Ltd", is currently the largest of the three ITV network franchises in Scotland and the second oldest active franchise holder in the UK (the oldest beingITV Granada).
BBC Scotland andSTV have the largest media operations in Scotland in the field of television. BBC Scotland, STV andBBC Alba have the most broadcasting support operations between them which include both terrestrial and digital operations. At a United Kingdom wide network level (not including local spending via BBC Scotland and BBC Alba), the BBC and Channel 4 account for roughly 54% of content spending of Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs) in Scotland. BBC television services and Channel 4 accounted for 87% of expenditure in Scotland in 2019.[6]
Viewers in Scotland receive seven public terrestrial television stations:
BBC Scotland andBBC Alba are dedicated channels, withBBC One andITV being regional variants/opt-outs of British television channels.BBC Two,Channel 4, andChannel 5 are UK-wide channels.
Scotland has its own BBC services,BBC One Scotland and theBBC Scotland channel.BBC Two Scotland existed from 9 July 1966 until 17 February 2019, when it was replaced by the BBC Scotland channel. Much of the output of BBC Scotland Television, such as news and current affairs programmes, and the Glasgow-based soap opera,River City, are intended for broadcast within Scotland, whilst others, such as drama and comedy programmes, aim at audiences throughout theUK and further afield. Sports coverage also differs, reflecting the fact that the country has its ownfootball andrugby union leagues and national teams, separate from those of the other United Kingdom constituent nations and other sporting interests unique to Scotland, such asshinty orcurling.
Viewers on the Freeview HD platform within the BBC Scotland broadcasting area can now re-opt into the BBC network when Scotland opts out via BBC One HD, extending choice to Scottish viewers which was only previously an option for satellite and cable viewers.
ThreeITV network stations (ITV Border,STV Central andSTV North) broadcast in Scotland. In the early 1960s, Grampian Television was created to provide commercial television services serving the Highlands and Islands, but in 1997 it was bought bySTV Group plc, owners of the longer established Scottish Television. In May 2006, both channels were re-branded "STV" with newsrooms in Glasgow and Aberdeen retained to provide separate news services for their respective regions. Seven months later, STV launched news opt-outs for the East of Central Scotland (broadcast from Edinburgh) and Tayside & North East Fife (broadcast from Dundee). ITV Border has had a more complex position, as it also has to serve neighbouring areas across the border in England. Most of the independent television output equates to that transmitted in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the exception of news and current affairs, sport, cultural andScottish Gaelic language programming.
The availableITV network station depends on region:
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There have been claims thatBritish television news (which is the main source of news on Scottish television) does not cater to Scottish needs: in 2005, Dr Douglas MacMillan, of theUniversity of Aberdeen found that Scottish news was "peripheral" compared withEnglish stories. His six-month study into theBBC showed 34% of all news focused on England while just 2% was dedicated to Scotland, despite having 10% of the population.[8] One of the longest running controversies regardingnews broadcasting in Scotland has been over proposals for an early evening, weekday BBC television news programme, containing international, UK and Scottish items, produced and edited in Scotland. This proposed show is referred to as the Scottish Six.[9][10][11]
In November 1998 Professor Lindsay Paterson resigned from the BBC's broadcasting council for Scotland in protest, after it emerged that the BBC was hostile to allowing Scotland its own news programme at 6pm.[12] In May 2006Mark Thompson, theDirector-General of the BBC, ruled out any prospect of a Scottish Six news bulletin to replace that produced inLondon.[13]
STV announced similar plans in September 2009 to launch an hour-long edition ofSTV News at Six, incorporating Scottish, national and international news with local ten-minute opt-outs for six sub-regions.[14] The pan-regional programme would have replaced the two separate programmes for northern and central Scotland, however the plans were later dropped in favour of a retained North news service and the launch of two separate news services for the West and East of Central Scotland. A late night current affairs programme,Scotland Tonight, was launched in October 2011.[15]
Stealing a march on its traditional rival, STV used the opportunity of itsSTV2 channel to launch an hour-long news programme,STV News Tonight airing each weeknight at 7 pm and incorporating Scottish, UK and international news.[16] The half-hour programme, presented byHalla Mohieddeen, was produced in partnership withITN.[17] Due to the constraints of the channel's broadcasting arrangements - as a patchwork network of notional 'local TV' channels, mostly centred on the country's traditional cities - this was not quite national coverage. STV2 shut down in June 2018.
In February 2017, the BBC announced plans for a bespoke part-time television channel to serve Scotland, replacing the existing regional feed of BBC Two; as part of these plans, it was announced that the proposed service would feature an hour-long news and public affairs programme broadcast and produced out of Scotland, echoing the Scottish Six proposals.[18][19] The channel officially launched asBBC Scotland on 24 February 2019; as promised, the channel features a nightly primetime newscast,The Nine.[20][21][22]
Scotland produces a number of television shows and series, mostlysoap operas andsitcoms. Notable soap operas includeTake the High Road (1980–2003) andRiver City (2002–present). Popular sitcoms to have been filmed, set and produced in Scotland includeStill Game (2002–2007; 2016–2019),Rab C. Nesbitt (1988–1999, 2008–2014),Burnistoun (2009–2019),Two Doors Down (2013–present),Chewin' the Fat (1999–2005),Gary: Tank Commander (2009–2012) andScot Squad (2014–2023). The 2024 BBC dramaNightsleeper was filmed and set primarily in Scotland.[23][24]
Other notable television series filmed in Scotland includeDinosaur (2024–present),Life of Riley (2009–2011),The Chief (2025–present),City Lights (1984–1991) andMonarch of the Glen (2000–2005). Although not set in Scotland, the BBC comedy seriesMrs Brown's Boys (2011–present) is filmed atBBC Pacific Quay studios in Glasgow, as was its spin–off seriesAll Round to Mrs. Brown's (2017–2020).[25] A variety of critically acclaimed television series have been filmed and set in Scotland includingOutlander,Katie Morag,Shetland,Taggart,Vigil andWaterloo Road.
Factual and documentary broadcast productions in Scotland includeBBC Scotland Investigates,The Scheme,Scotland's Home of the Year,Island Crossings andInside Central Station. Current affairs programming includesScotland Tonight,The Sunday Show,Debate Night andEòrpa, whilst sports programming includesSportscene andA View from the Terrace.
In 1999,TeleG became the first channel to broadcast only Gaelic-language programmes. It aired for an hour every day and showed archive shows. It ceased to transmit in 2011. In 2008,BBC Alba began broadcasting with its slogan being "A new channel for Scotland". It is ajoint venture withMG Alba, which produces many programmes for the channel. BBC Alba shows programmes of different genres, including general entertainment, news, documentaries, children's programmes, dramas, sport and films.
As well as these, the following channels also broadcast some Gaelic language programmes:BBC One Scotland andSTV.
