 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Aberdeen,Ayr,Dundee,Edinburgh,Glasgow |
| Headquarters | Pacific Quay, Glasgow |
| Programming | |
| Language | English |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | STV Group plc |
| Sister channels | STV |
| History | |
| Launched | 23 April 2017 (2017-04-23) |
| Replaced | STV Glasgow STV Edinburgh |
| Closed | 1 July 2018 (2018-07-01) (1 year, 69 days) |
| Replaced by | That's TV Scotland |
| Links | |
| Website | stv |
| Availability (at time of closure) | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 8 |
| Streaming media | |
| STV Player | Watch live |
| . | Catch up (STV regions only) |
STV2 was a Britishlocal television network in Scotland, operating five city-based TV licences servingGlasgow,Edinburgh,Dundee,Aberdeen andAyr. It was owned and operated bySTV Group plc.
Initially broadcast as two separate stations –STV Glasgow andSTV Edinburgh – the launch of three local licences inAberdeen,Dundee andAyr led to the launch of a single networked service on 24 April 2017.[1][2] In May 2018, it was announced that STV2 would shut down at the end of June 2018 as part of a strategic review.[3] It closed on 30 June 2018.[4]
In January 2013, the broadcast regulatorOfcom announcedSTV had been awarded two licences to broadcast local TV services in theGlasgow andEdinburgh areas for a twelve-year period.[5] The broadcaster pledged to run the channels in partnership withGlasgow Caledonian University andEdinburgh Napier University respectively.[6]
Coinciding with a group-wide revamp,STV Glasgow began broadcasting at 6.30pm on Monday 2 June 2014, with the first edition of its flagship evening magazine programme,The Riverside Show.[7]STV Edinburgh followed at 7pm on Monday 12 January 2015, launching with the first edition ofThe Fountainbridge Show.
In March 2015, STV won three further local TV licences for the Aberdeen, Dundee and Ayr areas[8] under the working titles ofAround Aberdeen,View from the Bridges andAyrshire Today. No other bids were received for the three services.
The majority of STV2's programming was produced and broadcast from STV's headquarters atPacific Quay in Glasgow. Unlike the main STV channel, where transmission originates in-house, playout and presentation were provided by Comux, the local TV multiplex operator, at its operations centre in Birmingham.[9]
The five local TV services under theSTV2 banner carried a single schedule of networked programming.
STV News aired bespoke half-hour bulletins for STV2 at 1 pm and 10 pm alongside a simulcast of the Edinburgh edition ofSTV News at Six. The network's flagship news programme,STV News Tonight aired each weeknight at 7 pm and incorporated Scottish, UK and international news.[1] The half-hour programme, presented byHalla Mohieddeen, was produced in partnership withITN.[10]
Non-news programmes for the channel included the early evening magazineLive at Five,Peter & Roughie's Football Show,Scottish Politics This Week, documentary seriesThe People's History Show and chat shows includingMy Life in Ten Pictures andThe Late Show with Ewen Cameron. Acquired programming included the Irish soapFair City and Finnish dramaBlack Widows. Archive content included popular Scottish soapTake the High Road and crime dramaTaggart.
STV announced in May 2018 that STV2 would close at the end of the following month due to low viewership and anticipated competition from theBBC Scotland channel set to launch in February 2019. The closure of STV2 resulted in the loss of 25 jobs with a further 34 cut in a reorganisation of STV's news output.[3] The channel's broadcasting licences were sold to That's Media, owners of theThat's TV network of local television stations.[11] STV2 closed on 1 July 2018 after midnight, and its replacement, That's TV Scotland, launched on 15 October 2018.[12]
