Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the
Northern Isles
The Northern Isles ( sco, Northren Isles; gd, Na h-Eileanan a Tuath; non, Norðreyjar; nrn, Nordøjar) are a pair of archipelagos off the north coast of mainland Scotland, comprising Orkney and Shetland. They are part of Scotland, as are th ...
,
Western Isles
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...
,
Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
(except
Fort William and
Lochaber
Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation ...
)
Grampian
Grampian ( gd, Roinn a' Mhonaidh) was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The region to ...
,
Tayside
Tayside ( gd, Taobh Tatha) was one of the nine regions used for local government in Scotland from 15 May 1975 to 31 March 1996. The region was named for the River Tay.
It was created by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, following recom ...
(except the
Kinross
Kinross (, gd, Ceann Rois) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the historic county of Kinross-shire.
History
Kinross's origins are connect ...
area), and parts of north
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
.
Grampian went on the air on 30 September 1961. The company was bought out in 1997 by
STV Group
STV Group plc (formerly known as Scottish Television plc, Scottish Media Group plc and SMG plc) is a media company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Beginning as a television broadcaster in 1957, the company expanded into newspapers, advertising and r ...
(the parent company of STV, the Channel 3 broadcaster in Central Scotland). The name ''Grampian Television'' was retired in 2006 and the channel is now known as ''STV'' on-air.
STV runs one service which covers both central and northern Scotland but with separate news bulletins. Legally, however, the two services are still licensed separately; the northern licence is held by STV North, which is owned and operated by
STV Group plc
STV Group plc (formerly known as Scottish Television plc, Scottish Media Group plc and SMG plc) is a media company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Beginning as a television broadcaster in 1957, the company expanded into newspapers, advertising and r ...
(formerly SMG plc), and the southern licence by STV Central (previously known as
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
).
As an independent company, Grampian had a very distinctive local personality which was quite different from STV's. After the station was bought, it gradually assimilated with STV, culminating in the change of name in 2006. STV did not adopt the generic
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
branding that is now used in the other Channel 3 regions which are owned by
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
ITV plc is listed on the ...
.
STV's regional news programme for Northern Scotland is called ''
STV News at Six'' and is supplemented by short news bulletins on weekdays. The station also produces regional television commercials.
In 2008, the United Kingdom began its 5-year programme to end analogue television broadcasts as part of the
switchover to digital transmissions, with the eight transmitters covering the STV North region (Angus, Rosemarkie, Knockmore, Eitshal, Durris, Bressay, Rumster Forest and Keelylang Hill) switching over from May to October 2010.
History
Foundation and launch
Applications for the new North East Scotland contract area were sought by the
Independent Television Authority
The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" (ITV (TV network), ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA exi ...
(ITA) in the spring of 1960. From the original seven applicants, three serious contenders emerged and the contract was awarded in August 1960 to ''North of Scotland Television Limited'' on the provision that board positions were offered to the other two final applicants, ''Caledonian Television'' and ''North Caledonian Television''. The company's first managing director was
G E Ward Thomas who later established
Yorkshire Television
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
in 1968.
The name ''North of Scotland TV'' was considered too cumbersome for use and to reflect the input of the other applicants, a new name was chosen on 11 January 1961 - ''"Grampian Television"'' after one of the key Scottish mountain ranges, the
Grampian Mountains
The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. T ...
. Grampian planned to launch on 1 October 1961 and had already bought and converted their studios for the start date. However, four months prior to launch, the
Post Office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
announced that the links which would connect Grampian to the network would not be ready until February 1962. This would have left the new station only able to broadcast output from its neighbouring colleagues at
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
(STV). Pressure at the highest level of Government ensured that the links were in place in time for the station's planned launch.
Grampian Television went on air on Saturday 30 September 1961 at 2.45 pm (the 15th ITA franchise to launch) with the opening authority announcement from continuity announcer Douglas Kynoch and a brief welcome from the chairman of the
Independent Television Authority
The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" (ITV (TV network), ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA exi ...
, Sir Ivonne Kirkpatrick:
Douglas Kynoch:
''Good afternoon. This is the first transmission of Grampian Television Limited, over the Durris and Monteagle transmitters of the Independent Television Authority. Today, we're about to join all the millions of viewers of the Independent Television network and we're very glad to have in our studios, to switch us into the network, the chairman of the Independent Television Authority, Sir Ivonne Kirkpatrick.''
Sir Ivonne Kirkpatrick:
''Good afternoon. I am glad to be in Aberdeen today to welcome you into the great family of Independent Television viewers. You now have your own television company in the North East and I hope that you'll very soon come to regard Grampian Television as an essential part of your everyday life. I wish you and Grampian the best of luck and now, let us join the network.''
Following the brief opening, the station handed over to
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's networked coverage of ''Racing from Catterick Bridge''. Later in the opening day at 7pm, Grampian's first chairman, Sir Alexander B. King, presented a half-hour introductory programme about the station. At the time of launch, Grampian served a potential audience of 332,000 people in 98,000 homes.
Early years on air
In its first year, Grampian produced nine regular regional programmes - namely ''News and Views'' (a thrice-weekly magazine programme), ''Country Focus'', ''Women's World'', ''Serenade'', ''Scotland for Me'', ''Points North'' (a long-running current affairs programme), ''Grampian Golf'', local news bulletins and monthly church services.
In the early days, Grampian struggled as viewers in a key part of its transmission area, the city of
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
, were still tuning into coverage from STV via the strong signal of the
Black Hill transmitter
The Black Hill transmitting station is a facility for FM and TV broadcasting at Black Hill (), on Duntilland Road, Salsburgh, North Lanarkshire, Scotland which is near the town of Airdrie. It has a guyed mast tall, bringing the antennas to a he ...
. Three months after its first transmission, the station was only attracting 13% of the available audience in Dundee while viewing audiences across the region turned out to be less than had been hoped for. Viewer correspondence was said to amount to little more than half a dozen letters per week.
The problems in Dundee along with the effects of Television Advertising Duty and the Equity Strike led to heavy financial losses and a subsequent reduction in transmitter rental for Grampian. But by the end of 1962, the station had succeeded in increasing audience in both Dundee and the region as a whole. The success in viewing figures were attributed to an increase in regional programming.
Whereas Grampian had previously restricted its output to news and current affairs beforehand, production controller James Buchan decided to ''go for broke'' and branch out to produce light entertainment and music shows (originally, at the rate of four programmes a week) - such programming would remain a staple of the station's local output for the next forty years or so. By 1963, no less than fifty Grampian shows had featured in the local Top Ten audience ratings.
Towards the end of the decade, the station's potential audience reached a million viewers and Grampian was employing just over 200 staff at their studios in Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh. Prior to the 1968 contract round, smaller regional stations sought an
affiliation
Affiliation or affiliate may refer to:
* Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law
* Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship
* Affiliate marketing
* Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...
with one of the four major ITV companies, who would provide the bulk of their programming. Grampian chose to link up with
ABC Weekend Television
ABC Weekend TV was the popular name of the British broadcaster ABC Television Limited, which provided the weekend service in the Midlands and Northern England regions of the Independent Television (ITV) network from 1956 to 1968. It was one ...
.
Technological advances
Grampian was slower than most other ITV stations to begin colour broadcasting which, after the company invested £180,000 () in new equipment, promptly started in September 1971—an occasion timed to mark their 10th anniversary on air.
The launch of the colour service led to a strike over Christmas 1971. A new film editor had signed a mutuality-binding three-month contract, and Grampian's decision to offer him permanent employment was not exercised.
For the Christmas period, Grampian had hired colour studio cameras especially for the Hogmanay programmes and the filming of a networked documentary.
The station resumed broadcasting at 10 pm on Boxing Day, which allowed the station to broadcast its first networked colour documentary ''Two Of A Kind''.
Despite this, the station did come up with a number of technical firsts. The most notable of these came in 1978 when Grampian became the first British television station to replace 16mm film cameras with Electronic News Gathering
NGvideo cameras for news coverage - a move which finally allowed its regional news programme ''Grampian Today'' to extend from three to five nights a week. Grampian also developed its own outside broadcast unit, initially using studio equipment. Later developments would allow Grampian to further enhance its regional news service and on air presentation, which relied heavily on in-vision continuity.
The franchise rounds
Following the station's earlier troubles, Grampian Television, along with all other ITV companies at the time, won a three-year extension to their licence (later extended by a further year) in 1964. In 1967, they went unopposed by any other consortiums to win a further six-year contract from July 1968 - a contract expanded by a further eight years in 1974.
Six years later, Grampian won another eight-year franchise (later extended to ten years), effective of January 1982. The only change made to the licence was the classification of the franchise as ''North and North East Scotland'', as opposed to ''North East Scotland'' - a change which the station had already capitalised upon in January 1980 when ''Grampian Today'' was relaunched as ''
North Tonight
''North Tonight'' is a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North (formerly Grampian Television).
History
During the late 1960s and 1970s, Grampian's regional news service consisted of daily ...
'' as part of a major expansion for Grampian's news operation.
The Broadcasting Act of 1990 led to a significant change in the way ITV franchises were awarded - as opposed to the straightforward review process utilised by the outgoing
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television (ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Authorit ...
, the new ''light-touch'' regulator, the
Independent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003.
History
The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...
, required that the successful applicant pass a ''quality threshold'' and business plan.
In the event, Grampian was outbid by two challengers; ''Channel 3 Caledonia'' and ''North of Scotland Television'' (the latter of which was ironically the name of the original Grampian Television consortium). Both competitors failed to pass the quality threshold, and Grampian won back the franchise by default with a bid of £720,000 per year.
After retaining its franchise, Grampian sought to expand its media business interests. In May 1994, the company won the new Central Scotland FM radio licence in partnership with
Border Television
ITV Border, previously Border Television and commonly referred to as simply Border, is the Channel 3 service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the England/Scotland border region, covering most of Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway, the S ...
- the new station,
Scot FM (now
Heart Scotland
Heart Scotland is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global Radio as part of the Heart network. The station relaunched as Heart on 6 May 2014, serving Central and Southern Scotland from studios in Glasgow city centre.
Heart Scotl ...
), had an uneasy start as it struggled with ratings and programming. Border pulled out of Scot FM a year later, before Grampian sold it off in July 1996 to the Independent Radio Group for £5.25 million.
At the same time, Grampian also owned shares in
Moray Firth Radio
MFR is an Independent Local Radio station based in Inverness, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio Network. It broadcasts to Moray, the Scottish Highlands and South West Aberdeenshire.
As of December 2022, the station has ...
, until they were sold off to
Scottish Radio Holdings
Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) was a Scottish media company which owned 22 radio stations, and around 30 local newspapers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
History
SRH had its origins in the 1970s when Glasgow was awarded the third licence for ...
.
Networked production
With encouragement from the IBA, Grampian and other small ITV companies were encouraged to produce more network output following the 1980 franchise round. The station had previously produced a small number of networked or part-networked productions including the daytime adult education series ''
Katie Stewart Cooks'' and the light entertainment show ''Melody Inn''.
In the franchise period following, the station was commissioned to produce networked series of the local film magazine programme ''The Electric Theatre Show'' (following a successful run on
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...
) alongside new series including occasional variety show ''Magic of the Musicals'', lifestyle series ''Pennywise'' & ''Hot Property'', networked one-off documentaries such as ''A Prince Among Islands'' and children's cartoon series ''
James the Cat
''James the Cat'' is a 1984 British children's series created by Kate Canning and produced by Jan Clayton with Grampian Television. It chronicles the many events which take place at the Cornerhouse (number 104) between James and his new animal f ...
''.
The station also produced various editions of several series co-produced by most ITV regions - namely the religious programme ''
Highway
A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...
'', current affairs debate ''
The Time, The Place
''The Time, The Place'' was a British audience participation talk show that was produced by a number of different ITV companies, and broadcast live on ITV from 1987 to 1998. ''TTTP'' was presented by Mike Scott from 1987 to 1993 and by John St ...
'', documentary strand ''About Britain'' and the Saturday morning children's shows ''
Get Fresh
''Get Fresh'' is a children's television programme that originally aired from 1986 to 1988 in the United Kingdom.
Format
A Saturday-morning kids' TV show, broadcast on the Children's ITV network, the show featured Gareth Jones (aka Gaz Top), ...
'' and ''
Ghost Train
In ghostlore, a ghost train is a phantom vehicle in the form of a locomotive or train. The ghost train differs from other traditional forms of haunting in that rather than being a static location where ghosts are claimed to be present, "the appar ...
''.
Grampian also contributed to
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
in the form of various documentary series including ''Oil'' (co-produced with
NRK
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...
), ''The Blood is Strong'', ''Alternative Energy'' and ''Scotland the Grave''. The long-running schools programme ''Living & Growing'' transferred from ITV to Channel 4 in September 1987.
Grampian's later networked contributions were minimal, with the few exceptions including co-production of ''
The National Television Awards'' from 1995 to 1997 and a daytime repeat run of local documentary series ''Medics of the Glen'' in 2004.
SMG buyout
Grampian remained independent until June 1997 when
Scottish Media Group
STV Group plc (formerly known as Scottish Television plc, Scottish Media Group plc and SMG plc) is a media company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Beginning as a television broadcaster in 1957, the company expanded into newspapers, advertising and r ...
, owner of Scottish Television, bought the station for £105 million.
The buyout led to various cutbacks in Grampian's staffing and programme production - notable changes included the transfer of on-air presentation from Aberdeen to Scottish Television's playout centre in Glasgow. More Grampian-produced programmes were also broadcast on Scottish, and vice versa.
The station was also criticised by the Independent Television Commission concerning the amount and relevance of its non-news regional output with more and more programming being produced from outside the region, chiefly in Glasgow - local production was gradually phased out with the station's final non-news programme broadcast in 2008.
In June 2003, the company moved to new premises at Craigshaw Business Park in
West Tullos
Tullos is an area of Aberdeen, Scotland. The area takes its name from the Vale of Tullos, which lies between Tullos Hill and Torry Hill. Tullos derived its name from a corruption of the Gaelic ‘Tulach’ meaning a hill.
In this extract from ...
,
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
and the original headquarters at
Queens Cross were subsequently demolished, becoming home to a development of luxury flats.
From Grampian to STV North
In March 2006, the owners of Grampian Television, then known as SMG plc (now ''STV Group plc'') announced that the Grampian TV brand would be retired and renamed, along with
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
, as simply '
STV', with a new logo comprising a large, stylised letter 'S'.
The two regional news programmes in the Northern and Central Scotland regions (previously known as ''
North Tonight
''North Tonight'' is a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North (formerly Grampian Television).
History
During the late 1960s and 1970s, Grampian's regional news service consisted of daily ...
'' and ''
Scotland Today
''Scotland Today'' is a Scottish regional news programme covering Central Scotland, produced by STV Central (formerly Scottish Television). Despite its name suggesting a national remit, the programme was actually limited to stories around STV's Ce ...
'' respectively) were still broadcast in their respective regions after the "stv" rebranding, which occurred at 9:25 am on Tuesday 30 May 2006. Both ''North Tonight'' and ''Scotland Today'' were rebranded as ''
STV News at Six'' on Monday, 23 March 2009 but continue to air as separate programmes.
The decision to rebrand Grampian was met with much criticism from across the former Grampian region - the move was viewed by many as similar to the
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
ITV plc is listed on the ...
-owned licences in England, Wales and Southern Scotland where all of the regions are branded as
ITV1
ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
. The objections are largely due to the fact that the largely rural Scottish culture in the North is very different from the more industrial Central Scotland area.
The news service and advertising remains regionalised as before with the Tayside and North East Fife area receiving its own opt-out service, featuring a dedicated news bulletin within ''STV News at Six'' on weekdays and separate local advertising. Up until September 2011, both areas also received their own version of the overnight strand, ''
The Nightshift''.
Studios
Aberdeen
Grampian's first studios and headquarters were located at
Queens Cross,
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, where the company purchased a former
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
depot belonging to
Aberdeen Corporation Tramways
Aberdeen Corporation Tramways formerly served the City of Aberdeen, Scotland.
The system
The city's tram system was the most northerly municipal tramway in the United Kingdom. It started on 26 August 1898 when the Aberdeen Corporation purchased ...
in 1960. The depot was converted for use as television studios with completion planned prior to October 1961. The complex housed two main studios and a third smaller studio for continuity, which was updated in the early 1980s when £4 million worth (2009: £10.5m) was spent on a new Central Technical Area and presentation facilities.
These studios continued to be of importance to Grampian well into the new millennium, despite the transfer of the presentation and continuity to
Scottish's
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
base and job losses when SMG took over the company. In June 2003, Grampian moved to new, smaller,
state-of-the-art
The state of the art (sometimes cutting edge or leading edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contexts it can also refer to a level ...
all digital studios at Craigshaw Business Park in
West Tullos
Tullos is an area of Aberdeen, Scotland. The area takes its name from the Vale of Tullos, which lies between Tullos Hill and Torry Hill. Tullos derived its name from a corruption of the Gaelic ‘Tulach’ meaning a hill.
In this extract from ...
,
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, some of the most advanced in the world at the time of opening. Their previous headquarters at Queens Cross were subsequently demolished and redeveloped as housing.
Dundee and Inverness
In addition to their Aberdeen headquarters, Grampian ran a newsroom and sales office in
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
at the entrance of the Angus Hotel in Marketgait, which also contained a film studio for interviews.
In 1978, the Dundee operation moved to a new remote-controlled studio at Albany House, before moving again to Harbour Chambers in the City Quay area in 1998.
As of April 2008, STV's Tayside operation is based at Seabraes in the Greenmarket area of Dundee.
In 1983, a further district newsroom and remote-controlled studio was opened at Huntly Street,
Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
, aimed at improving coverage of the Highlands and Islands. The Inverness operation relocated to Stoneyfield Business Park during the summer of 2020.
Other studios
Grampian also had a studio in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, despite it being in
Scottish's franchise area, which had closed by 1969, and a new £4 million studio complex in
Stornoway
Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland.
The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well a ...
, opened in the September 1990 to facilitate an expansion in Scottish Gaelic language output, including the daily news bulletin ''
Telefios
''Telefios'' was a Scottish Gaelic-language news programme, broadcast on both Grampian Television and Scottish Television from 4 January 1993 until 2000.
Its name is a ''portmanteau'' of the word ''fios'' meaning "knowledge" or "information", a ...
''. The studios were closed in 2000 following the end of the Gaelic news service and the transfer of other programmes to Glasgow.
Presentation
Grampian's company logo and on screen identity made use of
The Saltire
The flag of Scotland ( gd, bratach na h-Alba; sco, Banner o Scotland, also known as St Andrew's Cross or the Saltire) is the national flag of Scotland, which consists of a white saltire defacing a blue field. The Saltire, rather than the Roy ...
, the
Flag of Scotland
The flag of Scotland ( gd, bratach na h-Alba; sco, Banner o Scotland, also known as St Andrew's Cross or the Saltire) is the national flag of Scotland, which consists of a white saltire Defacement (flag), defacing a blue field. The Saltire, r ...
, in all incarnations of the company's independent life. Grampian's first on screen identification film, or ident for short, featured a black, white and grey image of four mountain peaks, which turn into the saltire, with the grey peak at the bottom, against the tune "
Scotland the Brave
"Scotland the Brave" ( gd, Alba an Àigh) is a Scottish patriotic song, one of three often considered an unofficial Scottish national anthem (the others being "Flower of Scotland", and "Scots Wha Hae").
History
The tune probably originated in ...
". This was replaced in 1964 by another ident, showing the saltire zooming into the center of the screen, with the Grampian name appearing letter-by-letter towards the bottom of the screen; a music box-style rendition of "Scotland the Brave" played underneath. This ident lasted until 1971, when colour came to the region at the same time as the 10th anniversary of the station. The colour ident started with the four sections of the saltire (now coloured red, yellow, blue and white) merging to form a white diamond, from which the saltire emerges upon a light blue background; the Grampian name and the word "COLOUR" rotate into place beneath the saltire (noticeably done with some sort of mechanical model, as opposed to being part of the animation). This was accompanied by a harp version of the "Scotland the Brave" jingle.
In the early 1980s a new black background ident was introduced (placing a greater emphasis on the text, now including the word "TELEVISION", with a smaller saltire), along with a newer version of the "Scotland the Brave" jingle.
Grampian's first computer generated ident was introduced in January 1985 and featured various diamond and dot shapes flying around in space, changing colour against an electronic tune. As the ident progresses, the dots move closer, and the diamonds bend so that it becomes a three-dimensional saltire shape as the "Scotland the Brave" music begins to be more noticeable. The saltire logo then forms up as the box folds inside out and the dot shapes pull away.
However, this colourful and dynamic ident was only to last four years, as Grampian adopted the
first ITV generic look from September 1989 until October 1998 - the longest usage of the generic ident by any ITV company. As the majority of junctions featured in-vision announcements into programmes, the ident was rarely seen for most of the day. When the new ITV logo was about to be launched and after SMG had bought the channel, the ident was replaced by a saltire on blue background, tilted slightly, with the sections of the saltire bursting into place, accompanied by an edited version of the ITV generic music from 1989.
In-vision continuity was relied upon heavily by Grampian - from the early 1980s onwards, the station's duty announcers also presented short regional news bulletins, including the ''North Headlines'' at closedown, and the daily ''Birthday Spot'' for children. In-vision announcements were finally abandoned in the summer of 1998, before the closure of Grampian's Aberdeen presentation department that September.
During 1999, Grampian, like
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
refused to use the second generic ITV identity. The company decided instead to use a new branding package, based on a blue square with the words 'Grampian TV' in the bottom of the square. Launched on 28 February 2000, it featured various scenes of Scottish people and places up and down the country. Various scenes featured a lady horserider along a beach, a young lady and dog returning home, elderly
tweed
Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...
workers in the highlands, waves crashing below
Dunottar Castle, a
tea dance
__NOTOC__
A tea dance, also called a ''thé dansant'' (French for "dancing tea"), was a dance held in the summer or autumn from 4 to 7 p.m. In the English countryside, a garden party sometimes preceded the dance.''Party-giving on Every Scale ...
, an oil rig in the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
, the
Grampian mountains
The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. T ...
, chefs in a restaurant kitchen and a waitress in a pub. The look is notable for its cool colour pallette and ambient music.
![Grampian Television logo (2003)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Grampian_Television_logo_%282003%29.png)
On 6 January 2003, the idents were replaced by the
celebrity idents, mostly used by the Granada and Carlton regions, and adapted for use by Grampian. The
ITV1
ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
logo was replaced with Grampian's logo, and additional idents made depicting Scottish and Grampian celebrities. However, this was not to last, as in 2006, the Grampian name was to be lost on screen in favour of
STV. The idents featured Scottish people passing around the logo, an elongated 'S', to other people in other scenes off screen until the 'S' is placed in the centre of the screen. The upbeat music and dynamic filming gives the idents an energetic quality to the station. These idents were shared with
Scottish, as were all idents following the package as the two networks have ceased as separate entities.
The current ident set came into force in February 2009 and was an extension to the theme. A scene, similar to the last look, flips over to reveal another scene. This continues, with increasing pace and a wider perspective, until the STV logo flips into view against a blue background.
Programmes
Programming produced by Grampian Television (STV North) since 1961 include:
News
*''Grampian Headlines'' (1988–2003)
*''Grampian News'' (2002–06)
*''Grampian Today'' (mid-1970s – 1980)
*''News and Views'' (1961 – mid-1970s)
*''News Review'' (early 1990s – 2013)
*''North News'' (lunchtime bulletin, 1980–88)
*''North Headlines'' (late night bulletin, 1980–87)
*''North Today'' (2006–09)
*''
North Tonight
''North Tonight'' is a Scottish nightly regional news programme covering the North of Scotland, produced by STV North (formerly Grampian Television).
History
During the late 1960s and 1970s, Grampian's regional news service consisted of daily ...
'' (1980–2009)
*''
STV News
''STV News'' is a Scottish news service produced by STV. The news department produces two regional services covering STV's Channel 3 franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland.
STV's news programmes are produced from studios in Glasgow ...
'' (2009–)
Current affairs
*''The Buck Stops Here''
*''Craig Millar Reports'' (latterly ''The Craig Millar Files'', 2003–04)
*''Country Focus'' (1961–84)
*''
Crossfire
A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I.
...
'' (1984–2004)
*''Grampian Week'' (1970s)
*''Inquisition''
*''North Tonight Special''
*''One Life to Live''
*''Personal View''
*''Points North'' (1961–84)
*''
Politics Now
''Politics Now'' is a Scottish political programme produced and broadcast by STV (TV channel), STV in northern and central Scotland, between 2004 and 2011. The programme, broadcast for 40 weeks of the year, on a Thursday evenings after the late ...
'' (co-produced with STV Central, 2004–2011)
*''
Scotland Tonight
''Scotland Tonight'' is a Scottish news and current affairs programme, covering the two STV franchise areas of Northern and Central Scotland, produced by STV News. The programme is presented by ''STV News at Six'' Central anchor John MacKay on ...
'' (co-produced with STV Central, 2011–present)
*''Scottish Questions''
*''We the Jury'' (1991-98)
Documentaries
*''The A9 Mystery'' (1978)
*''About Britain'' (contributions for the ITV network)
*''Around the World in 80 Hours'' (1993)
*''Beyond Explanation''
*''The Big Beat''
*''Black Water, Bright Hope''
*''The Blood is Strong'' (for Channel Four, late 1980s)
*''Blowout at Bravo'' (1977)
*''Carnoustie: A Town of Golf''
*''Columba's Way'' (1972)
*''Commando'' (1983)
*''Cop College''
*''A Day in the Life'' (2003)
*''Elizabeth of Glamis'' (1985)
*''The Energy Alternative'' (for Channel Four, 1990)
*''Export Scotch'' (1982)
*''Fife: Andrew's Kingdom''
*''A Glen for All Seasons'' (1997)
*''The Glovers of Nagasaki'' (co-produced with
Fuji TV
JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...
, 1995)
*''
Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
*Sou ...
'' (produced by STV Productions, 2008)
*''The Highland Heartlands'' (1986)
*''Home at Last'' (1989)
*''Hot Property'' (for the ITV network)
*''Last of the Hunters'' (1987)
*''The Man Who Changed the World'' (1986)
*''The Masterbuilders''
*''Medics of the Glen'' (also broadcast on the ITV network)
*''Network First'' (contributions for the ITV network, mid - late 1990s)
*''Nick Hancock's Fishing School'' (produced by STV Productions, 2007)
*''Northern Eye''
*''Oil'' (co-produced with
NRK
NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...
for Channel Four, 1986)
*''On the Road Again'' (1984)
*''Picnic at Whitehill'' (1986)
*''Place in the Sun'' (1981)
*''
A Prince Among Islands
''A Prince Among Islands'' is a television programme about Charles, Prince of Wales, Prince Charles' visit to Berneray, North Uist, Berneray.
In 1987, Charles, Prince of Wales, visited Berneray in the Outer Hebrides, for a week to learn about cr ...
'' (for the ITV network, 1992)
*''The River''
*''Seeing Scotland''
*''Scotland the Grave'' (for Channel Four, 1991)
*''Scotland's Larder'' (early - late 1990s)
*''Selina Scott Meets''
*''Storm on the Mountain'' (for Channel Four, 1988)
*''The Byre Theatre: Please Keep Your Feet Off the Stage'' (1983)
*''This Scotland'' (co-produced with
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
)
*''To Russia with Burns'' (1978)
*''Two of a Kind''
*''
Unsolved'' (2003–04)
*''Valhalla''
*''Walking Back to Happiness''
*''What Price Oil?'' (1973)
*''The Woman Who Ate Scotland'' (2006–07)
*''A Year in Spain: Selina Scott with the Spanish Royal Family'' (for the ITV network, 1993)
Features
*''Breakthrough''
*''Country Matters'' (1990s)
*''Desert Island Chefs''
*''The Electric Theatre Show'' (for the ITV network, 1976–1984)
*''
The Five Thirty Show
''The Five Thirty Show'' is a Scottish topical magazine show, which began broadcasting in Northern and Central Scotland on STV on Monday 28 January 2008. The programme was aired live from STV's Pacific Quay studios in Glasgow, with live link-u ...
'' (co-produced with STV Central, 2008–09)
*''Fix It''
*''Get Real''
*''The Grampian Garden'' (1963–1980)
*''Grampian Midweek'' (2000–03)
*''Grampian Weekend''
*''The Great Outdoors''
*''Grow for It''
*''Movie Date''
*''Naturally Scottish''
*''Northern Exposure'' (for
stv.tv
STV is a Scottish free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the STV Group. It is made up of the Central Scotland and Northern Scotland Channel 3 public broadcaster licences, formerly known as Scottish Television (n ...
, 2007–09)
*''Northern Exposure: Ask Kirstin'' (for
stv.tv
STV is a Scottish free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the STV Group. It is made up of the Central Scotland and Northern Scotland Channel 3 public broadcaster licences, formerly known as Scottish Television (n ...
, 2007–09)
*''Off the Wall'' (2004)
*''Out and About'' (late 1980s)
*''Pennywise'' (for the ITV network, 1985–88)
*''The People Show''
*''Pin Money'' (1987)
*''Put It in Writing''
*''Rich, Gifted and Scots'' (co-produced with
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
)
*''Rude Health''
*''The Scottish Tourism Supreme Awards''
*''The Scottish Soldier'' (1975)
*''Spend, Spend, Spend''
*''Sign a Story''
*''Strictly Scottish'' (1970s)
*''Summer at Six'' (1980s)
*''Under the Hammer'' (1997–99, co-produced with
Scottish Television
Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...
)
*''The Way It Was'' (1980s–1998)
*''Wednesday People''
Entertainment
*''Andy's Party'' (1977–81)
*''The Art Sutter Show'' (1989–98)
*''Aye Yours''
*''At Home with Kenneth McKellar''
*''The Big Break'' (1989)
*''Bothy Nichts''
*''Breakers'' (1990s)
*''Calum's Ceilidh''
*''The McCalmans'' (1986)
*''Cairngorm Cabaret''
*''Cairngorm Ski Night''
*''Ceilidh on the Caledonian Canal'' (1986)
*''Chartburn'' (1999)
*''A Highland Hogmanay''
*''Come Aboard''
*''Country and Irish''
*''
Club Cupid'' (co-produced with STV Central, 2006)
*''
Conquer the Castle'' (produced by STV Productions, 2008)
*''The Entertainers'' (1977–82)
*''First Light''
*''Grampian Disco Dancing Championship''
*''Guess Who's Coming To Dinner'' (1984–86)
*''The Highland Road'' (1984)
*''Ingle Neuk''
*''It's George'' (1970s-1980s)
*''
ITV Telethon
The ITV Telethons were three charity telethons organised and televised in the United Kingdom by the ITV network. They took place in 1988, 1990 and 1992. Each lasted for 27 hours and all were hosted by Michael Aspel. The final telethon in July 1 ...
'' (local and networked contributions, 1988, 1990, 1992)
*''The Jim Macleod Show'' (1970s)
*''McCue's Music''
*''Magic of the Musicals'' (1984)
*''Maggie!'' (1983)
*''Melody Inn'' (part networked)
*''The National Television Awards'' (co-produced with Indigo Television Productions for the ITV network, 1995–97)
*''
The Nightshift'' (regional version, 2010–11)
*''Northern Nights hosted by John Carmicheal and his Band''
*''The Paul Coia Show'' (1986-1988)
*''Patter Merchants'' (1990)
*''Pick of the North''
*''Pop Scotch''
*''The Royal Clansmen''
*''Runrig on the Rock''
*''Random Choice'' (1986)
*''Richard Clayderman'' (1985)
*''Scotch and Irish'' (1993–96)
*''Scotland the What''
*''
Shammy Dab
''Shammy Dab'' is a Scottish comedy panel game show that aired on Grampian Television from 8 January 1985 to 1 June 1989.
History
''Shammy Dab'' was created in 1975 by Bill Torrance as part of a series for Radio Forth in Edinburgh entitled ''F ...
'' (1980-89)
*''Silver City Folk''
*''Stritcly Scottish''
*''A Touch of Music''
*''Talking Loud''
*''Thomson at Teatime'' (early 1970s)
*''
Top Club
''Top Club'' is a Scottish regional television game show produced by Grampian Television (now ''STV North'') between 1971 and 1998.
History
Running for over 28 years, ''Top Club'' was an annual tournament of general knowledge quiz games involvin ...
'' (1971–98)
*''Top Team'' (1972–77)
*''Try For Ten'' (1965–67)
*''The Video Show'' (1985)
*''Video Jukebox'' (1987)
*''Welcome to the Ceilidh'' (1976–82)
*''Win a Word''
*''You'd Better Believe It!'' (1990)
Children's
*''Bill's Magic Box''
*''The Birthday Spot''
*''Furry Tales'' (2001)
*''
Get Fresh
''Get Fresh'' is a children's television programme that originally aired from 1986 to 1988 in the United Kingdom.
Format
A Saturday-morning kids' TV show, broadcast on the Children's ITV network, the show featured Gareth Jones (aka Gaz Top), ...
'' (contributions for the ITV network, 1986–88)
*''
Ghost Train
In ghostlore, a ghost train is a phantom vehicle in the form of a locomotive or train. The ghost train differs from other traditional forms of haunting in that rather than being a static location where ghosts are claimed to be present, "the appar ...
'' (contributions for the ITV network, 1989–92)
*''Isla's Island''
*''
James the Cat
''James the Cat'' is a 1984 British children's series created by Kate Canning and produced by Jan Clayton with Grampian Television. It chronicles the many events which take place at the Cornerhouse (number 104) between James and his new animal f ...
'' (for the ITV network) (1984–86)
*''Junior Try for Ten'' (1967–69)
*''High Time''
*''Pick a Number'' (1987–94, devised by presenter Phil Mckay)
*''
Romper Room
''Romper Room'' is an American children's television series that was franchised and syndicated from 1953 to 1994. The program targeted preschoolers (children five years of age or younger), and was created and produced by Bert Claster and his ...
''
*''Rumblie Jumblie''
*''Ron & Friends'' (1972–74)
*''Seamus''
*''Scene on Saturday'' (1976 – early 1980s)
*''Superbox'' (early 1980s)
*''Top Team''
*''Win a Word'' (1970)
*''Wize Up'' (1996–98)
*''Zoom!'' (early - mid-1970s)
Sport
*''The Back Page''
*''Grampian Sheepdog Trials'' (also broadcast on the ITV network and
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
, early 1980s – mid-1990s)
*''Pure Strength''
*''
The Scottish Golf Show
''The Scottish Golf Show'' is a Scottish television series aired on Scottish TV and Grampian TV (now both together as STV).
''The Scottish Golf Show'' was narrated by Iain Anderson and produced, directed & edited by Scott Brown. The series ...
'' (2005)
*''Sportscall''
*''Sportscope''
*''The Western Isles Challenge'' (co-produced with
S4C and
Trans World International
IMG, originally known as the International Management Group, is a global sports, events and talent management company headquartered in New York City. It has been owned by Endeavor since 2013. Trans World International (TWI) is an event and pro ...
)
Outside broadcast coverage of various sports including league football, cross country, lawn bowls, shinty, professional wrestling (for the ITV network's ''
World of Sport''), marathons, cycling, exhibition tennis, international amateur boxing, curling, triathlon and mountain bike racing.
Scots Gaelic
*''Ar Duthaich''
*''Am Fasach''
*''Blas'' (1994–98)
*''Beathainchean Neontach'' (Nature)
*''Beagan Gaidhlig'' (1971–74)
*''Bocsa‘s An Fidhle''
*''Ceol na Fidhle'' (Traditional music)
*''Coille is Cuan'' (Nature, 1995–96)
*''Comhla Rinn'' (Chat show)
*''Crann Tara'' (Current affairs/features, 1982–1990s)
*''Cuir Car'' (Children's)
*''Deanamaid Gairdeachar''
*''Duirn Chelteach''
*''Failte'' (Features)
*''Fionnan Feior'' (Documentaries)
*''Le Durach'' (Gaelic version of ''The Birthday Spot'')
*''Muir is Tir''
*''Nochd Gun Chadal'' (Contemporary music)
*''Seall'' (Documentaries)
*''Seudan a chauain'' (1995–97)
*''Sechd Laithean'' (Current affairs)
*''Sgeulachdan Na Cagatcile''
*''Spors'' (Sport)
*''Tacsil''
*''
Telefios
''Telefios'' was a Scottish Gaelic-language news programme, broadcast on both Grampian Television and Scottish Television from 4 January 1993 until 2000.
Its name is a ''portmanteau'' of the word ''fios'' meaning "knowledge" or "information", a ...
'' (Regional news, 1993–2000)
*''Telefios na Seachduinn'' (News review, 1993–2000)
An expanded archive of selected factual and entertainment output from Grampian Television continues to be uploaded to the
STV Player
STV Player is a video on demand service owned by STV Group and available free-of-charge across the UK, online, on mobile and on all major TV platforms, including Sky Glass, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Freeview Play and Virgin Me ...
's
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel.
References
External links
stv.tv
{{Television in Scotland
Companies based in Aberdeen
ITV franchisees
Television channels in Scotland
Mass media in Aberdeen
STV Group
Television channels and stations established in 1961
Television in Scotland
Television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
1961 establishments in Scotland