Television in Scotland

Television in Scotland mostly consists of UK-wide broadcasts, with variations at different times which are specific to Scotland. Scotland has no major television channel of its own and most people receive channels that are broadcast to the United Kingdom as a whole, including five terrestrial channels and various digital channels.

Viewers in Scotland receive four or five public terrestrial television stations. All of these are regional variants/opt-outs upon British television channels. In addition to the three Scottish stations, the country also receives two UK-wide channels, as well as a multitude of European digital and satellite stations: Channel 4, and Channel 5, whose broadcast coverage is more limited, and in very remote areas difficult or impossible to receive.

Scotland has its own BBC Scotland services, BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland, which commenced broadcasting on 14 March 1952 and 20 April 1964 respectively. 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 the UK and further afield. Sports coverage also differs, reflecting the fact that the country has its own football and rugby union leagues and national teams, separate from those of the other United Kingdom constituent nations and other sporting interests unique to Scotland, such as shinty or curling. 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 BBC1 HD and BBC HD channels, extending choice to Scottish viewers which was only previously an option for satellite and cable viewers.

Three ITV stations (Border, STV Central and STV North) also 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 by STV 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 and Scottish Gaelic language programming.

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