Scottish pres discussion Thread

I remember how it was - isn't that the same as they've reintroduced?

I do of course realise that a franchise isn't the money maker it was, but I think that rather illustrates my point.

The normalisation of digital channels is fast creeping towards its tipping point - DSO - where everyone will have access to a minimum of half a dozen similar channels.

What will make ITV stand out there if its not being at the top of the list?



In my opinion, the fact that they get bigger ratings than any other commercial channel is down to the same historic legacy that left them a bunch of studios to sell off.

Pre or post DSO, the third channel is always going to get more eyes landing on it.

Unless the format of STV News has changed while I was on holiday, the main programme is presented by John for the whole of the region.... and about 10 past six there's a West opt with Louise in Glasgow from Blackhill and Darvel and an East opt from one of the Edinburgh reporters from Craigkelly.

Whichever one you see depends on where you live, of course.

Quite different from the format in the mid 80s. That was just about having two newsreaders in different studios. The same output was seen everywhere.

STV didn't have the technical facilities to do sub opts until the late 90s - master control at Cowcaddens could only handle one stream. Indeed STV often used to say the idea of sub opts might not work because so many people in Edinburgh and Lothian watch the Blackhill signal, or at least used to!

I think it was round about 84 when STV started splitting stories from east and west. John Toye would anchor and usually Caroline Dempster would read the news from the west and Nick Radcliffe would cover the east.

It was always a story from the west followed by a story from the east and so on .I have a Scot Today from December 83 and it starts off with Bryce Curdy sitting in the Scotland Today studio infront of a replica of the announcers set the blue curtain and STV logo (which hung on a piece of fishing gut !).John Toye and the team could be seen in the background as Bryce did a run down of the evening highlights.The news was read by Haig Gordon in Glasgow.John Toye sat at a desk Haig sat at a diffrent desk and i'm sure Jim White was sitting at another desk they were all sitting in the background as Bryce did continuity.

I have another S Today on tape after John Toye left and Sheena Macdonald was presenting with Haig Gordon and the weather was presented by Roz Taylor .However the programme started with Mike Gower reading the news from the west and David Glencorse reading from the east after the news it went to Sheena and Haig for the rest of the programme .At the end Mike Gower read the news headlines from Glasgow.

Of course, yes, now I think of it I remember seeing both the "West" and "East".

Edinburgh always looked awfully tatty.

Remember that diagonal brown stripy set?

My brother had that wallpaper in his bedroom, except it was hung vertically instead of STVs 45% angle.

True story.

Gavin I quite liked that set and those safari suits .

The "West" part of the news (which I sometimes read) came from the same studio as the rest of the programme, while the "East" part came from a broom cupboard at the Gateway. It was usually impossible to colour match these shots and the consequence was that "East" portions looked very different.

For a brief spell while the continuity studio and presentation gallery were being rebuilt, we did the lunchtime news from the Gateway. This, incidentally, involved having two announcers on the day shift - one in Cowcaddens to do out-of-vision links from a temporary studio set up in what was normally the "green room" just off Studio C, and one in Edinburgh to read the news.

The camera at the Gateway was remotely controlled from CTA in Glasgow via a telephone line. This was - to say the least - an unreliable way of working.

One lunchtime, while I was reading the bulletin, the camera began a 360-degree pan around the studio and nothing would stop it!!!

It's always been generally assumed that the Black Hill output fed Darvel and Craigkelly. Well, that's mostly true. But in the late 80s there were a few mornings when major engineering work meant Black Hill was off the air for the whole morning. When that happened, STV's output was fed directly by special links to Darvel and Craigkelly.

I wish you would write that book about you time at stv

another wonderful insight there

I remember seeing the small East studio (room) at Gateway. John Frame took me through the complex (this was when High Road was made there), and explained a lot about how things worked.

I remember the gallery there had the "Bertie Basset" clock on display on one of the monitors, and John was telling me how many thousands of pounds it had cost. Presumably this was coming down the line from Glasgow?

Shocked to read the news about Steve Hamilton's passing. He was one of STV's stalwarts for many a year. RIP Steve.

Lewis c - your post above is incredibly accurate and I can now recall exactly the same sequence of the continuity anno being in the news studio. What a great memory you have.

IIRC, it was also just about that time that Shereen joined STV as a junior reporter. Whilst Haig and Sheena shared the sofa!!

And our Mr. Currie would often do the late news as well as presenting the Western stories, IIRC.

Indeed it was. The original clocks were mechanical. The classic clock with the STVSTVSTVSTVSTV background was a mechanical clock with an industrial vidicon camera, a round tube fluorescent lamp and a colouriser. Cost not a lot. The electronic "Bertie Bassett" clock was a standard design that could be customised. Nowadays you can reproduce it perfectly with just a PC!!!

some one has postage this in the stv forums,
"Apparently The Bill is struggling for ratings in its new slot while STV is "delighted" with the viewing figures for its Thursday night offerings. Maybe they have got the right idea after all"

Hey 623, Gary here (theladfaecrieff) maybe John could tell us next Monday in the blog?