STV won’t make a drama out of ‘censorship’ allegations
STV has defended its decision not to screen a raft of big budget ITV1 productions north of the border after claiming that their audience share is holding up regardless.
Bad blood between the two broadcasters is alleged to have seen STV refuse to screen a succession of big budget shows, such as costume drama Downton Abbey.
Instead the channel has been reliant upon a series of cheap compilation shows such as The Football Years and old stalwart Taggart to fill airtime.
The row centres on a £38m legal claim made against STV by ITV over unpaid network programme commissions after it refused to screen shows such as The Bill and Wuthering Heights.
STV subsequently retaliated by contesting £35m in unpaid advertising revenue over the past six years and claimed that ITV’s video on demand sales were detrimental to the STV brand.
Bobby Hain, STV’s director of broadcast services, stressed that they were now producing more Scottish material than the BBC and pointed out that his station was the only outside London to screen a live magazine show, The Hour.