STV axes 'The Bill' from its schedules

[Perdita]

The Bill's new new-look post-watershed episodes will not be shown in Scotland, DS can confirm.

STV will discontinue the long-running police drama from its schedules on July 23 as part of its set plan to pull out of prime network programming.

It will be replaced by a celebrity documentary show Made In Scotland, a local aerial exploration of the country Scotland Revealed and a topical history programme called The Scots Who Fought Franco.

The move comes only weeks before The Bill is relaunched in a 9pm slot to allow "grittier and more action-packed" television. Last week, The Bill began broadcasting in high definition.

STV chief executive Rob Woodward said of the move: "We are aiming to provide a diverse schedule of Scottish programming and acquired series to complement the large amount of quality network material in our schedule and to appeal to a broad range of audiences."

"We will be airing a strong mix of high quality Scottish productions in these slots and are confident that we are offering viewers in Scotland a very strong alternative."

"We're taking greater control of our schedule and are absolutely committed to maintaining a healthy creative industry in Scotland by investing in new, high quality Scottish productions and creating a diverse schedule for viewers."

An ITV spokesperson this morning told DS: "STV has taken the decision to opt-out of broadcasting The Bill. Unfortunately this means that fans in Scotland will no longer be able to watch the BAFTA award-winning drama, which relaunches in a new prime time slot this summer."

In March, the Scottish network announced the removal of ITV's flagship drama Lewis from its lineup.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/broadcasting/a163708/stv-axes-the-bill-from-its-schedules.html

[Perdita]

Scottish fans of The Bill who are disappointed with STV's decision to drop the long-running cop show from its schedules will be able to continue watching it on digital satellite or online.

Those viewers with digital satellite receivers, including Sky digiboxes, will be able to tune to a different ITV region. Each regional variant of ITV broadcasts free-to-air on digital satellite, with options including ITV1 London at 10.758GHz with vertical polarisation and ITV1 Border at 10.832GHz with horizontal polarisation.

Some viewers with a standard Sky box will be able to access ITV1 London on channel 993. IF this is not available, the following procedure may help.

Setting up the access to the different variants of ITV1 will vary from box to box, but if you have a standard Sky digibox, the following procedure will allow you to tune in:

Press Services
Press 4 for System Setup
Press 4 for Add Channels
Type in the frequency using the numerical keypad - for ITV1 London, press 10758
Press the down arrow and ensure "V" is selected for polarisation
Press the down arrow and then left or right until Symbol Rate (Mbaud) is 22.0
Press the down arrow and then left or right until FEC is 5/6
Push down to select Find Channels and push Select
With your desired ITV1 region highlighted, press the yellow button
When a tick mark appears next to it, press select
Press select again
You have now stored the region in your "other channels" menu. To tune to it:
Press Services
Press 7 for Other Channels
Scroll to the ITV1 region using the arrow keys and press select
Viewers will also be able to catch-up with The Bill on ITV's website, and some with Virgin Media digital cable will be able to watch ITV1 London on channel 853.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitaltv/a163732/how-to-watch-the-bill-in-scotland.html

[alan45]

This is a very shortsighted decision by STV especially as I am going on Holiday to Scotland:eek: :lol: :lol:

[Chloe O'brien]

Right who wants to foster me for two nights a week. I'm furious about stv cancelling the bill. when there is so much more tripe that they could axe.

[Perdita]

I will foster you, and it will be just once a week soon :lol:

[Chloe O'brien]

I will foster you, and it will be just once a week soon :lol:

Oh aye so it will. I'll be no bother Perdy I'm fully house trained and I'll even bring my own irn bru.

[Perdita]

It is a deal, although I can stand you a couple of irn brus, they will get all shook up in the travelling :D

[Abigail]

Kath, I thought you had Virgin. Maybe you could retune as per Perdy's second post :hmm:

[Chloe O'brien]

Kath, I thought you had Virgin. Maybe you could retune as per Perdy's second post :hmm:

Knowing my luck with technology I fook the whole lot up :lol: I'll just watch it on itv.com though Marely has one of those dodgy euroboxes in her room with over 200 channels I could watch it on that.

[Abigail]

The Bill isn't on the ITV catch up player.

[Chloe O'brien]

The Bill isn't on the ITV catch up player.

You really know how to upset me don't you. :crying: well ITV better get it on.

[Abigail]

The Bill isn't on the ITV catch up player.

You really know how to upset me don't you. :crying: well ITV better get it on.

ITV have never had it on due to copyright or something like that.

You could write to STV using lots of aliases, post them from different post boxes and pray that they listen to all of you complainants and reinstate The Bill.

[Perdita]

FANS of The Bill in Scotland were celebrating last night after ITV chiefs vowed to screen it north of the border.
Scottish channel STV had sparked fury by announcing it would not be showing the new series.

Angry viewers flooded internet forums with complaints. One said: "Once again we are being punished for living in Scotland."

Another wrote: "This has happened so many times before - but surely never with such a popular programme."

But ITV3 will now be showing the cop drama which relaunches this Thursday in the rest of the UK at 9pm - its first post-watershed slot.

Scottish fans with digital or Freeview will be able to catch it at 11pm on ITV3.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/2545691/The-Bill-joy-for-Scottish-fans.html

[Abigail]

Does that mean it will be repeated in England and Wales on ITV3?

[Perdita]

Does that mean it will be repeated in England and Wales on ITV3?

Looks like it.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/soaps/a166483/solution-announced-for-scottish-bill-fans.html

The Bill is to be repeated on ITV3 each week, providing Scottish viewers with an opportunity to keep watching the programme, it has been announced.

Fans in Scotland feared that they would miss out on new episodes after STV confirmed that it had decided to drop the long-running police drama earlier this month.

The broadcaster's decision, in effect from this week, coincides with The Bill's revamp as a post-watershed 9pm show, featuring "grittier" plots and a shift to high definition filming.

ITV has now announced that repeats of The Bill are to have a regular Monday 11pm slot on ITV3 from next month. In the meantime, the first two new-look episodes, which premiere on ITV1 this week, will be broadcast again on Wednesday, July 29 between 11pm and 1am on the digital channel.

A spokesman told The Guardian: "STV has taken the decision to opt out of broadcasting The Bill. However, we're pleased that fans in Scotland will still be able to watch the Bafta award-winning drama as we will be repeating it every week on ITV3."

STV's move comes as part of its long-term plan to offer a "more relevant" service to Scottish viewers by focusing on local programming.

[Abigail]

Oh goody, it's about time the repeats were brought back. Some shows on ITV2 are repeated two or three times a week yet they couldn't find space for two hours of quality drama a week.