Perdita
28-12-2009, 13:26
STV chief executive Rob Woodward has publicly admitted that it was a "major mistake" to axe popular ITV dramas in favour of more domestic programming.
The station had recently stopped airing networked dramas, including ratings-winner Doc Martin and long-running police drama The Bill, in a drastic cost-cutting operation. However, following a 12% drop in all-day audience share in the last year and a reported profit loss of 82%, STV have been forced to strategically backtrack.
According to Herald Scotland, Woodward said: "We hope our audience will be pleasantly surprised when we unveil our schedule in the New Year. You can expect to see some more of ITV’s drama back on the screens."
The Scottish licence-holder, producer of crime drama Taggart, has become more independent from ITV. In a pledge to broadcast more home-produced programming, STV recently underlined its wishes to become independent from the ITV network, like Irish broadcaster TV3.
He added: "When we schedule high quality, home-produced content it attracts a strong audience. What doesn’t work is relying on old repeats or film stock."
However, out of 49 opt-outs, STV only outperformed the rest of ITV on just five occasions. The Greatest Scot, broadcast over a week in November, could only muster 13% of the viewing audience. This was much lower than the 30% average of event drama Collision, which launched with 7.5 million viewers.
The decision to stop airing slot-winning drama also caused much controversy, leading to an ongoing financial dispute with ITV over programming debt. In the 2009 autumn season, STV only aired one new ITV drama, Murderland, which was set in Scotland and starred Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane. At the time, Woodward explained that his decision created "more space in the schedule”.
In September, the Scottish broadcaster announced its plans to scrap the ITV Evening News from its schedule, replacing it with a programme with a "Scottish perspective". It is unclear whether this move is likely to go forward in light of STV's latest rethink.
The station had recently stopped airing networked dramas, including ratings-winner Doc Martin and long-running police drama The Bill, in a drastic cost-cutting operation. However, following a 12% drop in all-day audience share in the last year and a reported profit loss of 82%, STV have been forced to strategically backtrack.
According to Herald Scotland, Woodward said: "We hope our audience will be pleasantly surprised when we unveil our schedule in the New Year. You can expect to see some more of ITV’s drama back on the screens."
The Scottish licence-holder, producer of crime drama Taggart, has become more independent from ITV. In a pledge to broadcast more home-produced programming, STV recently underlined its wishes to become independent from the ITV network, like Irish broadcaster TV3.
He added: "When we schedule high quality, home-produced content it attracts a strong audience. What doesn’t work is relying on old repeats or film stock."
However, out of 49 opt-outs, STV only outperformed the rest of ITV on just five occasions. The Greatest Scot, broadcast over a week in November, could only muster 13% of the viewing audience. This was much lower than the 30% average of event drama Collision, which launched with 7.5 million viewers.
The decision to stop airing slot-winning drama also caused much controversy, leading to an ongoing financial dispute with ITV over programming debt. In the 2009 autumn season, STV only aired one new ITV drama, Murderland, which was set in Scotland and starred Scottish actor Robbie Coltrane. At the time, Woodward explained that his decision created "more space in the schedule”.
In September, the Scottish broadcaster announced its plans to scrap the ITV Evening News from its schedule, replacing it with a programme with a "Scottish perspective". It is unclear whether this move is likely to go forward in light of STV's latest rethink.