Sky Scottish
CountryUnited Kingdom
Broadcast areaScotland
Ownership
OwnerBritish Sky Broadcasting
SMG plc
History
Launched1 November 1996
Closed31 May 1998
Replaced bySky Sports

Sky Scottish was a short-lived satellite television channel operating on the analogue service broadcasts between 6.00pm and 8.00pm.

History

The service was a joint venture between British Sky Broadcasting and ITV franchise Scottish Television owners SMG plc, was aimed at Scots living outside Scotland who would not otherwise be able to receive Scottish-related programming, such as that also transmitted by Grampian or the BBC.[1]

The station's main programmes included an extra edition of Scottish Television's regional news programme Scotland Today and episodes of Take the High Road from 1994. Celtic F.C.'s 1997 pre-season friendlies were shown on the channel. Scotsport was also shown on the channel as well as spin-off show Extra Time, and there was also The Football Show presented by Jim Delahunt and Peter McGuire.

Despite BSkyB and SMG entering into a seven-year contract to run the service,[2] it was closed down after 18 months. Its closure was explained as the channel having failed to meet its financial targets.[3] Reports suggested that only The Ibrox Club Hour and The Celtic Park Hour, programmes relating to Rangers and Celtic football clubs, had attracted more than 10,000 viewers.[4]

Speaking about its demise, the managing director of SMG at the time was Donald Emslie, described the service as having "been a valuable learning experience" for his company.[5] SMG's finance director, Gary Hughes, stated that the service had shown "it is very difficult to access a Scottish audience outside Scotland",[1] but also that Scottish audiences wanted more home-grown programmes.

References

  1. 1 2 Laing, Allan (8 April 1998). "Scottish satellite channel to close". The Herald. Scottish Media Newspapers Ltd.
  2. ↑ Thompson, Tanya (3 April 1998). "Future of Sky Scottish TV in Balance". The Scotsman. The Scotsman Publications Ltd. p. 4.
  3. ↑ "Scots Sky Shuts". The Times. Times Newspapers Limited. 8 April 1998.
  4. ↑ "Plug Pulled on Sky Scottish: Bosses pull the plug on the Sky Scottish satellite TV service". Daily Record. Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd. 8 April 1998. p. 29. Only the Ibrox and Celtic Park fanzine programmes managed to reach more than 10,000 viewers.
  5. ↑ "Plug Pulled on Sky Scottish: Bosses pull the plug on the Sky Scottish satellite TV service". Daily Record. Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd. 8 April 1998. p. 29.
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