STV Studios

STV Studios (previously STV Productions, SMG Productions, and originally known as Scottish Television Enterprises) is the television production arm of the STV Group plc. Headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland, and with an office in London, England, the company's output includes drama, factual and entertainment programming for broadcast on television stations worldwide. A key programming supplier to the television industry in the United Kingdom, STV Studios' output is aired on all UK terrestrial networks as well as major satellite and cable stations.

STV Studios
Typesubsidiary
IndustryMedia
Founded31 August 1957
(as Scottish Television Productions)
HeadquartersGlasgow, Scotland, UK (headquarters);
London, UK
Key people
David Mortimer
(Managing Director);
Paul Sheehan
(Chief Operating Officer)
ProductsTelevision
OwnerSTV Group plc
Websitewww.stvstudios.com

Company details

The company was rebranded as "STV Productions" on 1 October 2008, to coincide with its parent company renaming from SMG plc to STV Group plc on the same day.

On 20 August 2020, the company was renamed once again, to "STV Studios".[1]

STV Studios has commissions spanning BBC One and Two, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, BBC Scotland, Discovery, VH1/MTV and Sky One.

Factual productions include 20 series of Antiques Road Trip and nine series of sister programme, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip for BBC, with a further 140 episodes in production and due to air over the next two years; Britain's Polar Bear Cub for Channel 4, two series of Prison: First & Last 24 Hours for Sky One, Ross Kemp Behind Bars – Inside Barlinnie for ITV and Fire in the Night, an award-winning feature documentary to mark the 25th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster. The team most recently produced a series about the royal family's relationship with the tabloid media, The Palace and the Press, for Channel 5. STV Studios' Factual department has a long track record in award-winning documentary production for national and regional transmission with past output including After Lockerbie, The Charge of the Light Brigade, Magic at War and Justice for My Daughter.

In drama, critically acclaimed thriller The Victim for BBC One was watched by more than 7.2m and saw leading actress, Kelly Macdonald, win a Scottish BAFTA in 2019. TV film Elizabeth is Missing, featuring two time Academy Award winner Glenda Jackson, was broadcast on BBC One. The drama achieved a 5.5m consolidated audience, received 5 star reviews and Glenda Jackson won the leading actress BAFTA in July 2020, and an International Emmy for Best Actress in November 2020.

STV Studios are the makers of Taggart, which was the longest running crime drama on British television, broadcast on the ITV network and sold overseas for transmission in over 40 territories. Other successful drama productions include television adaptions of Ian Rankin's Rebus, The Poison Tree and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.

In entertainment, STV Studios has produced six series of Catchphrase and four of Celebrity Catchphrase for ITV; and Sex Tape, a four-part relationship series for Channel 4. STV Studios produced the comedy panel game show, Fake Reaction which began airing on ITV2 in January 2013. STV Studios were also the producers of the cult series, Club Reps for ITV.

The expansion in factual entertainment production was further enhanced by the acquisition of the Ginger Media Group, including subsidiary company Ginger Productions, which has produced such programming as Don't Drop the Coffin for ITV and Celebrity Detox for Channel 5. Ginger Productions also produced Jack Osbourne: Adrenaline Junkie for ITV2 and the one-off special, Paul Zenon's Revenge Squad. Prior to ownership by STV, Ginger Productions' most notable shows were Don't Forget Your Toothbrush and TFI Friday, both made for Channel 4 and presented and produced by Chris Evans.

The company no longer makes children's programming but was one of the biggest producers of children's programming in the UK, covering factual series such as How 2 and Prove It!, comedy drama Uncle Dad, arts series Cre-8 as well as Neil Buchanan's Art Attack. A weekend continuity strand featuring archive and imported children's output, wknd@stv was also produced on a weekly basis for STV.

In 2008, STV Group plc announced an investment of almost £1 million into the production company's development division in an attempt to create new international formats, co-productions and advertiser-funded output for a number of broadcasters.[2]

In 2019, STV acquired a majority stake in award-winning unscripted producer Primal Media, creator of Release the Hounds for ITV2, Carnage for Sky One, Bigheads for ITV, Home Free and It Pays to Behave for Channel 4 and Jerk for BBC Three.[3] Primal was commissioned in July 2020 to produce Landmark, an entertainment series for Sky Arts. The business recently announced the acquisition of a minority stake in high-end drama producer, Two Cities, makers of Patrick Melrose (Sky). In September 2020, STV Studios announced that entertainment producer, Barefaced TV, was joining the business as a label.

Logos
  • SMG Productions logo used from 2006 to 2008
  • SMG Productions logo used from 2014 to 2020
  • STV Studios logo used from August 2020

References
  1. "STV Productions rebrands to STV Studios" (Press release). STV Studios. 20 August 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  2. "STV to pump £1m into production division". BroadcastNow. 27 November 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2008.
  3. Glenday, John (26 June 2019). "STV acquires a majority stake in Primal Media to drive 'ambitious unscripted projects'". The Drum. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
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