STV Group said on Monday the UK’s TV regulator Ofcom has approved STV ‘s controversial plans to axe its north of Scotland news programme.
STV Group’s share price has fallen about 70% over the past five years to around £1 to slash the firm’s stock market value to roughly £48 million.
In a stock exchange statement, STV Group said: “STV welcomes Ofcom’s approval of its application to amend its Public Service Media (PSM) Channel 3 licences around news content, in particular flagship programme, STV News at 6.
“As a result of these changes to news commitments, the first in twenty years, the broadcaster will continue serving its audiences with high-quality regional news, gathered and produced across Scotland, in a way that is sustainable for the business.
“At its heart, the approval extends the scope for STV to share content across the north and central regions, alongside the production of bespoke regional sections, creating new and updated versions of STV News at 6.
“STV’s application was submitted in response to significant, long-term changes in the way audiences consume news, with linear audiences declining alongside a growth in engagement with online and social content throughout the day.
“These shifts in audience behaviour are impacting all broadcasters, and the changes to STV’s Channel 3 licences reflect the acute challenges presented in Ofcom’s research and call for action in the sector in its report, Transmission Critical: The future of Public Service Media.”
STV said it now plans to implement changes to its news programming in the summer.
STV said it will create two versions of STV News at 6.
“STV News at 6 programmes will include a shared section broadcast by both licences (a maximum of 70% of programmes’ duration) featuring stories of interest across Scotland with contributions from reporters around the country, plus separate sections with content specific to each of the north and central areas (a minimum of 30% of the programmes),” said the company.
“Newsgathering resources will remain on the ground at all existing sites in Inverness, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee as well as Holyrood and Westminster.
“Presentation of STV News at 6 will be from its Glasgow studio, with the Aberdeen studio also regularly in use.
“The presenting team will include senior journalists from both the north and central regions.
“A wide range of local, regional and national stories will be available across multiple platforms throughout the day via STV’s rapidly expanding digital news operation.
“This change enables STV News at 6 to retain the distinct regional character of both licences, with delivery of high-quality, relevant news across both its linear and digital services, on a sustainable basis and reflecting the ways people now consume news.
“Ofcom has also approved the sharing of shorter bulletins at other times of the day and the removal of the four sub-regional opts.
“Through these changes, STV will rebalance its news resources to ensure that whilst 6pm remains a landmark moment in the schedule every weekday, with dedicated regional sections delivering bespoke content to viewers in the north and central regions, it is also able to expand its digital news service.”
STV Group CEO Rufus Radcliffe said: “We’re incredibly proud of STV News at 6, which remains Scotland’s most watched news programme, but like all Public Service Media companies, we must respond to the significant shift in audience behaviour.
“The changes Ofcom has approved to our licences will enable us to continue serving viewers with the high-quality, trusted national and regional news they expect from us. Crucially, this will be sustainable for our business and will be accessible on air and across all the digital platforms viewers now expect.
“As a commercial Public Service Broadcaster, that receives no public funding, we are focused on the future and what we do best – trusted news and high-quality content that continues to resonate with audiences across all of Scotland.”
Ofcom said: “In December 2025, we proposed to approve STV’s revised request and opened a consultation to gather views from interested or affected parties. We have moved swiftly to review the large number of responses we’ve received.
“In reaching our decision, we recognise that public service broadcasters like STV face existential challenges. Viewers and listeners increasingly consume content online, there is intense competition for audiences from streamers and other platforms, and falling advertising revenues means business models are under pressure.
“Nonetheless, it is crucial that people continue to be well served with quality regional news as their habits change. In a difficult and ever-changing environment, it must be made more sustainable so that it can be preserved.
“Unlike STV’s original request for all regional news to be shared between the two regions at any time, its revised proposal would permit no more than 70% of content (in peak) to be shared. This will ensure that a distinct regional character will be retained in each area.
“Alongside this, STV will maintain newsgathering resources in all of its news bases and it will be an enforceable licence condition that its shared output is of particular interest to viewers in both areas. More broadly, STV is also rebalancing its news offering to increasingly reach audiences on digital platforms.
“Having considered all responses to our consultation and the wider context, we have decided to accept STV’s revised request to amend its regional licences.
“We will monitor STV’s compliance with its licence conditions to hold them to account on behalf of the public.”