SMG plc
Scottish Media Group plc is a
Scottish media company. Originally formed as
Scottish Television plc, it changed to its current name in 1996 when it acquired Caledonian Publishing, owners of Glasgow-based newspapers
The Herald and
Evening Times. It then went on to acquire its fellow Scottish-based
ITV license holder
Grampian Television in 1997. The company finally renamed itself as "SMG plc" in 2000.
ITV plc now holds a 16.9% stake in the business.
Although it owns these two ITV licences, it has had a turbulent relationship with
ITV plc and both
Carlton and
Granada, the companies that merged to create it. ITV plc owns the ITV franchises in England, Wales and the Scottish Borders and operates, or has operated, several operations using the ITV name, such as
ITV Digital and the
ITV Sports Channel. SMG threatened to take legal action over the use of the name 'ITV' because it is the name of the Independent Television network, which Scottish and Grampian are both part of.
SMG also owns production companies
SMG Productions and
Ginger Productions (purchased in 2000 as part of Ginger Media Group).
SMG also had interests in two Scottish channels. Firstly
Sky Scottish was a joint venture with
BSkyB, which closed due to a lack of viewers. Secondly, SMG used gifted space on Digital Terrestrial Television to launch
S2. This was closed as part of a deal with Carlton and Granada, which saw it replaced with
ITV2. [
1]
SMG formerly owned 25% of ITV's breakfast television franchise
GMTV. However, following the merger of Carlton and Granada to form ITV plc, that company gained a controlling interest in GMTV, so SMG sold its share to ITV plc in 2004 as it did not 'want to have a minority interest in someone else's media business'. [
2]
On 2 March
2006, it was announced by SMG plc that Scottish Television will revert to using its former brand name of "
", which it previously used from the start of colour broadcasting in 1969 until 30 August 1985, and which the station is still informally known as in parts of Scotland. At the same time, Grampian Television would also become known as stv, so one identity will serve the two SMG Licences. The name change took place on 30 May 2006.
SMG owns
Virgin Radio, a
British commercial music radio station based in
London.
Virgin Radio was launched as 'Virgin 1215' nationally on 1215 kHz (although some regional transmitters used other frequencies) at 12.15pm on
30 April 1993 by
Richard Branson as part of his
Virgin brand. It has since been sold to Ginger Media (which was subsequently bought by SMG plc) but has kept the
Virgin name.
SMG plays a major part in British advertising, owning outdoor billboard advertiser Primesight, and cinema advertiser
Pearl & Dean, whose rival
Carlton Screen Advertising is owned by
ITV plc.
Primesight and Pearl & Dean were also purchased in 2000 as part of Ginger Media Group.
Lucid is a new breed of production company. SMG now have an advert production company, working with companies such as Careers Scotland, S1 Jobs, Velux and many more.
peopleschampion.com
When it comes to money choices, most of us would welcome the right advice. A new SMG website, peopleschampion.com has been setup to do just that. It is offering consumers extensive advice on everything from getting the right energy supplier to the best mortgage deals.
peopleschampion.com is about finding consumers the best deal and helping you save money within four clicks of the mouse, so when it goes live in the next few weeks, users will be able to compare more than 8,500 mortgages, the best deals on pet and medical insurance, and search for bargain flights.
It was the brainchild of the man who founded Intelligent Finance.
stv.tv
The URL
stv.tv is the address of the main website of stv. The website currently offers News, Sport, Weather, Competitions, Bingo, Romance, and stv programme information, and TV listings.
The SMG studios in Glasgow were located on Renfield Street in
Cowcaddens,
Glasgow since Scottish Television's launch in 1957, but moved to new studios in
Pacific Quay in July 2006, alongside
BBC Scotland and the
Glasgow Science Centre. SMG's Aberdeen studios are based at a new purpose-built site in the city's Tullos area.
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smg.plc.uk*
smg.tv
