![\"Terry](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/magazine.dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp_mag14\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Terry-new-blue.png?resize=794%2C554&ssl=1\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\nTERRY MURDEN<\/strong> says the big TV deal cannot leave STV on the sidelines, while the UK\u2019s big banks will have something to say about the building society\u2019s plans <\/h4>\n
\nSky\u2019s \u00a31.6 billion acquisition of ITV\u2019s terrestrial channels and streaming service ITVX is the biggest restructuring of UK television since the launch of the satellite broadcaster at the end of the 1980s. While not being directly affected by the deal, it also has implications for commercial television in Scotland.<\/p>\n
For years there has been talk that STV, which launched as Scottish Television in August 1957, will eventually get mopped up in the consolidation of ITV more than two decades ago which saw the other franchises, such as Grampian, Granada and Tyne Tees, become part of a single nationwide broadcaster. <\/p>\n
This latest deal has inevitably led to more speculation around STV remaining the sole survivor of that transformation by the time it marks its 70th anniversary next year. <\/p>\n
The odds on it falling to a predator have been increasing since March when it announced a \u00a35.9 million loss on the back of falling advertising revenue and cancelled its final dividend. It had already announced an \u00a38m savings plan and has been given permission to reduce its operations in northeast Scotland to reflect the changing nature of news programming.<\/p>\n
Shares in the company have never been particularly volatile, so a fall of about 10% to around 100p around the time of the results caught investors\u2019 attention. Still trading at a similar price, the company is valued at less than \u00a350 million, mere small change for a media giant or a private equity firm that might see more value in breaking it up.<\/p>\n
STV Studios, which these days makes programmes for a range of broadcasters, including the BBC and the big streaming channels, is the money-making side of the business. ITV, which retain its own studios business in the Sky deal, might see some merit in bringing the two together. The two companies, after all, are long-standing partners in broadcasting and advertising.<\/p>\n
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club notes an important safeguard for home-produced content. \u201cThe provision that programming acquired by Sky won\u2019t count towards ITV\u2019s independent production quotas should offer some reassurance that the flow of original commissions to UK producers won\u2019t simply be displaced,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n
\u201cIn the agreement announcement, Sky states that the deal will help to ensure continued opportunities for independent producers across the UK. So for STV Studios and its content producers that\u2019s an important safeguard and will be reassuring.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for advertising, if the larger new entity keeps more eyes on screen for longer, Streeter says it could make TV advertising more attractive at a time when broadcasters are battling for marketing budgets against the streaming giants. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be supportive for STV\u2019s commercial business,\u201d she says. Furthermore, STV\u2019s national advertising sales are handled by ITV so it\u2019s likely to have to renegotiate a deal with Sky\/ITV for this to be ongoing, but the added scale of the operation would be advantageous to STV.<\/p>\n
Nationwide raises its Scottish standard<\/strong><\/p>\nDame Debbie Crosbie\u2019s \u00a32.9 billion acquisition of Virgin Money saw her buying back her former employer \u2013 the erstwhile Clydesdale Bank \u2013 where she had been chief operating officer before spending three years at TSB and then taking the helm at Nationwide, Britain\u2019s biggest building society.<\/p>\n
In its annual results in May it said it was on track to become the largest branch network in Scotland, as the banks continue to scale back their presence.<\/p>\n
It is no surprise that Crosbie is basing its operations in Glasgow\u2019s Bothwell Street offices of Virgin Money where its former chief executive David Duffy based the country\u2019s biggest challenger bank. In 2019 it leased several floors in the building to house a workforce of around 3,500. So to that degree, Nationwide\u2019s current plans follow that template.<\/p>\n
More noteworthy is the increasing market share the society is gaining in Scotland. It already accounts for one in five Scottish current accounts and first-time buyer mortgages and a 20% share of the personal savings market. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s now chasing the business banking market in which there is clearly more to be done. Business lending took a slight dip in the last financial year, falling to \u00a314.9bn from \u00a315.1bn, In Scotland it will come up against the big two \u2013 RBS and Bank of Scotland \u2013 who will not relinquish their crown willingly.<\/p>\n
Terry Murden was Scotland Editor and Business Editor at The Sunday Times, Business Editor at The Scotsman, and Business and City Editor at Scotland on Sunday. He is now Editor of Daily Business<\/em><\/p>\n>Latest Daily Business news<\/p>\n
\nLike this:<\/h3>\n
Dame Debbie Crosbie\u2019s \u00a32.9 billion acquisition of Virgin Money saw her buying back her former employer \u2013 the erstwhile Clydesdale Bank \u2013 where she had been chief operating officer before spending three years at TSB and then taking the helm at Nationwide, Britain\u2019s biggest building society.<\/p>\n
In its annual results in May it said it was on track to become the largest branch network in Scotland, as the banks continue to scale back their presence.<\/p>\n
It is no surprise that Crosbie is basing its operations in Glasgow\u2019s Bothwell Street offices of Virgin Money where its former chief executive David Duffy based the country\u2019s biggest challenger bank. In 2019 it leased several floors in the building to house a workforce of around 3,500. So to that degree, Nationwide\u2019s current plans follow that template.<\/p>\n
More noteworthy is the increasing market share the society is gaining in Scotland. It already accounts for one in five Scottish current accounts and first-time buyer mortgages and a 20% share of the personal savings market. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s now chasing the business banking market in which there is clearly more to be done. Business lending took a slight dip in the last financial year, falling to \u00a314.9bn from \u00a315.1bn, In Scotland it will come up against the big two \u2013 RBS and Bank of Scotland \u2013 who will not relinquish their crown willingly.<\/p>\n
Terry Murden was Scotland Editor and Business Editor at The Sunday Times, Business Editor at The Scotsman, and Business and City Editor at Scotland on Sunday. He is now Editor of Daily Business<\/em><\/p>\n >Latest Daily Business news<\/p>\nLike this:<\/h3>\n