Further evidence has emerged of the burgeoning success of STV’s productions division.
Restoring the Glasgow firm’s reputation as a programme maker was a key aim of Simon Pitts when he took over as chief executive in 2018. And as he prepares to leave the broadcaster to become boss of Global, owner of radio stations Capital, Heart, Classic FM, Smooth and Radio X early next year, Mr Pitts can point to a considerable body of evidence suggesting he has achieved that goal.
STV announced this week that its Studios division has secured four new commissions for Apple TV+, including a second series of international thriller Criminal Record, starring Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo, with partner Tod Productions.
READ MORE: New job revealed for outgoing STV boss Simon Pitts
The company and partners including Hello Mary and Hella Halo have also been recommissioned by the BBC for further runs of Bridge of Lies and Celebrity Bridge of Lies, as well as commissions from Channel 4 for new factual entertainment format The Game of Wool, and from More4 for a second series of The Royals: A History of Scandals.
The wins come shortly after STV Studios announced five commissions, including shows for ITV, BBC2, iPlayer, Channel 4, and E4, and follow an upbeat report on the division’s progress when the company updated the city on trading in the current year in June.
The update, which included an encouraging assessment on the advertising outlook ahead of Euro 2024, showed that STV Studios had secured future revenues of £86m at the end of May, with new commissioning wins of around £11m and programme deliveries of about £12m since its previous recorded order book of £87m in March. The company said STV Studios remains on track to reach its target of £140m in 2026.
STV Studios won its first commission from Netflix in March – a three-part drama series called The Witness, based on the 1992 murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common. It makes shows such as Blue Lights and Antiques Road Trip for the BBC.
READ MORE: Glasgow broadcaster STV flags Euros football boost
David Mortimer, managing director of STV Studios, said: “Following the global success of the first series, I’m thrilled that Apple TV+ has committed to a second series of our critically acclaimed thriller Criminal Record.
“Landmark dramas like this, together with strong returning factual and entertainment series alongside exciting new formats with international appeal, are driving the creative and commercial momentum within STV Studios. We’re pleased to be making such strong strategic progress in what remains a very challenging commissioning market.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here