STV’s service-cut announcement response
Cairngorms National Park Authority 14 The Square Grantown on Spey PH26 3HG T: 01479 873 535 30 September 2025
STV Group Ofcom consultation team Correspondence by email: mediaact.part1a@ofcom.org.uk
Response to consultation on STV’s service-cut announcement
I am writing on behalf of the Cairngorms National Park Authority to register our strongest objection to STV’s plans to end its north of Scotland television news programmes. The Board of the UK’s largest National Park view the closure of these services as wholly damaging to the interests of rural Scotland.
At a time of growing threats from wildfires, floods, droughts, biodiversity loss, and social challenges including an affordable housing crisis, effective scrutiny of the issues in our countryside has never been more important.
For decades, STV and its predecessor Grampian TV provided dedicated coverage of questions critical to the welfare of the north of Scotland, affecting lives and livelihoods. Their programmes reflected and helped nourish the distinctive culture of this area. Their news output remains the only dedicated linear TV service for this region.
The proposal for a single programme from Glasgow, covering stories from across Scotland, will inevitably squeeze this rural agenda. The company’s editorial and commercial imperatives are bound to be influenced by the main population centres.
While the company cites declines in linear viewing and increases in digital consumption for its announcement, STV’s television news programmes remain a valued source of information for large numbers of viewers in this area, and a critical platform fuelling public debate. The Cairngorms National Park Authority urge Ofcom to insist that this service remains a core part of the company’s public service obligation.
Yours sincerely
Sandy Brenner Sandy Bremner Convener of the Cairngorms National Park Authority Board