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Sky Scottish was a short-lived satellite television channel operating on the analogue service broadcasts between 6.00pm and 8.00pm.
 | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Scotland |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | British Sky Broadcasting SMG plc |
| History | |
| Launched | 1 November 1996 |
| Closed | 31 May 1998 |
| Replaced by | Sky Sports |
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The service was a joint venture between British Sky Broadcasting and ITV franchise Scottish Television owners SMG plc, was aimed at Scots living outside Scotland who would not otherwise be able to receive Scottish-related programming, such as that also transmitted by Grampian or the BBC.[1]
The station's main programmes included an extra edition of Scottish Television's regional news programme Scotland Today and episodes of Take the High Road from 1994. Celtic F.C.'s 1997 pre-season friendlies were shown on the channel. Scotsport was also shown on the channel as well as spin-off show Extra Time, and there was also The Football Show presented by Jim Delahunt and Peter McGuire.
Despite BSkyB and SMG entering into a seven-year contract to run the service,[2] it was closed down after 18 months. Its closure was explained as the channel having failed to meet its financial targets.[3] Reports suggested that only The Ibrox Club Hour and The Celtic Park Hour, programmes relating to Rangers and Celtic football clubs, had attracted more than 10,000 viewers.[4]
Speaking about its demise, the managing director of SMG at the time was Donald Emslie, described the service as having "been a valuable learning experience" for his company.[5] SMG's finance director, Gary Hughes, stated that the service had shown "it is very difficult to access a Scottish audience outside Scotland",[1] but also that Scottish audiences wanted more home-grown programmes.
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