Editing ITV (TV network) (section)

===STV Group===
{{Main|STV Group}}

[[STV Group|STV Group plc]] owns two franchises, covering central and northern Scotland, through subsidiary companies STV Central and STV North, broadcasting a central service under the [[STV (TV channel)|STV]] brand.

The company had several disputes with ITV plc in the late 2000s and early 2010s over network programming. STV aimed to broadcast more Scottish programmes at peak times and so removed several key ITV plc programmes from their schedule in July 2009 including ''[[The Bill]]'', ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'' and ''[[Lewis (TV series)|Lewis]]''.<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jul/21/bill-shown-itv3-scottish-viewers |title=The Bill to be shown on ITV3 so Scottish viewers don't miss out |work=The Guardian |date=21 July 2009 |access-date=2 November 2010 |first=Leigh |last=Holmwood |location=London |archive-date=22 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131222051419/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jul/21/bill-shown-itv3-scottish-viewers |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite STV's explanation of expense, ITV plc were angered by the decision, as a recent schedule change had made ''The Bill'' central to their programming, and broadcast the programmes on [[ITV3]] as well to ensure Scottish viewers could see the programmes. On 23 September ITV plc was reported to be in the process of suing STV for £20&nbsp;million, as ITV felt dropping the shows constituted a breach of network agreements;<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8269151.stm | work=BBC News | title=ITV launches £38m STV legal claim | date=22 September 2009 | access-date=5 May 2010 | archive-date=15 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221015101107/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8269151.stm | url-status=live }}</ref> STV subsequently [[counter-sued]] ITV plc for £35&nbsp;million.

The dispute was ended in 2011 with STV agreeing to pay ITV plc £18&nbsp;million. The signing of the new affiliation deal has resulted in STV paying a flat fee for all networked programming, and so to drop any programmes is unlikely due to the large costs involved.<ref name="Business7">{{cite web|url=http://www.business7.co.uk/business-news/scottish-business-news/2012/03/05/stv-agrees-new-channel-3-licensing-deal-with-itv-106408-23775954/ |title=STV agrees new Channel 3 licensing deal with ITV |last=McCulloch |first=Scott |date=5 March 2012 |work=Business7 |access-date=28 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309033000/http://www.business7.co.uk/business-news/scottish-business-news/2012/03/05/stv-agrees-new-channel-3-licensing-deal-with-itv-106408-23775954/ |archive-date=9 March 2012 }}</ref>