Scotsport

Infobox Television
show_name = Scotsport


genre = Sport
runtime = 60-90 minutes
(including adverts)
presenter = Grant Stott,
Andy Walker,
Richie Gray
country = SCO
channel = STV,
Border Scotland
first_aired = 18 September, 1957
last_aired =
producer = Henry Eagles,
Andrea Brownlie,
Alastair Hindle
related = "Champions League Live"

"Scotsport" is a Scottish sports television programme. It was recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's longest running sports television programme.Fact|date=May 2008 The programme was broadcast on STV, as well as on Border Scotland.

The show began on September 18, 1957 [cite news|title = "Scotsport's" debut|publisher = stv.tv|date = July, 2007|url = http://www.stv.tv/content/tv/footage_library/Decades/1950s.html|accessdate = 2007-07-06] , and the vast majority of its coverage was of football, rather than sport in general, as the name might imply. The football coverage was, in turn, most of the Scottish Premier League. The show also followed Scottish clubs in the UEFA Champions League via live matches and highlights programmes, though was simply branded as "Champions League Live". "Scotsport"'s main rival was the BBC Scotland produced "Sportscene", fronted by Dougie Donnelly.

The Monday night show featured highlights and chat with football experts and the latest news on the SPL.

During season 2007/08, "Scotsport" faced competition for viewers of its SPL coverage. On July 18, 2007, it was announced that the SPL had signed a similar deal with BBC Scotland for non-exclusive television coverage of the league. [cite news|title = Two new major broadcasting deals for the SPL|publisher = Offial SPL website|date = July, 2007|url = http://www.scotprem.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10002~1075392,00.html|accessdate = 2007-07-06] This didn't affect "Scotsport's" production, though the programme experienced a reduction in viewer numbers considering its terrestrial coverage of the SPL would no longer be exclusive. "Scotsport" continued in its 10.40pm-11.40pm Monday night slot for the remainder of the 2007/08 season, with "Sportscene's" SPL offering being shown later in the week on Wednesdays at 10pm on BBC Two Scotland.

On Hogmanay 2007, STV broadcast "50 Years of Scotsport", a programme taking a look back at the shows best moments over the 50 years it had been on air. Featuring colleagues from past and present, the current host, (at the time) Grant Stott fronted the anniversary show.

STV decided to axe the main programme in November 2007, after BBC Scotland won a five-year deal to show SPL highlights. The show aired for the last time on Thursday 22 May, 2008.

The Team

Despite being the world's longest running sports television programme, there had only been five main anchors in 50 years of broadcasting, including Grant Stott and Andy Walker. The previous main anchors of "Scotsport" were Arthur Montford, Jim White, who joined Sky Sports News in the mid-90s, and Jim Delahunt who is now working for Setanta Sports.

Andy Walker is also anchor of STV's "Champions League" coverage.

"Scotsport's" featured match highlights were commentated on during the final series by Archie Macpherson, Jock Brown and Ian Crocker. Rob MacLean, Ken McRobb and David McKinney.

pin-Offs

* Between the 1988/89 and 1999/00 seasons, There was a preview programme called "Scotsport Extra Time" (later renamed simply "Extra Time") shown on Friday nights featuring the weekend football fixtures, interviews from football and other sports including rugby, snooker and golf. Originally Jim White and Hazel Irvine presented it before Hazel moved to BBC Scotland in 1990. Jim White then presented it on his own until moving to Sky in 1998. Jim Delahunt presented it till the end. It was a Friday night show for many years. In the final season, It was moved to Saturday lunchtimes.

* During the seasons when "Scotsport" owned the rights to Scotland's premier Rugby league, live matches and highlights were shown under the "Scotsport Rugby Roundup" banner.

* For the years where STV had the highlights rights for both the Scottish Premier League and the First Division, "Scotsport" was divided into "Scotsport First", which went out on Sunday mornings and retained a traditional programme format, and "Scotsport SPL", which was known for trying out ideas that hadn't been widely used for sports television programmes before, including multiple presenters and a live studio audience.

cotsport Fanzone

"Scotsport Fanzone" was broadcast in the latter half of the 2005/06 season on Thursday nights. This forum-based show encouraged Scottish football fans to have their say on the week's news. Despite not having re-appeared for the 2006/07 season, several sections from the show had been incorporated into the new live Monday night "Scotsport".

cotsport Rugby Sunday

"Scotsport Rugby Sunday" was a short-lived spin-off, specifically focussed on rugby union in Scotland. Richie Gray presented the show, with all the latest news and highlights, including footage of Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors, club rugby and the women's games. [cite news|title = "Scotsport Rugby Sunday"|publisher = stv.tv|date = November, 2007|url = http://www.stv.tv/content/sport/Rugby/scotsport_rugby_club|accessdate = 2007-11-11]

References

External links

* [http://www.stv.tv/sport Sport] at stv.tv
* [http://www.stv.tv/content/sport/Rugby/scotsport_rugby_club/ "Scotsport Rugby Sunday"] at stv.tv