STV expands hyperlocal network

In September, STV launched six community sites offering news, events listings and business directories covering North Lanarkshire, with broadband provider Plusnet as the launch sponsor.

Today, the network of websites has expanded by 10 sites, covering the local authority areas of Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Moray and South Lanarkshire. A spokesman for STV said it now covers 25% of the Scottish population.

Advertisers on the new sites include telecoms and pay-TV providers BSkyB and Virgin Media, airlines KLM and EasyJet, and the music and film retailer HMV.

Alistair Brown, head of digital at STV, said the positive response from the North Lanarkshire pilot showed "there is a real appetite for hyperlocal content and an opportunity to share information, news and events on a very local level".

The 10 new sites cover Aberdeen City, Buckie, Elgin, Forres, Lossiemouth, Stonehaven, Cambuslang, East Kilbride, Hamilton and Rutherglen. Other sites planned include Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Deeside.

Rob Woodward, chief executive of STV, added: "As Scotland’s digital media company, we strive to make our content available whenever and wherever our audience wants it and we continue to build our digital presence with the ongoing rollout of STV Local."

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk