1997 in Scottish television

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This is a list of events in Scottish television from 1997.

Events

• 7 January – ITV's Carlton Television presents Monarchy: The Nation Decides, a live studio debate discussing the future of the Monarchy in the United Kingdom. The debate quickly descends into a shouting match, while viewers are encouraged to vote on the issue in what is the UK's largest television phone poll. However, Carlton is forced to extend the deadline for calls following complaints from people unable to get through. Of the 2.6million callers who vote, 66% are in favour of retaining a monarch while 34% are against. The proportion of votes against is higher among Scottish viewers, with 56% in favour of replacing the monarch.^[1]
• 30 March – Channel 5, the UK's fifth and last terrestrial channel, launches at 6.00 pm. The first faces seen are the Spice Girls, who perform "1-2-3-4-5", a rewritten version of the Manfred Mann song "5-4-3-2-1".
• April – Establishment of Scottish Screen, the national body for film and television in Scotland.
• 1 May – Television coverage of the 1997 General Election.
• June – Grampian Television is bought by Scottish Media Group for £105 million.^[2]
• 25 June – The Independent Television Commission (ITC) award the sole DTT broadcast licence to British Digital Broadcasting.
• 31 August –
  • BBC1 continues to air through the whole night in the UK for the first time (apart from general elections), simulcasting with BBC World News to bring news updates of Diana, Princess of Wales's car accident. In the days following her death, regular programming is abandoned in order to allow for coverage of events.
  • 40th anniversary of Scottish Television.
• 6 September – The live broadcast of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales is watched by 2.5 billion viewers worldwide.^[3] The ceremony's footage goes down in the Guinness World Records as the biggest TV audience for a live broadcast.^[4] In the UK, 32.10 million viewers watch the broadcast. It is the UK's second most-watched broadcast of all time, behind 1966's World Cup final.^[5]
• 11 September – Television coverage of Referendum in Scotland on the creation of a national Parliament with devolved powers. On two separate questions, voters back the plans both for a national Parliament and for it to have limited tax raising powers.
• 6 October – BBC Scotland on 1 and BBC Scotland on 2 change to BBC One Scotland and BBC Two Scotland respectively.
• 20 December – The ITC award the three pay-TV digital multiplex licences to British Digital Broadcasting.
• Unknown – Scottish Television legally changes its name to Scottish Media Group.
• Unknown – Scottish Media Group acquires Grampian Television.
• Unknown – Formation of BAFTA Scotland.

Television series

• Scotsport (1957–2008)
• Reporting Scotland (1968–1983; 1984–present)
• Top Club (1971–1998)
• Scotland Today (1972–2009)
• Sportscene (1975–present)
• Public Account (1976–present)
• The Beechgrove Garden (1978–present)
• Grampian Today (1980–2009)
• High Road (1980–2003)
• Taggart (1983–present)
• Crossfire (1984–2004)
• Wheel of Fortune (1988–2001)
• Fun House (1989–1999)
• Win, Lose or Draw (1990–2004)
• Machair (1992–1998)
• Telefios (1993–2000)
• Only an Excuse? (1993–present)
• McCallum (1995–1998)

Ending this year

• 1 January – Hurricanes (1993–1997)
• 4 May – Hamish Macbeth (1995–1997)

Deaths

• 12 September – Leonard Maguire, 73, actor
• 5 October – Andrew Keir, 71, actor

References

1. Streeter, Michael (8 January 1997). "Monarchy should go, says a third of TV poll". The Independent (Independent Print Ltd). Retrieved 16 May 2012.
2. Newman, Cathy (11 June 1997). "Scottish Media buys Grampian for 105m pounds". The Independent. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
3. "Diana's funeral watched by millions". BBC On This Day. 6 September 1997. Retrieved 20 May 2009.
4. "TV's world record breakers". BBC News. 22 March 2001. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
5. Tapper, James (1 May 2005). "The biggest TV audience ever ... it is now". London: Daily Mail. Retrieved 28 April 2012.