IT hatched the careers of some of the small screen's most enduring characters, from Mr and Mrs host Derek Batey to daytime TV presenter Richard Madeley and high-voltage hand puppet Basil Brush.
Border Television, which made its first transmission 50 years ago this week, was long at the forefront of creative programming, with broadcasting icon Melvyn Bragg on its former roll of executives.
But now a long-running campaign for Scots living in the borders to get more relevant television content appears to have taken a step forward.
It could see those in the area plugged into STV, in a move which would bring more Scottish news, sporting events and political shows into their homes.
Border’s glory days as a broadcaster appear to have faded for many, with viewers in some 100,000 households in the Scottish part of the region itching to reach for the remote control amid a perception that the output has become too English for Scottish tastes, particularly since news programmes covering the area were centralised at Tyne Tees’s Newcastle studios.
A quick look at the flagship regional news programme, Lookaround, shows lead stories on a mock plane crash on a Cumbrian beach and a new takeaway milk machine at a bus stop in Gosforth. The Scottish Conservative leadership race, however, does get a mention.
Ofcom has given its interim guidance to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt over the options available when awarding broadcasting licences for Channel 3 and Channel 5 when they come up for renewal in 2014. The communications regulator said that creating a single Scottish broadcast licence for STV could be one option for the future.
The development was welcomed by Christine Grahame, MSP for Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale. She said: “This has been a long running sore in the borders for the entire time I have represented the area, which has been around 12 years.
“Viewers don’t get STV news and instead get news that is biased towards the north of England. They don’t get football matches and they don’t get the same coverage of Scottish politics. The recent leaders’ debates, for example, were not shown until midnight.
“In all the surveys that I have ever done with residents, this is the one issues that keeps coming up. People want to get STV.”
She added it was “essential” for those living in the borders to be afforded “proper” coverage of issues surrounding a referendum on Scottish independence.
Ofcom said that redrawing the licence map for Channel 3 would require the permission of ITV plc, which holds the licence for the borders and most of the network. The broadcaster was unavailable for comment last night.
Ofcom is due to give its full report to the Department of Media and Culture next month.
In a consultation carried out for the Scottish Broadcasting Commission in 2008, only 23% said viewers in the borders area of Scotland were being well served.
The research found there was a “major gap” in local news and programme provision in the Scottish borders, with further problems identified with the quality of transmissions given the hilly terrain of the region.
STV last night said it was unable to comment.
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