Almost a year on since it was first revealed how to access ITV1 programmes that STV has opted out of broadcasting, the debate about Scottish viewers being denied access to network dramas like Downton Abbey is being overshadowed.
A letter in yesterday's Herald repeated how it is possible for Scots viewers to tune into ITV London (and hence network programmes not being broadcast by STV) using Sky, Freesat and Virgin, for instance Virgin channel 853.
Begins Rev J. Ainslie McIntyre: “We should celebrate, and not in any sense feel guilty about, the various legitimate methods of getting ITV London programmes if we prefer to what STV – somewhat parochially, it seems – is putting out at the same time.”
Last year, the BBC website reported those 'various legitimate methods', with BBC Scotland's Reporting Scotland and the Radio Times magazine both repeating the exercise a couple of weeks ago.
But if the debate is no longer about STV's opting-out policy, it is – says McIntyre – about Scots' ability to purchase Sky, Freesat and Virgin.
