PAUL Hughes is channel editor for Scotland’s new channel, STV2, which will launch on Monday. April 24.
He submitted this on Wednesday April 19 2017.
What exactly is it you do?
I’m the channel editor for STV2. I’m described in corporate speak as the ‘product owner’, but that really means I’m the editorial, creative and operational lead for STV2.
The project involves five new TV licences (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Ayr) developing from a blank piece of paper, through two TV channels (STV Glasgow and STV Edinburgh) to a new. five-license network, STV2, launching on Monday 24th April 2017.
It’s an incredibly exciting development for viewers and the broadcasting industry in Scotland with a schedule that has its own 7pm news programme with Scottish, UK and international news from a Scottish perspective (STV News Tonight), a flagship magazine show (Live at Five), a daily football programme (Peter and Roughie’s Football Show), a late night chat offering (The Late Show), classic movies during the day, top-quality boxset drama in the evening plus a host of live special events from across the country.
What did your working day yesterday comprise?
At this point we’re less than a week away from a channel launch. So, I’m going to pretend it’s all going smoothly.
In reality, as you may expect, there are a few fraught moments and no day is representative of a standard work day.
Yesterday was a day of complying programmes for STV2 and STV, working on title sequences and graphics with a designer for programme launches and refreshes, working on editorial plans with producers, analysing trends in viewing figures, working on a new post-launch format idea, dealing with a sponsorship issue, getting contracts together for a live football match and a series of internal meetings that I’d probably better not mention here!
How different or similar is your average working day to when you started?
The job has always been about leading the project and been multifaceted so it’s quite typical to have a hand in everything that’s going on with very varied days.
How do you see your job evolving?
I feel the STV board has not been giving serious consideration to my proposal to expand the project into STV Barbados. Until that happens, I expect that we’ll continue with our approach of constant improvement and development of the channel. It’s great when we reach a new landmark like launching but we can always improve.
What gives you the most job satisfaction?
The satisfaction comes from taking something from a blank piece of paper to the point there is a new commercial TV channel in Scotland, all achieved on a very modest resource.
At the beginning of the project we employed a group of fresh talent, most of who had never worked professionally in television before.
Watching that group learn and develop into a team of capable industry professionals, who make programmes of increasingly high quality, has been the best part of the job.
