FIRSTV CHOICE

But Beeb also claim No1 slot CHANNEL ARE NATION’S FAVOURITE.. WITH JUST ONE TOP SCOTS SHOW

STV have claimed they were the best watched TV channel in the country this year with a viewing share of 21.9 per cent – their highest since 2010.

But the only programme in their top 10 which wasn’t made by parent company ITV is the STV News at Six, which came in at No9 and was watched by 697,000 viewers.

The most watched programme was the England v Croatia World Cup match, which was seen by 1.25million people – an audience share of 61 per cent.

But BBC Scotland have questioned the figures based on consolidated data from BARB, covering January 1-December 6 from 7pm-10.30pm.

They say the BBC have eight of the 10 most watched shows, four of which are Scots made. And they claim they are the most watched channel for “all hours” with a 22.4 per cent audience share – compared with STV’s 17.6 per cent.

The year’s most watched show was the Beeb’s Still Game on March 15, which was viewed by 1.37million – a 55 per cent audience share.

STV’s top 10 included I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! – which had its best-ever Scottish figures – Britain’s Got Talent and soap Coronation Street.

A spokeswoman said: “STV’s biggest investment is in highquality network content, to which we have exclusive access and bring to Scottish audiences – who love it.”

A BBC Scotland spokesman said: “Our programmes which are continuing to attract big audiences and the Craiglang crew are as popular as ever.”