Chronology
This chronology is indicative only. It covers -
- antecedents (1783)
- a licence to print money (1957)
- the Lonrho era (1979)
- SMG (1997)
Context is provided by the broader communications and media timeline on this site.
Antecedents
1783 Glasgow Herald founded
1889 The Strad magazine founded
1893 Scottish Farmer launched
1909 Boxing News founded
1952 Roy Thomson (1894-1976) buys The Scotsman newspaper in UK for £750,000
1954 moves to Scotland
1954 owns largest number of newspapers in Canada
A licence to print money
1957 gains Scottish Television (STV) franchise - a "license to print money" - for £400,000
1961 Grampian TV founded
1959 uses STV for reverse takeover of Kemsley Newspapers, publisher of The Times
1969 Independent Television Authority orders Thomson to reduce holding in STV to 25%
1977 Thomson sells final stake in STV
The Lonrho era
1979 Lonrho buys Scottish & Universal Trust (SUIT) group,which owns George Outram - parent of Herald and other papers
1991 GMTV founded
1992 Herald renamed The Glasgow Herald
1992 Outram spins off Caledonian Publishing in £74m mbo
1993 Lonrho sells Observer to GMG
1993 Choir & Organ founded
1994 Mirror buys 14.9% stake in STV
1995 Flextech buys 20% stake in STV for £28m
1995 STV buys Flextech's 20% stake in HTV
1996 STV buys Caledonian Publishing for £120m
1996 United News & Media buys STV's 19.9% stake in HTV for £73.7m
1996 United News & Media buys STV's 5% stake in ITN for £5.1m
1996 STV buys Caledonian Publishing for £120m
SMG
1997 STV renamed Scottish Media Group
1997 Scottish Media buys Grampian Television for £105m
1997 Scottish pays £14m to lift stake in Ulster Television from 1.9% to 14.9%
1998 Scottish sells 18.2% holding in Ulster Television to CanWest for £23.9m
1999 Scottish Media Group launches Glasgow-based Sunday Herald
1999 Mirror sells its 18.6% holding to Granada for £110.3m
1999 Scottish buys Primesight advertising services for £35.8m
1999 buys Independent Community Pharmacist and Independent Electrical Retailer
1999 buys Pearl & Dean cinema advertising for £22.2m
1999 buys Baillie outdoor advertising business
1999 buys Boxing News from EMAP
1999 sells Primesight International (international airport advertising arm) for £2.0m
2000 Scottish Media Group renamed SMG
2000 buys Ginger Media Group (inc Virgin Radio) for £225m
2001 buys Orpheus Publications (music magazines)
2001 buys Town & District Posters outdoor advertising business
2002 sells Herald newspapers (inc Glasgow Herald, Sunday Herald and Evening Times) to Gannett for £216m
2004 sells 29% stake in Scottish Radio Holdings to EMAP for £90.5m