In reaction to the Digital Britain report, STV has welcomed the proposals made as it aims to undertake a pilot news scheme.

A spokesperson for STV, commented: "We are delighted that Scotland has been selected to run one of the three pilot channel 3 news services in the UK. Assuming adequate funding is provided this will enable our viewers to continue to enjoy STV's Scottish news and provide strong competition to the BBC. 

"Earlier this year, STV volunteered to run a ground-breaking news pilot in Scotland, which would see us sharing our news content with other commercial news organisations, and on the back of today’s announcement, we are hopeful that funding will be made available for such initiatives from 2010.

"We are pleased that the Government supports the case for granting STV Productions the same benefits as independent producers, which would certainly help fast-track the development of a vibrant creative cluster in Scotland and create jobs in a key growth sector.  We will participate fully in the forthcoming legislative consultation and look forward to a speedy implementation."

The spokesperson concluded: "Overall, this is a positive report which recognises the important role that strong, relevant home-grown production plays in this multi-platform digital age."

Earlier this week it was reported that STV had signed an agreement with the BBC Scotland to share news resources including studios, offices and video.