According to Ofcom’s annual Communications Market Report, the level of expenditure on television content produced last year in Scotland increased, despite Scottish crime series Taggart being placed on hiatus.

According to the survey, Scotland now accounts for 3.6 per cent of all networked programme spend by the four UK public service broadcasters.

2009 saw an increase of 1.1 percent from 2008, meaning an increase of 38 per cent since 2006 and rise in spend from £50m to £65m.

Scotland was the only UK nation to see production spend on programmes specifically for its viewers rise with the BBC and STV spend reaching newly £50m on English-language TV programmes for viewers in Scotland.

This increase has been achieved without the presence of the long running STV crime drama Taggart, which did not go into production last year due to a lack of funding being made available.

Only at the end of 2009 was STV able to announce the return of the programme after lengthy negotiations with ITV.

The full report can be viewed here