Macmillan Media

Macmillan Media is a multimedia production company serving broadcasters, publishers and organisations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Its documented operating presence has included Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Manchester and London. The company is associated with Michael Macmillan, a former BBC and ITN foreign correspondent who owns the business. The company's most visible broadcast role was its production of early-morning regional news bulletins for GMTV and, subsequently, Daybreak. It began supplying the Scottish service on 3 December 2007, producing the Central and Northern Scotland bulletins from Glasgow. These bulletins, initially branded GMTV Scotland and later known as Daybreak Scotland, were produced by a shared team and originated from the same Glasgow facility. Macmillan Media entered the contract after GMTV chose not to renew STV's agreement to provide the Scotland Today and North Today breakfast bulletins. STV had supplied the breakfast service since GMTV replaced TV-am in 1993. Macmillan Media also supplied weekday Daybreak bulletins for Northern Ireland and Scotland. The Northern Ireland service had a particularly long-running contractual background: UTV, the local ITV contractor, had stopped producing the bulletin in December 1994 following a dispute involving GMTV and UTV. The work was subsequently handled by Reuters, then ITN, before being assigned to Macmillan Media. The company produced the bulletins at 06:15, 07:15 and 08:15 until January 2013. In January 2013, the relevant local Daybreak contracts were re-awarded to UTV and STV, ending Macmillan Media's role in those breakfast-news services. The change marked a significant contraction in the company's publicly documented television-news work, but not the end of its wider media activity. Beyond scheduled news, Macmillan Media has worked across creative documentaries, broadcast features, animated explanatory videos, corporate marketing and promotional films, health-and-safety training, and induction and training materials. It has also provided online news bulletins for newspaper publishers, including the Belfast Telegraph, and produces news bulletins for Q Radio stations in Northern Ireland. Its overall positioning is therefore that of a flexible independent content producer rather than a consumer-facing media brand built around a single channel or programme.

Macmillan Media is documented as a multimedia company operating across the UK and Ireland, with activity associated with Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Manchester and London. It is owned by Michael Macmillan, whose background includes work as a foreign correspondent for the BBC and ITN. The company became particularly visible through regional breakfast television. On 3 December 2007, it began supplying GMTV with news bulletins for Central and Northern Scotland after GMTV did not renew STV's contract to provide the Scotland Today and North Today services. The two Scottish bulletins initially used the GMTV Scotland name and were later incorporated into the Daybreak branding. They shared a production team and were broadcast from the same Glasgow building. Macmillan Media also became involved in Daybreak's Northern Ireland and Scottish local bulletins. The Northern Ireland service had not been produced by UTV since December 1994, following a dispute between GMTV and UTV. Reuters and then ITN handled the bulletin before Macmillan Media took over. During Macmillan Media's tenure, weekday bulletins were scheduled at 06:15, 07:15 and 08:15. The company lost the relevant local Daybreak contracts in January 2013, when they were re-awarded to UTV and STV. This ended a substantial phase of Macmillan Media's regional breakfast-news production, although the company's broader content-production activities continued. Its documented work includes creative documentaries, broadcast features, animated explainer videos, corporate marketing and promotional material, health-and-safety training, and induction training films. It has also supplied online news bulletins for newspapers such as the Belfast Telegraph and produces news bulletins for Q Radio stations in Northern Ireland. The available reference material does not establish a founding date, formal legal structure, financial information, standalone website, or a complete current management team. Accordingly, Macmillan Media is best described on the available evidence as an independently owned media-production business with a history spanning television, radio, digital publishing and commissioned corporate content.

• 2013

  Local Daybreak contracts return to UTV and STV

  [1]Macmillan Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  From January 2013, UTV and STV replaced Macmillan Media as producers of the local Daybreak bulletins.

• 2007

  Macmillan Media takes over GMTV Scotland production

  [1]Macmillan Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  The company began producing the Central and Northern Scotland bulletins on 3 December 2007 from Glasgow.

• 1994

  UTV stops producing the GMTV Northern Ireland bulletin

  [1]Macmillan Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  UTV ceased producing the local breakfast bulletin in December 1994 after a dispute involving GMTV and UTV.

• 1993

  STV begins supplying GMTV's Scottish breakfast news

  [1]Macmillan Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  STV had supplied GMTV with the Scotland Today and North Today regional news bulletins since GMTV replaced TV-am.

An independent multimedia production company providing broadcast journalism, digital news and commissioned video content for broadcasters, publishers and organisations.

• Regional television news · 2007

  Daybreak Scotland

  Early-morning regional news bulletins for Central and Northern Scotland. The service was initially known as GMTV Scotland and was later associated with the Daybreak brand. Macmillan Media began producing it on 3 December 2007 from Glasgow, using a shared team for the two regional editions.

• Regional television news

  Daybreak Northern Ireland

  Weekday early-morning local news bulletins for Northern Ireland, broadcast within the GMTV and later Daybreak breakfast schedules. Macmillan Media produced bulletins at 06:15, 07:15 and 08:15 until the contract moved to UTV in January 2013.

• Radio news

  Q Radio news bulletins

  News bulletins produced for Q Radio stations in Northern Ireland. The available reference identifies this as an ongoing or later area of the company's output but does not provide a launch date or detailed format information.

• 2013

  Loss of local Daybreak bulletin contractsOther

  Background

  Macmillan Media had been producing local Daybreak bulletins for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

  Action taken

  The contracts were re-awarded to STV and UTV from January 2013.

  Aftermath

  Macmillan Media's documented role in those breakfast-news services ended, while the company continued broader television, digital, radio and commissioned-content work.

  Source

• 2007

  Enter Scottish breakfast-news productionStrategy

  Background

  GMTV did not renew STV's contract to supply the Scotland Today and North Today bulletins, creating an opportunity for a different production supplier.

  Action taken

  Macmillan Media began producing the Central and Northern Scotland bulletins on 3 December 2007 from Glasgow.

  Aftermath

  The bulletins continued under the GMTV Scotland and later Daybreak Scotland branding until the local contract was re-awarded in January 2013.

  Source

• 2013

  Scottish and Northern Irish Daybreak contracts are re-awarded[1]Macmillan Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  From January 2013, UTV and STV regained the local Daybreak bulletin contracts previously held by Macmillan Media, ending its documented role in those regional breakfast-news services.

• 2007

  Macmillan Media begins producing GMTV Scotland bulletins[1]Macmillan Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Macmillan Media took over production of GMTV's Central and Northern Scotland early-morning regional news bulletins on 3 December 2007. The bulletins were produced from Glasgow.

• Macmillan Media produces Q Radio news bulletins[1]Macmillan Mediaen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The company produces news bulletins for Q Radio stations in Northern Ireland, extending its work beyond television and newspaper-linked digital news.

1. 1Macmillan Mediaen.wikipedia.org