STV has revealed the presenting team for its new nightly current affairs programme Scotland Tonight.

John MacKay and Rona Dougall will host Scotland Tonight - live on STV every night from Monday to Thursday at 10.30pm, starting Monday October 24. John and Rona will present the show separately on two nights of the week.

The 30-minute programme will bring viewers an in-depth look at the big news stories of the day along with sport, politics, business, art and entertainment, live studio guests, special features and in-depth analysis and discussion.

John MacKay is the anchor for STV News at Six, a position he has held since 1994. Before joining STV, John worked across various roles at BBC Scotland including producer, presenter and duty editor. He is also a best-selling author and has written three novels set in the Hebrides.

Rona Dougall was Sky News Scotland correspondent for over 15 years. During that time she covered many headline stories, including the Dunblane massacre, the trial of the Lockerbie bomber at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands, the death of Princess Diana from Balmoral, the opening of the Scottish parliament and several Scottish elections.

Scotland Tonight will be produced and presented from STV’s HQ in Glasgow, with a team of journalists delivering engaging reports and features from all corners of the country. It will also incorporate local news bulletins from the east, west and north of Scotland, bringing viewers across the country the top stories from their local area.

The programme will discuss the issues that are important to people in Scotland and as such, viewers will be encouraged to interact with the show each evening.

A dedicated website, www.stv.tv/scotlandtonight, will provide the agendas and discussion points for the show, alongside a dedicated Facebook and Twitter page allowing viewers to interact with the show live and immediately. Viewers will also have the ability to select one of the topics up for discussion that evening.

John MacKay said: "This is an exciting opportunity for STV and our viewers. We want Scotland Tonight to be a programme that people will watch, want to talk about and interact with and because of our social network presence, they'll be able to do that as we're on air. Plus, it will be a change to get out from behind the newsdesk into a comfier seat."

Rona Dougall said: "I am very excited to be involved in Scotland Tonight. There is definitely a gap in the market for a current affairs programme which takes a fresh and original look at news and issues in Scotland. I was Scotland correspondent for Sky News for over 15 years, travelling the country reporting on all the major news stories. I look forward to continuing to do that, but now from the warmth of a TV studio."

Gordon Macmillan, Head of News and Current Affairs at STV, added: “With Scotland Tonight we’re introducing a fresh and exciting approach to news and current affairs, providing a Scottish perspective on the issues that are important to people in Scotland.

“The new programme allows us to build on the success of our already ambitious news offering via STV News, stv.tv, STV Local, STV News apps and our popular election coverage, further demonstrating our increasing commitment to news and current affairs.

“We know Scots have an appetite for engaging local content and by delivering this across all platforms we hope to engage and interact even further with our viewers across Scotland.”

IN DETAIL

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