STV2 is no more. The broadcasting platform is to be switched off with the loss of 59 jobs, including cuts in STV news.

But the question posed is does it signal the end of local television life as we know it?

STV2 was the amalgam of television channels set up initially to cater for Glasgow and Edinburgh audiences, added to last year with licences for Aberdeen, Ayr and Dundee.

But the advertising revenues required to sustain the channel didn’t emerge.

However, given arguments made for the original license were that it would maintain and develop Scottish culture, this axiomatically suggests Scottish culture will now be allowed to fall into one big homogeneous slurry heap.

The television station was a great supporter of local arts, it provided substantial coverage for the likes of theatre and gave local music a powerful platform.

It also provided work and experience for young people to learn a range of skills in journalism and production.

However, much of the content was old and recycled, such as the endless re-runs of Taggart. Much of the content looked cheap, such as My Life In Ten Pictures,

That’s not to say cheap couldn’t be cheerful. The People’s History Show had a loyal following as did the football show with Peter And Roughie, both deemed worth transferring to a prime time STV.

But for the most part, STV2 product didn’t attract major audiences. How could it with re-runs of Taggart and a reliance on screening Irish soaps? And thus couldn’t attract advertising support.

What will also be a factor in the demise of STV is the arrival in the New Year of BBC Scotland’s digital channel, which will certainly make a mark on audience share.

Now, the question arises is will the new BBC channel will attempt to cover much of the same ground as STV2 in terms of arts coverage and local feature content? And to what extent will that content be prismed through the BBC lens.

The new station will be run on a budget of £30m a year but already independent producers are wondering what hope there is for success. It’s been claimed £1000 per minute for content is proposed.

The intent of STV 2 was to reach into the heart of Scottish communities. But what’s clear is it should have left city news to the likes of the Evening Times and the Edinburgh Evening News.

Trying to be local - and force newspapers out of the picture - has resulted in disaster.