British commercial broadcaster ITV has filed a £38 million legal claim against its Scottish network partner STV, accusing STV of breaching network agreements by dumping programmes such as The Bill and Midsomer Murders.

But, STV said in a statement that as a licence holder it has rights to control its schedule. The Scottish company further said they would, “vigorously defend their rights to control the schedule and opt out of programming.”

ITV sued STV weeks after it posted a loss of £105 million for the period of first 6 months of 2009.

STV also claimed that ITV has withheld some money it was due to pay to STV.

The concerned news dragged shares in STV down by over 11% in the recent trading.