ITV are now eyeing up STV

Your seriously under est political factors and other issues. It's also been noted Reporting scotland with is scotland wide reports get alot of flak, worse still people will be asking wait so its alright to bring back border but let's kill its off again with an even BIGGER news programme?

I don't suggesting merging all three shows but handing over Border Scotland to ITV Scotland Central I can see makes sense, possibly being a sub opt of Scotland Central rather than being a sub opt of an English region.

BBC Scotland gets a lot of flak from nationalists full stop. Many see it as unionist propaganda.

That alone works in favour of keeping STV and its regions in tact. However there are ways of making things more efficient whilst appearing to improve things politically. For example, close down STV North's base (which i believe is on a pretty anonymous business park) and move it into office space in the centre of Aberdeen, upgrading facilities while at the same time cutting costs.

Improving Border's Scottish service by integrating it into STV would be another way to positively spin things.
Having STV Central as the main hub with smaller hubs for Northern & Southern Scotland sounds perfectly sensible to me.

Half the building in Aberdeen is rented out to other business, and that was back in 2010, I wouldn't be surprised if there rented out more space.

It may be more efficient to move to smaller, better located premises (in the same way ITV Wales went from rattling around Culverhouse Cross to new facilities in trendy Cardiff Bay.

It that is the case then surly STV would have done this already? STV done this with Edinburgh

ITV has deeper pockets to invest properly for the long term.

I would envisage a primarily pan-Central Belt & South news service from Glasgow (with East & South sub-opts, by Ofcom requirement), and the Aberdeen programme (and its Dundee sub-opt) continuing as currently.

The "South" opt might be presented from e.g. Dumfries, or pre-recorded in Glasgow/Edinburgh with a faux "window" view of e.g. Dumfries.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't the viewers in the Border region actually like their cross-border news service? I don't think I've ever read any calls from the people of the region for change

It may be anomalous, and editorially make little sense as far as politics goes, but the views of the audience would need to be factored in, and on both sides of the Border as well

It's a good point. It's rather like North East Wales, where there is more affinity to 'Granadaland' than Cardiff

Though that didn't stop ITV hiving them off from the Granada region anyway (apart from the immediate Deeside area perhaps).

They've got some pain on.