STV pays women nearly 17.3% less than men on average, the company has revealed.

It is one of around 30 Scottish firms which have published their gender pay gaps ahead of the April 4 deadline.

Newly appointed chief executive Simon Pitts said he is "committed" to ensuring men and women are given equal opportunities.

STV has reported 17.3% median gap and a 22.8% mean gap and a for fixed hourly pay.

The national average median pay gap is around 18.4%, while the mean is about 17.4%.

Mr Pitts said: "Our gender pay gap shows we are not where we need to be, particularly at the top of our organisation where, in common with many other organisations, there aren't enough senior women.

"To address this we are setting the target of achieving gender balance amongst our top 25% of earners within five years. We will deliver this by focusing on how we recruit, on training, and on accelerated career development."

STV said its pay gap is the result of having a higher number of men in senior roles - more than two thirds of top jobs at the broadcaster are held by men.

Less senior jobs are almost evenly split between men and women.

There was also a difference of around 56% in the mean size of bonuses paid to male staff. However, slightly more women received bonuses over the last year.

The gender pay gap is the difference between the average hourly earnings of men and women.

It is different from equal pay as it has been illegal to pay men and women differently for doing the same job since 1970.

A gap is often the result of men occupying most of the top jobs at an organisation.

We have used the median average because it is not as affected by extreme values like the high earnings of a small number of people at the top of an organisation. This method is also favoured by the Office for National Statistics.

However, because high-earners are predominantly male, the mean is an important measure of women's experiences in the labour market. It also makes international comparisons easier.