ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchisee in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to broadcast by the regulator Ofcom.[1]
There is no channel, past or present, named "ITV Wales and West". The licence relates to a "dual region", meaning that the franchise area was divided into two sub-regions, Wales and the West of England, each of which had to be served by distinct and separate ITV programme services, as more fully defined within the licence.
From January 2014, the dual-region licence was split in two, with ITV Cymru Wales for Wales and ITV West Country covering both the West of England sub-region and South West England. Both licences remain held by ITV plc through its subsidiary ITV Broadcasting Ltd, and the legal names of the former HTV companies have not yet been changed again,[2] although the former holding company was however dissolved on 7 February 2023.[3]
Harlech Television was awarded its contract by the Independent Television Authority in July 1967, replacing the incumbent TWW. While no official reason was given for the decision, it was believed TWW's preference to base its corporate headquarters in London, rather than within the region, was a key factor.
Harlech pledged to locate its headquarters within the transmission area, based at TWW's former studios at Pontcanna in Cardiff, and at Bath Road in Bristol. TWW refused to purchase shares in the new consortium and opted to cease broadcasting early on Monday 4 March 1968, selling its remaining airtime to Harlech for £500,000. As the new service was not ready to launch, an unbranded emergency service was provided by former TWW staff until Harlech's launch on Monday 20 May 1968. The opening night was marked by a networked variety special.[4]
Initially, the station used the name Harlech Television (after the head of the company, Lord Harlech), but from the introduction of colour on 6 April 1970, this was dropped in favour of the initialism HTV. Other than being simpler, this also largely ended concerns from the West of England that the 'Harlech' branding was only associated with the Welsh part of the dual region.
The initial Harlech board of directors boasted a high-profile line-up including actor Richard Burton and his wife Elizabeth Taylor, opera singer Sir Geraint Evans, entertainer Harry Secombe and veteran broadcaster Wynford Vaughan-Thomas.[5] The board contributed relatively little to HTV's output, although notable productions included several opera specials and documentary series including Great Little Trains of Wales and The Dragon Has Two Tongues.
In Wales, there was an additional requirement to provide a quota of programmes in the Welsh language. HTV Cymru's nightly news programme Y Dydd aired each weeknight in a 6 pm timeslot shared with its English counterpart Report Wales. Alongside current affairs, features and entertainment programming, the company pioneered a wide range of Welsh output for children and young people including Miri Mawr, Ffalabalam and pop magazine show Ser. Two of the company's best known Welsh language series, Cefn Gwlad and Sion a Sian, continue to air on S4C.
HTV West was particularly successful in producing high-quality children's TV series, often sold internationally. It established the 'HTV Junior Drama Workshop' in Bristol, which auditioned and trained young actors and from which it cast roles for both its own productions, and for other companies seeking young talent. Arthur of the Britons (a historic adventure series), Children of the Stones (a supernatural thriller shot amid the famous stone circle at Avebury in Wiltshire) and Robin of Sherwood were all very popular wherever they were shown.
In addition to networked and locally-produced programming, HTV also broadcast imported output and was the first British broadcaster to air Sesame Street as part of an IBA pilot in 1971 (the programme had been rejected by the BBC).[6] HTV Wales produced far less drama output, although they were contracted to make the ten-part Return to Treasure Island for The Disney Channel in 1985.
In November 1982, the new Welsh-language channel S4C was launched. HTV no longer broadcast Welsh-language programmes, but instead produced such programmes for S4C (along with the BBC and independent producers). The increased demand for programmes in the medium of Welsh encouraged an expansion of HTV's resources. HTV also began to supply local commercial playout for both S4C and the new Channel 4, which at that time, carried regional advertising in the West. The Pontcanna premises could not be expanded sufficiently to accommodate the increased studio production and so a new studio complex was constructed at Culverhouse Cross on the western outskirts of Cardiff, eventually going live in 1984.
In February 1985, HTV experienced its first safety-related disruption after flames went up quickly inside the studio;[7] The staff were eventually evacuated for safety reasons and HTV's transmission was sadly postponed. Luckily, nobody was hurt and most of HTV's studio equipment remained undamaged, with them eventually resuming service later that same day. However, they were forced into cancelling their planned afternoon feature for reasons that connected into HTV's transmission delays that were caused by the fire;[7] the programme was replaced with Sesame Street for the day.[7]
Further technical innovation was implemented in 1988, when HTV opened a new presentation facility at Culverhouse Cross, becoming the first UK broadcaster to install Sony Library Management Systems which allowed the automated playout of cassette tapes. Three LMS machines were installed, one each to play transmission tapes into the Wales and West services, with the third used for commercials playout and compilation for S4C in Wales and Channel 4 in the West. 1988 also saw HTV begin 24-hour broadcasting when it launched its overnight Night Club service on 22 August.[8]
Due to delays in signing its licence agreement in the franchise renewals of 1991, Westcountry Television contracted with HTV to provide its presentation operations and this service made use of the third LMS machine, fitted with updated VTRs. The service launched on New Year's Day 1993. Around the same time, commercial playout for S4C and Channel 4 became an in-house operation for both networks.
During the same 1991 ITV franchise round, the ITC had initially considered disqualifying HTV's bid because of its business plan, but it was ultimately allowed to proceed. HTV won with a bid of £20.5 million, beating three other companies – Merlin, C3WW and C3W. Due to the size of the bid for the franchise, the company had to make considerable savings in order to cover the increased cost of the licence.[12]
The company made a £5 million loss for the first six months of its licence in 1993, following a cut in the levy paid to the Government. Draconian cost-cutting measures took effect – including a wage freeze, the cancellation of annual bonus payments and further substantial job cuts, beyond the job cuts which had already halved staff numbers to 460.[13] The station also revamped its on-screen image, replacing the long-serving Aerial logo and phasing out the use of in-vision continuity.
In 1994, HTV finally cleared its £19 million debt when Flextech bought a 20% stake in the company for £27 million.[14][15] Flextech passed on its 20% stake in HTV to Scottish Television in September 1995,[16] as part of its deal to gain a larger stake in Scottish Television. The deal heightened speculation of a potential merger between HTV and STV, which never materialised.[17]
In October 1996, United News and Media agreed to buy Scottish Television's 20% stake in the company,[18] ending Carlton's interest about a buyout. HTV and United began talks shortly after the sale aimed at sharing production services and facilities.[19] United was quoted at the time to have "no intention of bidding for the whole company" but within six months, on 28 June 1997, HTV was taken over fully by United News and Media plc (now United Business Media plc) for £370 million.[20][21]
United News & Media put the HTV-owned First Independent Films up for sale in 1997, following the commercial failure of the movie G.I. Jane in the UK. The assets were eventually acquired by Columbia TriStar Home Video who retained the First Independent Films label for 2 more years before fully absorbing it into their own label in 1999.
In 2000, Granada plc bought United's television interests, but at the time competition regulations limited the extent to which one company could control the ITV network and were consequently forced to give up one of its ITV franchises. This resulted in a break-up of HTV, whereby its broadcast facilities and Channel 3 broadcast licence (and hence its advertising revenues) were sold to Carlton Communications plc, owners of Carlton Television, whilst most of production facilities were retained by Granada. Unlike Carlton's other ITV acquisitions, which were re-branded to use the Carlton name on screen, HTV's identity was retained on-air until 27 October 2002 when the 'ITV1' brand was introduced to most of the network.
Granada and Carlton were subsequently permitted to merge in 2004 to form the single company ITV plc, which now owns all of the ITV franchises in England and Wales. HTV Ltd was renamed ITV Wales & West Ltd in December 2006,[22] alongside HTV Group Ltd, which was renamed ITV Wales & West Group Ltd.[23] On 11 December 2008, the broadcast licence was transferred from ITV Wales & West Group Ltd to ITV Broadcasting Limited, the company now responsible for all regional franchises in England, Wales, and southern Scotland.
In 2009, as part of plans to reduce ITV's regional news service to save costs, ITV West's regional news service was merged with that of ITV Westcountry to form ITV West Country. The new programme ITV News West Country is broadcast from Bristol.[24][25][26]
The company originally operated production studios at Pontcanna in Cardiff and at Bath Road in Bristol. Presentation, transmission and back-office staff for both Wales and the West were based largely in Cardiff. The Pontcanna studios remained open until around 1990, by which time, only HTV Wales' news department was based there. During the 1970s and 1980s, the company also ran a North Wales production studio at Theatr Clwyd in Mold.
In 1984, HTV opened a new £14 million television centre at Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff to replace the original one at Pontcanna. Transmission continued to originate from Pontcanna until 1988, when this transferred to the new centre. In addition to providing playout for both HTV services, the new centre would, from 1 January 1993, also provide transmission of South West England franchise Westcountry Television.
The property eventually passed to United Business Media (then United News and Media) following the takeover of HTV by the group in 1997. However, while HTV changed hands twice more, UBM continued to own the Culverhouse Cross buildings and associated land. ITV plc acquired the site on 10 April 2006[27] for £18.7m and sought to redevelop the property. The largest production studio at Culverhouse Cross had been leased to third party operators since the early 1990s. In an interview with the Western Mail, the head of news and programmes, Phil Henfrey, confirmed ITV Wales would decide whether to stay at the site or re-locate to new, smaller premises in another part of Cardiff.[28]
In August 2013, ITV Wales announced it would leave Culverhouse Cross by June 2014 and move into a new facility on the ground floor of 3 Assembly Square, located next to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff Bay.[29] Broadcasting from the new studios began on Monday 30 June 2014. The ground, on which Culverhouse Cross Television Centre was located, was sold to Bellway and entirely redeveloped as St Lythans Park, a small housing estate.
In Bristol, HTV were based at Television Centre in Bath Road near Arno's Vale, Bristol, which they took over from TWW. ITV plc continue to have operations in the city and today, the Bristol headquarters are home to ITV West Country's news programme ITV News West Country. ITV have however since sold the building to Cube Real Estate, a commercial property developer, which has refurbished the interior of the building. While ITV West Country maintains office space and a single ground-floor studio, the other floors are available to rent as office space. The property is marketed as 'HERE'.
The Wales and West franchise area operated by TWW was originally confined to the West (comprising Bristol, Somerset, Wiltshire and parts of Gloucestershire and Dorset) and south east Wales (broadly as far west as Swansea) and served by a single main VHF transmitter located at St Hilary. TWW later acquired the use of VHF transmitters covering much of the remainder of Wales from WWN (Wales West and North). An additional VHF transmitter (channel 7) was eventually installed at St Hilary in 1965 to carry programmes specifically for Wales, allowing the separation of Wales and West services. However, St Hilary was never used as part of the replacement UHF network and TV transmission from it ceased when VHF services were switched off in 1985. The mast continues to be used for communications and radio broadcasting.
The UHF transmitter network was designed to replicate the separation of programme services to Wales and the West achieved with the VHF network it replaced. HTV's UHF services were transmitted by the following main transmitters and their relays: Llanddona, Moel-y-Parc, Long Mountain, Blaenplwyf, Preseli, Carmel, Kilvey*, Pontypool*, Wenvoe and Mendip, with Mendip serving the HTV West region and the rest serving the HTV Wales region.
(Kilvey and Pontypool were classed as 'relays' prior to Digital transmission as they were not 'line-fed').
Prior to digital broadcasting, the transmitter distribution system continued to permit the sub-grouping of west and north Wales, echoing the historic VHF regional configuration. However, it was not particularly useful for programme purposes but was sometimes exploited for the transmission of commercials.
The differences between the UHF and VHF networks meant that, between 1970 and 1985, HTV provided three different broadcast services, each with its own schedule of programmes:[30]
HTV Cymru Wales was available throughout Wales on both UHF and VHF (with the option of different commercials in South Wales and the rest of Wales), and, until the creation of S4C in 1982, included Welsh-language programming.
HTV West was available in the West of England on UHF only. This service began in 1970.
The HTV "general service" was available in both the West of England and South Wales on VHF only and carried a mixture of programming from both of the other services. This service ended in 1985.
The transmitter network has remained substantially the same for digital broadcasting of ITV Cymru Wales and ITV West.
Identity
Harlech's first ident on 20 May 1968 featured two words 'Harlech' spinning in opposite ways and which eventually met up to form one word. This design would have been clearly seen to viewers of the service then, however viewers today would have encountered lots of black lines and a barely noticeable 'Harlech'. This is due to the fact that the ident was designed for 405-line television system used at the time, and due to the use of 625-line UHF system, the ident appears differently on sets that receive the 625-line transmission.[31]
HTV logo used from 6 April 1970 to 27 September 1987
When colour broadcasting commenced on Monday 6 April 1970, a new logo, designed by Frank Pegler and FJP Graphics, was unveiled. Due to criticism from viewers in the West of England, concerning the bias towards Wales that Harlech presented, the new logo featured the letters 'HTV'. The symbol created, named "The Aerial", featured the letters HTV in such a way that it looks like a television aerial – the logo went on to become HTV's longest serving identity, surviving until December 1992. The aerial would animate on through use of lines, accompanied by the same jingle as used before. The white logo on blue background was seen plain when both Wales and the West received the programme,[31] but would otherwise have the region name included. For the West region, this was 'West' at the top of the logo between the 'H' and 'V',[32] whereas for Wales, the caption Cymru Wales was placed at the bottom of the logo, as a reference that Welsh programming was still shown on the channel.[33]
Following the launch of S4C on 1 November 1982, all Welsh language programming was transferred to the new service, and the Wales ident was amended so that only the 'Wales' part was displayed at the top of the logo.[33] These idents continued until 28 September 1987, when the idents were dropped in favour of an updated computer-generated sequence, where the blocks flew out of a large suspended blue surface and landed to form the HTV aerial logo on a dark blue background.
HTV adopted the first ITV generic look on 1 September 1989, and it was their slanted 'H; that appeared in their regional section of the ITV logo. Despite the video sequence being the same, there were three variations of the ident, all featuring a different lower caption; HTV, HTV Wales and HTV West. In addition, HTV also made their own variation where the HTV logo remained on-screen the whole time. The corporate idents were dropped on Thursday 31 December 1992.[31]
HTV logo used from 1 January 1993 until 27 October 2002, and for a further two years for news programming
In their place, a new HTV logo was designed and unveiled on Friday 1 January 1993, featuring an upright, but stylised HTV, with two triangles for the 'V' section. Originally this logo was seen as a translucent blue logo moving back onto a multi-coloured blue background accompanied by an ambient tune. This was later changed to a more upbeat tune, ending in a more noticeable crescendo. This ident package marked the end of specific idents for Wales and the West, as all of the idents that followed used the single HTV brand, though separate continuity for the two services, albeit now out of vision, was retained, this presentation package remained popular until Saturday 31 December 1994.[31]
On Sunday 1 January 1995, the ident was re-altered to include small triangles which grew and combined to form the triangular 'V' and the remainder of the HTV logo. The accompanying music was stronger than its predecessor, and the colours were warmer than previous, with a gold HTV and a changing blue, green background and remained on screen for four years until 7 March 1999. Around this time, a large number of specialised idents were introduced – such as variations on the main sequence, specific genre idents and a special presentation package to mark HTV's 30th anniversary in 1998.[31]
On Monday 8 March 1999, HTV introduced what would be its last in-house presentation package, featuring the camera panning over the HTV logo in dark blue against a bright yellow background and accompanied by two remixes to its predecessor (although the tune from the previous ident was used on some occasions).[31] Nine months later, HTV, as part of UNM, adopted the second ITV generic look based on the theme of 'Hearts'. However, when UNM was merged into Granada, the broadcasting arm of HTV was sold to Carlton to comply with competition laws. As a result, from 2 July 2001 HTV adopted, in part, Carlton's star branding. The resultant idents featured Carlton's 'Star' opening films, before the screen flashed white, drawing back to become the 'V' in the HTV logo against the spinning hearts background as used previously.[31]
When Granada and Carlton introduced national ITV1 branding to all stations in England and Wales on 28 October 2002, the HTV channel identity ceased to be used for presentation. It was replaced by the on-screen name ITV1 Wales and ITV1 West of England. ITV1 Wales still used a variation of the generic theme, with the name Wales consistently present under the ITV1 logo. ITV1 West of England's regional identity was gradually phased out from 2002 onward. Originally, prior to regional programming, an ident featuring the celebrity package was used, with an ITV1 logo placed above a small West of England caption to the left of the screen. In 2004, the regional idents changed to four coloured cubes are seen dotted around a regional scene, with an ITV1 logo and ITV1 for the West of England caption in the bottom right corner. This was replaced in October 2004 by a national ident, consisting of three small ITV cubes above a large '1' cube, with the caption West below. This was one of the last idents for ITV West, as regional idents were abandoned soon after, with the exception of Wales. The HTV brand was retained for local News programmes until Granada and Carlton merged on 2 February 2004 to create ITV plc. The Carlton name appeared on endboards from 2001 until 2004, when it was replaced by a generic ITV Wales or ITV West endboard.[34][35]
S4C is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience. S4C's headquarters are based in Carmarthen, at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David's creative and digital centre, Yr Egin. It also has regional offices in Caernarfon and Cardiff. As of 2024, S4C had an average of 118 employees. S4C is the fourth-oldest terrestrial television channel in Wales after BBC One, ITV and BBC Two.
The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" (ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA existed from 1954 until 1972. It was responsible for determining the location, constructing, building, and operating the transmission stations used by the ITV network, as well as determining the franchise areas and awarding the franchises for each regional commercial broadcaster. The authority began its operations on 4 August 1954, a mere four days after the Television Act 1954 received royal assent, under the chairmanship of Sir Kenneth Clark. The authority's first director general, Sir Robert Fraser was appointed by Clark a month later on 14 September.
Wales Television, known on screen as Teledu Cymru and often abbreviated to WWN, was the Welsh "Independent Television" contractor awarded the franchise area serving North and West Wales, from 1962. It began transmitting on 14 September 1962, and ceased on 26 January 1964 through financial failure; the franchise area was soon combined with the South Wales and West of England area, operated by TWW. TWW retained the Teledu Cymru name in the former WWN franchise area, as did successor Harlech during their emergency transitional franchise, only retiring the name when they were able to officially take over.
Television Wales and the West (TWW) was the British Independent Television contractor for a franchise area that initially served South Wales and West of England until 1968.
ITV1 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for the central and northern areas of Scotland where STV provides the service.
ITV Westcountry, formerly known as Westcountry Television and Carlton Westcountry, was the ITV franchise holder for the South West of England, covering Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, southern and western Somerset and western Dorset. The company replaced its predecessor, TSW, from 1 January 1993. The station was owned and operated by ITV plc under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited.
Carlton Television was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Television as a single entity, but the two companies are still separately licensed. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc under the licensee of "ITV Broadcasting Limited". Carlton has been branded on air as "ITV1" since 28 October 2002. Carlton Television Ltd, the original holder of the licence, has since been dissolved. Carlton UK Television Limited however is now known as ITV Consumer Limited and legally operates ITV plc's websites. As Carlton's name has no relation to its region, its on-screen identity has been completely removed. Other regions have kept their original company name as a region name and in their local news name.
ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom.
Independent Television Service for Wales and the West (ITSWW) was a temporary emergency service provided by the Independent Television Authority (ITA) in light of the early termination of service of the previous franchise holder, Television Wales and the West (TWW) after their loss of ITV franchise was announced in 1967.
The history of ITV, the United Kingdom and Crown Dependencies "Independent Television" commercial network, goes back to 1955.
ITV News Wales at Six is the evening news programme broadcast and produced by ITV Cymru Wales.
The Preseli transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility on the eastern end of the Preseli Mountains, close to the villages of Crymych and Pentre Galar in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is owned and operated by Arqiva.
The ITV television network in the United Kingdom began as a group of regional stations, each with their own identities. Each station used its own idents to create an individual identity.
The St Hilary transmitting station is a facility for telecommunications situated close to the village of St Hilary, Glamorgan in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, in the United Kingdom. It comprises a 229-metre (750 ft) guyed mast with antennas attached at various heights. The site was established in 1958 for Independent Television transmission on VHF. Transmissions from the site include FM radio, DAB radio and mobile telephone signals.
In the 1960s and 1970s, an envisioned fourth UK television service was popularly referred to as ITV2, before the launch of Channel 4 in November 1982.
This is a timeline of the history of the British broadcaster Westcountry Television. Westcountry provided the ITV service for the South West of England from 1993 to 2009, after which the service name "ITV West Country" has been used across the West and South West of England.
This is a timeline of the history of ITV in Wales, including the current service ITV Cymru Wales. It does not include events that affect the whole UK network.
This is a timeline of the history of the British television service HTV West. "HTV West" and "ITV West" were the service names for the ITV service in the West of England from 1970 until 2009, after which the service name "ITV West Country" has been used across the West and South West of England. The "West" service was a sub-region of the franchise for Wales and the West.
This is a timeline of the history of television in Wales. It does not include events that affect the whole UK.
This is a timeline of the history of S4C, originally the fourth-oldest terrestrial television channel in Wales. Until 2010 it carried a mixture of Welsh language programmes and programmes from Channel 4 which was not broadcast on analogue TV in Wales. In 2010, Channel 4 became available in Wales on all platforms and S4C became a Welsh-language-only channel.
↑ "HTV West Idents". ITV Wales and the West. TVARK. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011. Contains videos of the regional idents for the west.
1 2 "HTV Wales Idents". ITV Wales and the West. TVARK. Archived from the original on 21 April 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2011. Contains videos of the regional variations for Wales.
↑ "ITV West". ITV Wales and the West. TVARK. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2011. Contains the regional idents used in 2002, and clips of HTV news and its replacement.
↑ "ITV Wales". ITV Wales and the West. TVARK. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2011. Contains videos of ITV Wales presentation and the HTV news and replacement.
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