Television in
Wales
began in 1952. Initially, all programmes were in English with occasional
Welsh language
programmes. In 1982 Welsh language channel
S4C
was launched. The digital switchover happened in 2009-2010 and S4C became an exclusively Welsh language channel.
History
[
edit
]
Initial broadcasting
[
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]
Television in the UK started in 1936 as a public service which was free of advertising, but did not arrive in Wales until the opening of the
Wenvoe transmitter
in August 1952.
Initially, all programmes were in the English language, although under the leadership of
Welsh
director and controller
Alun Oldfield-Davies
, occasional
Welsh language
programmes were broadcast during closed periods, replacing the
test card
.
In 1958, responsibility for programming in Wales fell to
Television Wales and the West
, although Welsh language broadcasting was mainly served by the Manchester-based
Granada
company, producing about an hour a week.
BBC Cymru Wales
[
edit
]
The launch of
BBC Cymru Wales
(BBC Wales at the time) on 9 February 1964 provided a specific television service for the country. The new service was heavily promoted (proclaiming that
Wales gets its very own TV service in 1964!
) with animated promos using the sound of Welsh choirs to explain about interference from the mountains.
[2]
Two years later in 1966, BBC Cymru Wales' new headquarters at
Broadcasting House
in Cardiff opened and the first colour broadcast for Wales followed in 1970.
[3]
Into the late 1990s, BBC Cymru Wales continued to expand their services. The first web pages for Wales began to appear on
BBC Online
in 1997, including a variety of features surrounding programming, schedules, community events and other stories.
[4]
[5]
The following year, BBC Wales gained additional air time through the use of a late prime-time to midnight opt-out from new digital channel
BBC Choice
.
[4]
This lasted until opt-outs ended on the channel in 2001; subsequently BBC Wales opted out of the
BBC Two
prime-time schedule on digital platforms to broadcast
BBC 2W
.
[4]
[6]
This latter service closed on 2 January 2009 ? prior to the
digital switchover
which would have ceased separate broadcasting on analogue and digital.
[7]
BBC Cymru Wales is currently based in
Cardiff
and directly employs some 1,200 people to produce a range of programmes for television, radio and online services in both English and
Welsh
.
[8]
BBC Cymru Wales operates two TV channels (
BBC One Wales
,
BBC Two Wales
) and two radio stations (
BBC Radio Wales
and
BBC Radio Cymru
). The total budget for BBC Cymru Wales (including
S4C
's £76 million) is £151 million, £31 million of which is for BBC-produced television productions.
[9]
S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru)
[
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]
On 17 September 1980, the former president of
Plaid Cymru
,
Gwynfor Evans
, threatened to go on a hunger strike if the
Conservative
government of
Margaret Thatcher
did not honour its commitment to provide a Welsh language television service.
[10]
On the 1st of November 1982,
S4C
(Sianel Pedwar Cymru) was launched bringing together the
BBC
,
HTV
and other independent producers to provide an initial service of 22 hours of Welsh-language television.
The digital switchover in Wales of 2009-2010 meant that the previously bilingual Channel 4 split into S4C, broadcasting exclusively in Welsh and Channel 4 broadcasting exclusively in English.
[12]
ITV Cymru Wales
[
edit
]
The broadcasting licence was created for
ITV Cymru Wales
following the split of
ITV Wales & West
.
[13]
It is hoped that the separate licence will benefit local viewers.
[14]
In May 2012, Ofcom raised the possibility of a stand-alone licence for Wales.
[15]
On 25 August 2015, ITV Cymru Wales began broadcasting in HD (prior to this HD viewers in Wales received ITV Central HD), including the company's news service and non-news programming including current affairs and documentaries.
[16]
Recent productions
[
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]
The decision by
Julie Gardner
, Head of Drama for
BBC Wales
, to film and produce the 2005 revived version of
Doctor Who
in Wales is widely seen as a bellwether moment for the industry for the nation.
[17]
This in turn was followed by the opening of the
Roath Lock
production studios in
Cardiff
. Recent English language programmes that have been filmed in Wales include
Sherlock
and
His Dark Materials
, while other series, such as
Hinterland
(
Y Gwyll
) and
Keeping Faith
(
Un Bore Mercher
) have been filmed in both Welsh and English.
[17]
See also
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References
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Sources
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