Timeline of television in Wales

This is a timeline of the history of television in Wales.

1950s
  • 1957
    • The BBC launches a daily five minute news bulletin for Wales.
  • 1959
    • No events.

1960s
  • 1960
    • No events.
  • 1961
    • Following pressure from Welsh-speaking businessmen, the ITA offers and then awards a licence covering a new North and West Wales region, awarding the contract to Wales West and North Television.[1]
    • BBC Wales launches a Welsh language news bulletin called Heddiw.
  • 1962
    • 14 September – Wales (West and North) Television launches as Teledu Cymru. The company builds its own transmitter at Arfon rather than using the BBC's mast at Llandonna.
    • 17 September – BBC Wales launches Wales Today. The programme is seen by viewers in both Wales and the west of England.
  • 1963
    • 28 January – The Moel-y-Parc transmitting station is switched on, bringing ITV programmes to north east Wales. The BBC begins broadcasting from that transmitter in 1965.
    • Delays in switching on the Arfon and Moel-y-Parc transmitters destroys the finances of WWN. Free programming from the ITV network, plus other support from its neighbours ABC, ATV and TWW just about kept the ship afloat, but Granada decided to dispense with its productions in the Welsh language, and the loss of this programming stream proved fatal to WWN.[1]
  • 1964
    • 26 January – Wales (West and North) Television stops broadcasting after going bankrupt. TWW offers a generous package to WWN's shareholders, in order to gain control of the territory, and kept the Teledu Cymru name on the air.[1]
    • 9 February – Following the creation of separate regions for Wales and west England, BBC Wales is officially launched and output includes an extended news bulletin called Wales Today – a 25-minute programme broadcast only to Wales. 1964 also sees the launch of current affairs series Week In Week Out
  • 1965
    • For the first time, TWW is able to provide separate programming for Wales and West of England, due to switching on a second VHF transmitter St Hilary to effectively extend the ex WWN transmitter network into SE Wales.[2]
    • 12 September – BBC Two Wales begins broadcasting.
  • 1968
    • 4 March – TWW stops broadcasting five months before its contract was due to expire, selling the final months of airtime to Harlech. However the new contractor is not yet ready to go on air, so the ITA provides an interim service called Independent Television Service for Wales and the West.
    • 20 May – Harlech Television takes over the Wales and West of England franchise just over two months ahead of the planned hand-over date. It launches two news magazines – Y Dydd in the Welsh language and Report Wales in English.
    • August – A technicians strike forces ITV off the air for several weeks, although management launch a temporary ITV Emergency National Service with no regional variations.
  • 1969
    • No events.

1970s
  • 1971–1973
    • No events.
  • 1975
    • No events.
  • 1976
    • No events.
  • 1978
    • No events.
  • 1979
    • Both the Conservative and Labour parties promise that the fourth television channel in Wales will be a Welsh-language fourth channel, if elected to government in the 1979 general election.[9] However the new Conservative government decides against a Welsh fourth channel, and suggests that, except for an occasional opt-out, the service should be the same as that offered in the rest of the UK. This leads to acts of civil disobedience, including refusals to pay the television licence fee and sit-ins in BBC and HTV studios and some attacks on TV transmitters in Welsh-speaking areas.
    • 10 August – The ten week ITV strike forces HTV off the air. The strike ends on 24 October.

1980s
  • 1981
    • No events.
  • 1982
    • 23 September – HTV launches a weekly current affairs programme Wales This Week. To this day, the programme continues to be broadcast.[11]
    • October – Heddiw is broadcast for the final time.
    • 31 October – Programmes in Welsh are broadcast on BBC Wales and HTV for the final time.
    • 1 November – Sianel 4 Cymru (S4C) launches as Wales' fourth channel. Programmes include a weeknight BBC-produced news programme called Newyddion. Soap opera Pobol y Cwm transfers from BBC Wales to the new channel.
    • 2 November – Channel 4 launches across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Wales, some Channel 4 output is broadcast at off-peak times on S4C.
  • 1983
    • 17 January – Breakfast Time, Britain's first breakfast show, launches on BBC1. The new service includes four opt-outs which allow BBC Wales to broadcast its own news bulletin.
    • 1 February – ITV’s breakfast television service TV-am launches. It is a UK-wide service and therefore contains no Wales-specific content.
    • BBC Wales launches the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
  • 1984
    • 3 September – Wales Today moves to the earlier time of 5:35 pm – one hour earlier than most of its counterpart BBC news programmes elsewhere in the UK.
  • 1985
    • 3 January – The last day of transmission using the 405-lines system.
  • 1986
    • No events.
  • 1987
    • No events.
  • 1988
    • 22 August – HTV begins 24-hour broadcasting.
    • September – Wales Today moves to the 6:30 pm timeslot.
  • 1989
    • No events.

1990s
  • 1990
    • No events.
  • 1991
    • 16 October – HTV retains its licence to broadcast when it bids the highest amount for the right to broadcast to Wales from a total of four applicants.
  • 1992
    • No events.
  • 1993
    • No events.
  • 1995
    • 10 September – BBC Wales relaunches its rugby union coverage under the name of Scrum V. It replaces Rugby Special Wales.
    • 11 September - S4C launches its second Welsh-language soap; Rownd a Rownd.
  • 1996
    • No events.
  • 1998
    • 23 September – The BBC launches a digital-only channel, BBC Choice, and this features a weeknight output for Wales.
    • 1 November – S4C Digidol launches.
    • 15 November – The public launch of digital terrestrial TV in the UK takes place.
  • 1999
    • 8 March – Wales Tonight is renamed HTV Wales News.[13]
    • 15 September – S4C2 launches.[14] It broadcasts coverage of the National Assembly for Wales and extended coverage of events being shown on S4C.
    • BBC Cymru Wales launches short weekday lunchtime, mid afternoon and early evening bulletins on S4C.

2000s
  • 2000
    • 6 June – S4C launches the Chwaraeon/Sport 2000 promotional branding with the ancient history theme, featuring Welsh sport personalities and presenters to re-creating classic works of Greek and Roman art masterpieces, bearing under the "you can see more" tagline.
  • 2001
    • 29 June – S4C's Chwaraeon/Sport 2000 promotional video has won three silver awards in the "Best In-House Promo" at the world Promax Awards ceremony in Miami, Florida.
    • 5 November – BBC 2W is launched. It provides weeknight programmes in English for Wales for digital viewers and replaces the Wales optouts on BBC Choice.
  • 2002
    • 28 October – HTV is renamed ITV1 Wales.
  • 2003
    • No events.
  • 2004
    • 2 February – HTV News is renamed ITV Wales News.
  • 2006
    • 29 December – HTV Ltd is renamed ITV Wales & West Ltd.[16]
  • 2007
    • No events.
  • 2008
    • May – Wales on Saturday is broadcast on BBC One Wales for the final time. Originally the name of BBC Wales' Saturday afternoon news and sport programme, since 2001 it had served as a Welsh sports results programme, broadcast in place of Final Score.
    • 23 June – S4C launches a daily morning children’s programming block called Cyw.
  • 2009
    • 2 January – BBC 2W closes as part of plans to achieve 3% savings at BBC Cymru Wales. Consequently, the digital version becomes a simulcast of BBC Two on analogue with fewer Wales opt-outs.
    • 9 September –
      • Digital switchover begins in Wales when the Kilvey Hill transmitter is the first of eight main transmitters to complete digital switchover.[17]
      • S4C's teletext service Sbectel closes down.[18]
    • Three weekday afternoon five-minute news bulletins are launched on S4C.

2010s
  • 2010
    • January – Coverage of proceedings from the Senedd are moved from S4C2 to the new BBC Democracy Live website.
    • 31 March –
      • Digital switchover is completed in Wales when the analogue transmissions at Wenvoe are switched off. Consequently, Channel 4 becomes available in all homes in Wales for the first time.
      • S4C begins broadcasting solely in Welsh.
    • 19 July – S4C begins broadcasting in high definition when it launches a channel called 'Clirlun'.[19]
    • 16 September – S4C2 is removed from Sky channel 507.
    • 20 October – The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announces that part of the responsibility for funding S4C is to be transferred to the BBC.[20]
    • October – S4C2 is removed from Virgin Media channel 168.
    • 30 November – S4C2 is removed from Freeview channel 86.
    • 6 December – S4C2 ceases broadcasting when it is removed from the Freesat platform.[21]
  • 2013
    • 14 January – As part of a rebranding of ITV Wales, a new logo is introduced and the Wales news magazine is renamed ITV News Cymru Wales in 2013.[25]
    • 29 January – BBC One Wales begins broadcasting in high definition.[26]
    • 1 April – Responsibility for the funding of S4C begins to transfer to the BBC.[27]
    • September – ITV Wales announces the launch of a new weekly current affairs programme, Newsweek Wales.[28]
  • 2014
    • 1 January – ITV in Wales is now officially known as ITV Cymru Wales.[29]
    • 30 June – ITV Cymru Wales moves into a new facility on the ground floor of 3 Assembly Square, located next to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff Bay[30] and to mark the change, the Wales at Six name is reintroduced after 20 years.[31]
    • 15 October – Made in Cardiff begins broadcasting as Cardiff's local television channel.
  • 2015
    • 25 August – ITV Cymru Wales begins broadcasting in HD.[32]
  • 2016
    • 7 June – S4C resumes high definition broadcasting.[33]
    • 12 July – That's Swansea Bay begins broadcasting.
    • 7 September – It is agreed that the BBC will provide £74.5m a year funding to S4C from the licence fee until 2022.[34]
  • 2017
    • 19 April – Cardiff TV's flagship news bulletin Cardiff News is broadcast for the final time. The programme is replaced by a mixed bulletin of local and national news produced at Made TV's headquarters in Leeds.
    • 26 April – Local television comes to north east Wales when Made in North Wales begins broadcasting.
  • 2018
    • February – Cardiff Live is launched as Made in Cardiff's sole local programme. The bulletin however is not live but it is produced locally. At around the same time, Made in Cardiff and Made in North Wales are relaunched as Cardiff TV and North Wales TV respectively.
    • 29 March – The UK Government announces that it will continue providing £6.72m of funding for S4C until 2020, with the aim of S4C being funded wholly from the licence fee from 2022.[35] This will see S4C's funding being decided as part of the licence fee settlement, for 10 year periods.[36]
    • 29 November – BBC Two Wales begins broadcasting in high definition.[37]
  • 2019
    • No events.

2020s

See also

References
  1. Graham, Russ. "Teledu Cymru". Electro Musicians Ident. Transdiffusion Broadcasting System. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
  2. http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/405-Lines/tx-list.html#ITA Archived 2012-04-14 at the Wayback Machine
  3. The Daily Telegraph, "'Capricious injustice' to TWW", 21 June 1967, quoted in Death of TWW: Telegraph 21/06/67, accessed 16 March 2008
  4. The Daily Telegraph, "Hill replies to Derby on TWW", 20 June 1967, quoted in Death of TWW: Telegraph 20/06/67, accessed 16 March 2008
  5. "History of the BBC in Wales". About BBC Cymru Wales. BBC Cymru Wales. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
  6. "TV Live: HTV". Retrieved Sep 27, 2020.
  7. Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel; Menna, Baines; Lynch, Peredur I., eds. (2008). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 688. ISBN 978-0-7083-1953-6.
  8. Annan Committee (1977). Report of the Committee on the Future of Broadcasting. HMSO.
  9. Hancock, Dafydd. "A channel for Wales". EMC Seefour. Transdiffusion Broadcasting System. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009.
  10. "Gwynfor Evans at 90". BBC News Online. 1 September 2002.
  11. "Wales this Week celebrates thirty years of success". ITV. 2012-12-11. Archived from the original on 2015-01-12.
  12. "Wales Tonight 1994–1997". Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  13. "Ident Central: HTV Wales News 1999–2001". Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  14. Chapman, Iain (5 September 1999). "S4C2 Launching..." Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 4 May 2015.
  15. "Villages tune in to digital trial". BBC News. 2004-12-01. Retrieved 2007-01-06.
  16. "ITV Wales and West Ltd". WebCheck. Retrieved 13 November 2011.
  17. "Digital switchover for Wales unveiled". Digital Spy. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
  18. "Sbectel Service". S4C. 2009-06-03.
  19. "S4C Press Release: S4C Clirlun now available throughout Wales". S4C. 19 July 2010.
  20. "Spending review 2010:key points at a glance". London: Guardian.co.uk. 20 October 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
  21. "Update Scan – 06/12/10". Join Freesat. 6 December 2010.
  22. Bodden, Tom (15 January 2011). "S4C 2 channel is 'terminated', Welsh broadcaster says". northwales. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  23. Williamson, David (14 January 2011). "S4C2 scrapped in cuts". The Western Mail. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  24. "Amendment 1 to the Determination Under Article 3 of the Television Multiplex Services (Reservation of Digital Capacity) Order 2008 Dated 17 October 2008" (PDF). Ofcom. 2 October 2012.
  25. ITV launches rebrand on air and online, itv.com, 14 January 2013
  26. "Launching BBC One Scotland HD and BBC One Wales HD". BBC. 11 January 2013.
  27. "S4C brings £90m to Welsh economy, finds new research". BBC News. 5 November 2010.
  28. ITV launches new programme Newsweek Wales, itv.com, 17 September 2013
  29. Ofcom agrees ITV news shake-up Jake Kanter, Broadcast Now, 23 July 2013
  30. "ITV Cymru Wales to re-locate to Cardiff Bay". ITV News. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  31. "Ident Central: ITV News Wales at Six". Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  32. ITV Cymru Wales HD launches on August 25, itv.com, 11 August 2015
  33. "S4C will bring back its HD service just in time for Euro 2016". S4C. 20 May 2016.
  34. "S4C £74.5m funding confirmed until 2022". 7 September 2016 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  35. "The future of S4C".
  36. Cornock, David (29 March 2018). "S4C set to lose its government funding" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  37. "BBC – BBC Two Wales to launch as a HD channel – Media Centre". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  38. "BBC Wales goes live from new Cardiff HQ". Jul 15, 2020. Retrieved Sep 27, 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  39. "TV news last and firsts for BBC in Cardiff". Sep 28, 2020. Retrieved Sep 28, 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
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