ITV Cymru Wales

ITV Cymru Wales, previously known as Harlech Television and HTV Wales, is the ITV franchise for Wales. The new separate licence began on 1 January 2014, replacing the long-serving dual franchise region serving Wales and the West of England.

ITV Cymru Wales
TypeRegion of television network
BrandingITV Cymru Wales
Country
First air date
1 January 2014 (2014-01-01)
TV transmittersWenvoe, Carmel, Preseli, Blaenplwyf, Llanddona, Moel-y-Parc, Long Mountain, Kilvey Hill
HeadquartersCardiff
Broadcast area
Wales
OwnerITV plc
Picture format
1080i HDTV, downscaled to 16:9 576i for SDTV
Affiliation(s)ITV
Official website
www.itv.com/news/wales/
LanguageEnglish (and Welsh production for S4C)
ReplacedITV Wales & West

Licence

The licence continues to be held by ITV Broadcasting Ltd, who hold all Channel 3 licences in England and Wales.

As of January 2014, the former HTV companies are still legally named ITV Wales and West Group Ltd and ITV Wales and West Ltd. Each of these companies is, along with most other regional companies, owned by ITV plc, though listed at Companies House as a "dormant company".[1]

History

The broadcasting licence was created following the split of ITV Wales & West.[1] It is hoped that the separate licence will benefit local viewers.[2]

In May 2012, Ofcom raised the possibility of a stand-alone licence for Wales.[3]

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.[4]

Programming

ITV Cymru Wales produces around six hours a week of national news, current affairs and features programming in English – its flagship programme Wales at Six broadcasts each weeknight at 6pm with shorter ITV News Cymru Wales bulletins throughout the day and during the weekend.

The news service is supplemented by regular current affairs programmes including Newsweek Wales on Sunday lunchtimes, the long-running investigative series Wales This Week and the political review Sharp End on Monday nights. Several feature series are also broadcast throughout the year – including rural affairs series Coast and Country, political interview strand Face to Face, sports chat show In Touch and documentary series such as Helimeds and Time of Your Life.

ITV Cymru Wales also produces Welsh language output for S4C – in the fields of current affairs, features, drama and entertainment. Two of its flagship titles figure among S4C's longest-running and most popular programmes - the rural documentary series Cefn Gwlad with Dai Jones and the investigative current affairs programmes Y Byd ar Bedwar and Ein Byd.

References

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