Wales Television
| Type | Region of television network |
|---|---|
| Branding | Teledu Cymru |
| Country | |
First air date | 14 September 1962 |
| TV transmitters | Preseli, Arfon, Moelparc |
| Headquarters | Cardiff; Bangor |
Broadcast area | Wales |
| Dissolved | 31 December 1992 |
Picture format | PAL and 405-line |
| Affiliation | ITV |
| Language | English and Welsh |
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Wales (West and North) Television, known on screen as Teledu Cymru (cy, Welsh for "Wales Television") and often abbreviated to WWN, was the Welsh "Independent Television" (commercial television) contractor awarded the franchise area serving North and West Wales, from 1962 (franchise awarded 6 June 1961). It began transmitting on 14 September 1962, and provided a distinctive hybrid language service to Wales until its dissolution in December 1992.
History
Early Years
The geography of Wales presented a daunting problem to the Independent Television Authority (ITA). The populous area of Wales in the South was already being served by TWW, which had begun broadcasting in 1958, while the north-east of the country and much of the north coast was served by the North of England weekday and weekend franchise holders, Granada and ABC, operating since 1956; the interior of north Wales could not receive ITV transmissions at all.
The ITA was pressured, by a consortium of Welsh-speaking businessmen, into setting up a new North and West Wales region; the ITA asked the Postmaster General to allow this, which he did, with strict provisos: the new service must not offer viewers in Wales a choice other viewers did not have, and at the last minute, the Postmaster General insisted that the new station should, on its own, produce ten hours a week of programmes in Welsh, without relying on Welsh language programmes produced by Granada, ABC, Westward, and TWW.
These punitive regulations were accepted, and the contract was awarded in 1961 to Wales Television Limited, which was later changed to Wales (West and North) Television Limited, following objections from TWW who felt that the original name was intruding on their area, though WWN dropped the parenthesis at every possible opportunity. WWN was to use three VHF transmitters, at Preseli (covering the south west), Arfon (north west) and Moel-y-Parc in the north east. When the Preseli transmitter came online on 14 September 1962, so did WWN, making it the 17th and last of the original ITA franchises to launch, completing the ITV network's coverage areas. However, the delay in introducing the transmitters at Arfon and Moelparc until later in 1963 initially destroyed the morale and the finances of WWN, with free programming from the ITV network just about keeping it afloat; However, Granada Television decided to dispense with its productions in the Welsh language, and the loss of this valuable programming stream was thought to have proved fatal to WWN's broadcasting commitments. However, they sought help from Associated-Rediffusion, which agreed to underwrite WWN's debts in exchange for a percentage of its profits, without the consent of the ITA, who would have actually blocked it. Using this agreement to their advantage, WWN recovered and began producing more local programming than ever. In the contract and region changes in 1968, WWN's franchise was renewed and extended onto the entirety of Wales, replacing their rival TWW.
Loss of franchise
During the 1980s, WWN received much criticism over its lack of proper local programming, particularly for the eastern part of Wales, with such critics holding that local shows had a Cardiff or Bangor focus. On 16 October 1991, following changes to the way ITV contracts were issued (via a blind auction rather than a bid on merits and potential) it was announced that TSW had lost its franchise because of an 'unrealistic business plan' related to its bid, which was viewed by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) as being far too high.
