59-496: Westcountry Live was the flagship regional news programme of ITV Westcountry , serving South West England . The programme was first broadcast on Monday 4 January 1993 - four days after Westcountry Television took over the ITV regional franchise from Television South West . From December 1993 until early 2009, Westcountry ran four sub-regional services, each providing short opt-out bulletins for their area during Westcountry Live and
118-490: A reverse takeover with the White Ward Group, makers of safety footwear and associated articles. The name of the company was changed to UK Safety Ltd, and traded for a number of years, before entering administrative receivership . Upon losing the franchise, the directors of TSW established a public film and television archive , based around the back catalogue of Westward and TSW programmes they owned. They created
177-521: A " Dormant company ". This article however, covers the Westcountry Television part of the franchise. Westcountry Television was one of two rival consortia bidding against the incumbent TSW when the ITV franchises were put to tender early in 1991. Two of Westcountry's original shareholders were Brittany Ferries and South West Water ; the latter investor attracted criticism as only three years earlier it had been responsible for one of
236-500: A bid a "worried" TSW itself had estimated would have been £12 million a year rather than the less-than-£8 million Westcountry ended up bidding. Westcountry Television won the South West region franchise and took over from TSW at midnight on 1 January 1993. On 31 December 1992, TSW marked its final day of transmission with a number of special programmes and continuity links. Continuity announcers Sally Meen and Tristram Payne shared
295-481: A joint advertising sales operation. During the summer of 1996, Westcountry prepared to float the company on the stock market, which resulted in HTV , United News & Media, Carlton Communications and Canwest bidding to buy out Westcountry. In October 1996 GWR, the radio group, made a bid of £70m for Westcountry TV, outbidding both HTV and Carlton, but within a few weeks United News & Media increased its offer and
354-530: A lack of investment under Westward, were completely refurbished with a £4 million investment programme which saw the introduction of new production equipment and an additional studio being constructed. The refurbishment was completed two years later. When TSW lost its franchise, its successor, Westcountry, chose not to purchase the studios, preferring new facilities outside Plymouth city centre, at Langage Science Park, Plympton instead, ending 31 years of broadcasting from Derry's Cross Studios. Transmission control of
413-446: A large 'W' shape on a frosted screen over a background video of a nature scene. The idents were made so that the scene could only be seen clearly through the 'W' shape. Accompanying the video was a five-note jingle featuring string and flute instruments. This presentational package lasted throughout the whole period, with the only change on 8 September 1997 that of a form-up added made out of diagonal lines. From 6 September 1999 however,
472-539: A legal challenge to the franchise award, and after initially being refused permission to do so in the High Court , a legal action began which would last almost three months and went all the way to the House of Lords . In February 1992 the legal process found in favour of Westcountry and while it could now finally sign the franchise agreement, its original programme plans were hit by the delay. Following discussions with
531-703: A newsroom (and separate regional identity) would be retained in the south west, the main Westcountry Live programme would move to a studio alongside The West Tonight at ITV West in Bristol (akin to the Meridian and Thames Valley news services at Whiteley). On 12 September 2007, ITV issued a statement to the City of London , saying that it wished to reduce the number of news studios from 17 to just nine. This included merging ITV West with ITV Westcountry to form
590-544: A non-franchise region, ITV West and Westcountry, from February 2009. Shortly after the broadcasting regulator OFCOM gave final approval to the changes, the regional news service was phased out with the final broadcast from Plymouth aired on Sunday 15 February 2009. A new programme entitled The West Country Tonight replaced the Westcountry Live on Monday 16 February 2009 but included separate opt-out news bulletins (some of which were pre-recorded depending on
649-467: A separate licence was created for Wales with the West licence merged with that of West Country. ITV West Country thus became a franchise region. Both companies which make up the new regional licence still legally exist. ITV Wales & West Ltd, ITV Wales & West Group Ltd and Westcountry Television Ltd are each, along with most other regional companies owned by ITV plc, listed on www.companieshouse.gov.uk as
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#1732780077213708-529: A two-minute trail voiced by Bruce Hammal and Trish Bertram welcoming viewers to Westcountry, proudly announcing its forthcoming regional programmes. The promo was followed by the Eddie Murphy and Dudley Moore film Best Defense . The new station promised an increase to 11 hours a week of regional programming of mixed genres. Six months after the launch, the company joined up with Meridian Broadcasting , HTV , Channel Television and S4C to create
767-409: A wide variety of educational and other uses. They provide community film shows and help anyone with an interest in using or viewing the material they hold. SWFTA participated in the national digitising project Unlocking Film Heritage . When TSW won the franchise, the company purchased Westward's studio facilities at Derry's Cross, Plymouth along with all the staff. The studios, which had suffered from
826-666: The ITV plc merger of 2004, and officially taking this name two years later. ITV1 Westcountry was used for a time after this, although from 13 November 2006, the regional name was only verbally mentioned before any locally produced programming. Following a speech by Michael Grade about regional broadcasting post-switchover at the 2007 Nations and Regions conference in Cardiff , there was speculation that ITV West and ITV Westcountry could merge news operations, as part of further streamlining of regional operations. Rumours suggested that, while
885-549: The Independent Television Commission , Westcountry announced on 1 April 1992 it had abandoned the plans to build new studios on the Plymouth waterfront, opting instead to convert an industrial unit at Langage Science Park, Plymouth. It also reduced its planned staffing levels – already far fewer than those of TSW – leading to an expression of disappointment by TSW's managing director Harry Turner. Of
944-508: The Isles of Scilly ). Reporter and camera crews were also based at district newsrooms in Penzance , Taunton , Torbay and Weymouth . The programme ended on Friday 13 February 2009. Following ITV Westcountry's merger with ITV West to form ITV West & Westcountry , the new pan-regional programme The West Country Tonight launched on Monday 16 February 2009. A 20-minute opt-out for
1003-571: The 297 TSW employees, only 16 found work at Westcountry at the start of the franchise. Around 112 staff were employed by Westcountry at the time of the station's launch. Westcountry Television took over from TSW at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Day (1 January) 1993 after ITN 's Into The New Year bulletin featuring the Westminster clock tower chimes. Technicians switched from the TSW microwave link to Westcountry Television, launching into
1062-578: The ITC again noted its "strong, high quality regional programming" and that it had "scored a major network success with Christmas with the Royal Navy , a series of five live programmes". In 1999 the ITC again commented that Westcountry provided a "regional service of generally high quality" and that overall its range of regional programmes was "wide and included some strong factual material", also noting that one of its children's programmes had been supplied to
1121-566: The ITV1 logo on the left hand side of the screen with Carlton logo below. This remained until late 2003, when the Carlton name was removed from regional idents, which instead featured four colour cubes randomly located in a scene from the region. The ITV1 logo was located in the bottom right corner with the caption ITV1 for the Westcountry located beneath. Following the 2004 ITV rebranding,
1180-569: The London Underground. It also produced The Cut Price Comedy Show , a short-lived production broadcast in the early days of Channel 4 . Locally, TSW continued to utilise the Westward star Gus Honeybun , a rabbit puppet that (along with the station's continuity announcers) read out birthday dedications on-air to children from the area, who had sent in their cards to him. TSW also specialised in making relatively highbrow programmes for
1239-510: The Plymouth base, TSW also operated a newsroom and remote studio in Yeovil , as well as local offices in Barnstaple and Exeter . TSW's symbol was an abstract design representing palm trees, rolling hills and water; features typical of the region. The music accompanying the original ident was a section of the station theme, That's Soul, Write , written and composed by Will Malone, which
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#17327800772131298-573: The TSW Film and Television Archive, one of the first and largest of what has now become a network of regional film archives. The archive is a charitable trust , existing to preserve the region's moving image heritage. It is open to the public and holds film and television recordings from a wide variety of sources, including donations from the general public. The archive, renamed the South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA) in 2003, holds
1357-429: The Westcountry brand completely disappeared from continuity and the news service respectively. The station would now be known on-air as just ITV1 at all times. On 14 January 2013, the station's on-air identity was changed to ITV , along with all other ITV plc-owned franchises. Westcountry's programme offerings were primarily aimed at a regional market as opposed to gaining network slots. Westcountry's flagship programme
1416-402: The Westcountry region. Former Westcountry Live presenters Richard Bath, Alexis Bowater and Jemma Woodman were made redundant. Bath and Woodman presented the final main edition of the programme on Friday 13 February 2009, which featured a special highlights compilation with contributions from presenters, reporters and production staff. Westcountry's main Plymouth studios were closed along with
1475-444: The area since 1961. TSW promised greater investment in the area including the introduction of electronic news gathering facilities at a number of sites in the region (a process already started by Westward) and a stronger emphasis on local programming (an area in which Westward had been particularly successful). However, TSW's success in winning the contract may have been helped by boardroom friction within Westward which had blighted
1534-489: The company for several years and incurred criticism from the Independent Broadcasting Authority . During negotiations to purchase Westward's facilities at Derry's Cross in Plymouth, the management of TSW bought the whole Westward company for £2.38 million and thus went on air four months early on 12 August 1981, although it transmitted under the Westward name until the end of the year. TSW
1593-416: The current Westcountry region is featured within the 6pm programme alongside fully separate short bulletins and localised weather forecasts seven days a week. The news service was renamed ITV News West Country on 14 January 2013. Depending on the day's news, either the West or Westcountry bulletins are pre-recorded. The service is presented from Bristol with newsrooms in Plymouth, Truro and Exeter covering
1652-454: The day's news) and weather forecasts for the Westcountry region during the main 6pm programme and in the weekday late bulletin after News at Ten . Separate daytime bulletins for the region were reintroduced in September 2011. On 14 January 2013, the region became known as ITV West Country . In September 2013, the south west opt-out within the main 6pm news programme ITV News West Country
1711-509: The daytime announcing/newsreading shift with Ian Stirling and Ruth Langsford taking over for the last few evening shifts. The day's schedule included the final edition of Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays , a repeat of the award-winning documentary, A Day in the Life of...Beryl Cook and a one-hour TSW Today special featuring the last regional news bulletin and an expansive look back at TSW's programming. Along with other ITV broadcasters, with
1770-619: The district newsrooms in Barnstaple, Penzance, Torbay and Weymouth. A new, smaller Plymouth newsroom opened at the offices of independent production company Twofour . ITV Westcountry 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 (Television South West) , from 1 January 1993. The station
1829-500: The entire surviving back catalogue of Westward and TSW programmes, and several tens of thousands of other items (which all have a connection to the south-west of England) donated by members of the general public. The SWFTA, now known as The Box , aims to preserve moving image material as a resource for future generations. The archive is managed by a qualified archivist who is supported by a team of employed staff and volunteers, most of whom came from TSW. They regularly supply material for
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1888-412: The exceptions of TVS , which broadcast its own farewell special, Goodbye to All That , and both Scottish Television and Grampian Television which broadcast the traditional Hogmanay , the last ever programme broadcast on TSW was Thames Television 's own farewell programme, entitled The End Of The Year Show: The Best... from Thames . After that show's closing credits, the final sign-off announcement
1947-655: The first day of broadcasting until shortly after regional continuity was abandoned in October 2002. Following the merger to form ITV West Country , most of Westcountry's operations were transferred to HTV 's West headquarters in Bristol , where production of the regional news service is now based. The only operation left in Plymouth is a newsroom and sales office, alongside two newsrooms in Truro and Exeter . Up until early 2009, Westcountry ran four sub-regional services, each providing short opt-out bulletins for their area during
2006-566: The flagship news programme Westcountry Live and the late bulletin after News at Ten . The opt-outs were broadcast from Westcountry's studios in Barnstaple (covering north Devon), Exeter (serving east Devon and parts of Somerset), Plymouth (south Devon & parts of east Cornwall) and Truro (Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly). Westcountry was the first and only ITV company to produce four opt-outs for its region. Between 1 January 1993 and 5 September 1999, Westcountry's presentation featured that of
2065-540: The highest bid, while renewing Granada's when it had been outbid. The case went right to the House of Lords , but was rejected in February 1992. The implications of the court case did change the behaviour of the ITC into being more open with regards to its business. TSW's high bid of £16.12 million had been influenced largely by managing director Harry Turner's correct expectation of competitors for its franchise area, which were TeleWest Broadcasting (not to be confused with
2124-409: The late-night bulletins on weekdays. Westcountry was the first and only ITV company to produce four opt-outs for their region The opt-outs were broadcast from Westcountry's district studios in Barnstaple (covering North Devon ), Exeter (serving East Devon & parts of Somerset and west Dorset ), Plymouth (South Devon and parts of East Cornwall ), and Truro (Central and West Cornwall &
2183-516: The look changed drastically, as the Carlton 'Star' ident package was launched on the network. The look, featuring a start up film involving hearts would flash out to reveal the Carlton name over a spinning star background. The Westcountry name was only used on the news programme Westcountry Live . This package lasted until 28 October 2002, when regional continuity was lost. In its place, a national ITV1 branding package , with local idents featuring
2242-669: The network. Television South West Television South West ( TSW ) was the ITV franchise holder for the South West England region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from studios at Derry's Cross in Plymouth , Devon. On 28 December 1980 TSW was awarded the contract to serve the South West England region from the night of 31 December 1981 at 12 midnight for a 10-year period, succeeding incumbent Westward Television , which had served
2301-446: The new local ident featured the national ident of three cubes containing the letters 'ITV' above a large cube '1', with the addition of the region name below. A few blunders occurred however. To begin with, Westcountry's local ident had the word West beneath which was later replaced as West Country . The ident was finally amended to show the right name at approximately the same time that regional idents were abandoned. In 2006 and 2009,
2360-500: The new station would not be handled in Plymouth as previously, but in Cardiff at HTV Wales headquarters. The old TSW studios were then stripped with the equipment being auctioned, and the building itself was converted into offices. A solicitors practice called Foot Anstey (formerly Foot & Bowden) was then based there until 16 March 2009 The former studios were demolished just before Christmas 2009 to make way for an adjacent retail, residential and hotel development. In addition to
2419-514: The other ITV regions or even opt out of network activity completely. Such notable scheduling changes included: Additionally, Channel Television , the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands required a network feed from another nearby ITV region on the mainland, which was provided by Westward Television for many years, until it lost its franchise in 1981. TSW took over the requirement from 1982, until 1986, when Channel switched to TVS for
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2478-456: The outcome. Subsequently, Westcountry was re-branded as Carlton Westcountry on 6 September 1999, although only referred on screen as Carlton . On 27 October 2002, Carlton Westcountry lost its regional identity, and became known as ITV1 Carlton prior to regional programmes only, while being known as ITV1 at all other times. The franchise briefly became ITV1 for the Westcountry in 2003, before being renamed onscreen as ITV1 Westcountry upon
2537-567: The promise a full-bodied blend of the new and familiar. And from all of us here on duty in these first few seconds of 1982, a happy new year from and with TSW . And to get the new year off to a good-humoured start, we have a brand new comedy with Peter Cook and Mimi Kennedy in The Two of Us . This was followed by the full version of TSW's ident. The comedy programme was followed by further continuity, an epilogue, weather & shipping forecast and closedown – all with TSW branding. However, when
2596-444: The region; in the arts world, it produced documentaries showcasing amongst others, leading concert pianist Moura Lympany , potter Bernard Leach , and sculptor Barbara Hepworth . TSW was a notably regional company, declaring itself as a channel in its own right, rather than just being part of the ITV network. It had a reputation for scheduling to suit its own requirements and would often broadcast particular shows at different times to
2655-471: The same day as Border Television , Tyne Tees Television and Grampian Television . It was also one of the first ITV companies to broadcast in NICAM digital stereo , which it started doing in summer 1990. Shortly, right after Roger Shaw delivered the closing announcement on Westward's closing night, TSW began with a short video clip of a champagne bottle being opened accompanied by the short audio version of
2714-411: The screen finally faded to black at approximately 12:40 am on 1 January 1982, Shaw made a final out-of-vision courtesy announcement and managed to mention the now-defunct Westward one last time, saying 'from all the staff here at Westward – good night'. 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
2773-400: The station ident "That's Soul, Write". Shaw then reappeared wearing a modern suit (no longer in a dinner jacket), and now in a modern chair, surrounded by staff wearing TSW T-shirts and holding 2" videotapes. This was clearly to remind viewers of a new modern era. Shaw made the first announcement on TSW: ...let's say welcome to 1982 from your new television station, Television South West, with
2832-405: The telecommunications provider of the same name ) and Westcountry Television , the latter "looking frighteningly well organised" that had worried TSW. TeleWest was headed by local independent programme producer Mallory Maltby and included BBC News personality Angela Rippon and several ex-TSW personnel in its line-up, but had failed on quality grounds unlike Westcountry. Westcountry, meanwhile,
2891-472: The worst water pollution incidents in the United Kingdom and which had occurred within the franchise area at Camelford . On 16 October 1991, Westcountry was announced as the winner, bidding £7 million a year against TSW's bid of £16 million a year. Several local MPs were concerned that South West Water's involvement would lead to partiality in news items concerning the local water firm. TSW launched
2950-509: Was also aired regularly at closedown until 1985. In September 1989, when the ITV network introduced a new corporate logo and national on-air identity, TSW was one of the five regions that didn't use the generic idents designed for the region, preferring to stay with their own idents. Like its predecessor, TSW produced few programmes for the ITV network. Exceptions to this included the game shows, That's My Dog and Sounds Like Music and children's cartoon Tube Mice , about mice who lived beneath
3009-420: 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. This triggered TSW to apply for a judicial review against the ITC, on the grounds that its bid had been unfairly dismissed. TSW believed that it was a casualty of the ITC's wish not to renew TVS's franchise, despite being
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#17327800772133068-547: Was backed up by a network of seven local newsrooms and studios in Torbay , Penzance , Truro , Exeter , Barnstaple , Weymouth and Taunton . Although Westcountry's headquarters were in Plymouth, transmission for the channel was outsourced and run by HTV Wales staff at HTV's presentation centre in Culverhouse Cross , Cardiff with continuity announcers based at the Plymouth studios. This arrangement lasted from
3127-616: Was chaired by merchant banker Stephen Redfarn , who was a former associate of James Gatward (one of the founders of neighbouring TVS ), received the support of such figures as John Banham (the then-director of Confederation of British Industry ), Frank Copplestone (the former managing director of TVS's predecessor Southern Television ) and John Prescott-Thomas (a television executive at BBC South West ), and had financial backing from Associated Newspapers , Brittany Ferries and South West Water , which TSW had assumed would have helped Westcountry to "certainly bid to their maximum capacity",
3186-405: Was expected to acquire the company, But Westcountry owners had become increasingly frustrated at the slow progress of talks and criticised United boss Lord Hollick 's "nickel and dime" tactics over negotiations, opting instead to sell to Carlton Communications for £10m higher than United's offer of around £75m, around 25 November 1996. Hollick was described as "disappointed but far from livid" at
3245-661: Was extended to at least 20 minutes. Separate weekend bulletins were also reintroduced, effectively restoring a full regional news service for the former Westcountry region. Westcountry was originally based at Brittany Ferries' offices in Millbay Docks, Plymouth with a view to constructing a purpose-built studio centre on the Plymouth waterfront. However, following the delay caused by TSW 's legal proceedings, these plans were scrapped. The company opted instead to convert an industrial unit at Langage Science Park in Plympton, which
3304-542: Was made by Ian Stirling and Ruth Langsford at 11:55 pm, bidding farewell to the departing station by thanking the viewers and paying tribute – after which, TSW handed over to ITN for the news headlines and midnight chimes of the Big Ben in a brief news bulletin entitled Into the New Year . At the end of the bulletin, transmission was switched to Westcountry Television . After the franchise loss, TSW undertook
3363-519: Was owned and operated by ITV plc under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited (formerly Westcountry Television Limited ). ITV West Country incorporating the former ITV Westcountry ("West") and ITV West ("East") regions was (until 31 December 2013) a non-franchise ITV regional station covering South West England . With the formal split of the Wales and West Channel 3 licence in January 2014,
3422-407: Was seen as slightly more ambitious than both its predecessor Westward Television and its successor Westcountry Television and its presentation, although still homelier than much seen on ITV and not dissimilar to that of Westward, was considered more professional than that of its forebear. TSW was one of the last ITV companies to start broadcasting 24 hours a day, which it did on 2 September 1988 –
3481-430: Was the regional news magazine Westcountry Live , which ran between Westcountry's launch in 1993 until the merger in 2009. Other regional programmes included: In its annual reports, the Independent Television Commission (ITC) commented on Westcountry's programming and performance; in 1995 it said that Westcountry had a "good news service and regional programming", despite a difficult first year. Two years later in 1997
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