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
BrandingITV1 Cymru Wales
Country
United Kingdom
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/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 2023, the former HTV West company is still legally named ITV Wales and West Ltd. The company 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.

ITV Cymru Wales are also known for a number of half hour documentaries, which debut in Wales before getting a slot on the main ITV network at a time which usually provides a convenient opt-out slot for viewers in Scotland watching on ITV Border or on STV. Many of the documentaries are of a format which tracks year in the life of a coastal resort or area,[5] with The Village documenting Portmeirion,[6][7][8] The Strait showing life around the Menai Strait[9] and The Harbour showing a year in Tenby.[10][11][12] ITV Cymru Wales' latest coastal six-part series is The Pier, with Llandudno Pier[13] having been filmed during the summer of 2021. The series started on ITV Cymru Wales on 4 October 2021,[14][15] with one episode from the series broadcast so far on ITV in England on 13 March 2022.[16]

In addition to these shows, The Mountain[17] and Return to the Mountain were filmed on Mount Snowdon, while Sean Fletcher[18] has presented a couple of walking documentaries for ITV Cymru Wales with Wonders of the Border taking Flecher along the Offa's Dyke Path[19][20][21] and Wonders of the Coast Path[22][23][24][25] showing him along the 870-mile long Wales Coast Path. In addition to these programmes, which have also been broadcast by ITV in England, Fletcher is currently a presenter on Coast & Country [26][27] alongside Ruth Dodsworth, with the programme transmitted in Wales since 2013.

References
  1. ITV Cymru Wales news shake-up under new Ofcom licence, Huw Thomas, BBC News, 23 July 2013
  2. Ofcom agrees ITV news shake-up Jake Kanter, Broadcast Now, 23 July 2013
  3. "Licensing of Channel 3 and Channel 5: A report to the Secretary of State under section 229 of the Communications Act 2003". Ofcom. 23 May 2012. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  4. "ITV Cymru Wales HD launches on August 25". itv.com. 11 August 2015.
  5. "The Strait – Slam Media".
  6. "The Village: Episode 1". ITV.
  7. "Tourism chiefs hope ITV series on Portmeirion will boost visits post-lockdown". 24 April 2020.
  8. "New ITV Cymru Wales series the Village launches". ITV Cymru Wales. 14 April 2019.
  9. "Popular TV series 'The Strait' to be broadcast across the UK". The Bangor Aye. 7 September 2018.
  10. "The Harbour: Episode 1". ITV.
  11. "Tenby Features on ITV Series 'The Harbour'". November 2017.
  12. "The Harbour". Slam Media.
  13. Lennox, Aaran (4 October 2021). "Llandudno pier stars in series showing highs and lows of summer like no other". North Wales Live.
  14. "The Pier - ITV Wales -".
  15. "The Pier - ITV Wales -". 29 September 2021.
  16. "The Pier: Episode 1". ITV.
  17. "The Mountain". ITV Cymru Wales.
  18. Harrison, Jack (7 January 2022). "Offa's Dyke Path to star in new ITV series — Wonders of the Border". The Leader.
  19. "Wonders of the Border - Watch episodes". ITV Hub.
  20. "Wonders of the Border (TV Series)". Radio Times.
  21. "Wonders of the Border Episode 1". ITV Press Centre.
  22. "Wonders of the Coast Path - Watch episodes".
  23. "Wales Coast Path / Wonders of the Coast Path ITV Wales series".
  24. "Wales Coast Path / Search / Walking Wales Sean Fletcher Wales Coast Path coast ITV".
  25. "Wonders of the Coast Path (TV Series)". Radio Times.
  26. "Sean Fletcher to join Coast & Country on ITV Cymru Wales". 17 September 2020.
  27. "Coast & Country".
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