Independent Television Service for Wales and the West
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| Based in | Cardiff, Bristol |
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| Broadcast area | Wales West of England |
| First airdate | 4 March 1968 |
| Closed | 20 May 1968 |
| Replaced | Television Wales and the West |
| Replaced by | Harlech Television (HTV) |
| Owned by | An arrangement by the ITA where HTV used old TWW staff and facilities prior to becoming ready with its own franchise |
Independent Television Service for Wales and the West or ITSWW was a temporary emergency service provided by the ITA in light of the early termination of service of the previous franchise holder, TWW after they lost their ITV franchise in 1967.
In June 1967 the Independent Television Authority (ITA) had announced changes to the structure and contracts of the ITV network in the United Kingdom, to take effect in July 1968. Several changes were announced that would have far-reaching effects for British television. The UK press decided that the most dramatic news was the loss of the Wales and West contract, held by TWW since 1958, to a consortium headed by and named after Lord Harlech.
TWW fought the ITA's decision, both formally and through the press. However, the ITA remained resolute that it was legally entitled to remove any contract at any time for any reason, and the board of TWW eventually accepted this and announced it would carry on providing a programme service to the area until the end of the contract period.
Standard regulatory practice at the time stated that the new incumbent of a licence should take on all available staff of the outgoing company. However, the new licence holder, Harlech Television, intended to dismiss all the on-screen personnel of TWW, and launch with a fresh team.
The board of TWW were advised not to take a stake in Harlech that was offered to them by the ITA, but this had the effect of depressing the company's share price. It eventually became clear to the board that to raise the maximum amount of money for shareholders, they should "sell" the last part of the broadcast contract to Harlech. The ITA accepted this and the sale went through for £500k. However, Harlech were not yet in a position to begin production and would therefore have to launch their promised new service using "in the can" TWW productions.
The ITA suggested Harlech would receive all the advertising revenue from the handover date, and pay TWW a fee to continue local production, while Harlech continued to prepare its own programmes for the original 31 July launch. The interim contract would use neither company's name, and the literal Independent Television Service for Wales and the West was chosen.
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