Television Wales and the West
 |
|
| Based in | Cardiff, Bristol, London |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area |
South Wales West of England |
| First airdate | 14 January 1958 |
| Closed | 4 March 1968 |
| Replaced | Wales West and North Television in west and north Wales in 1964 |
| Replaced by |
Independent Television Service for Wales and the West (emergency service) HTV (formerly Harlech) |
| Owned by | Self-owned |
Television Wales and the West (TWW) was the British "Independent Television" (commercial television) contractor for the franchise area serving 'South Wales and West of England' 1956–68 (franchise awarded 26 October 1956, started transmissions on 14 January 1958).
For the first six years, TWW's service was provided from a single VHF transmitter serving both south east Wales and the west of England. The later acquisition of WWN in 1964 enabled TWW to extend its coverage across most of Wales and to provide separate services for the Welsh and English parts of the resulting 'dual region' franchise.
Television Wales and the West opened transmission at 4:45 pm on 14 January 1958 with a live, 15-minute opening ceremony by station chairman Lord Derby, Sir Ifan ab Owen Edwards and Alfred Francis. The master of ceremonies was chief continuity announcer, Bruce Lewis.
At 5:00 pm, Youth Wants to Know, a children's interview programme produced by Granada Television, became the first programme to be broadcast by TWW. In the programme, Lady Megan Lloyd George and Raymond Gower fielded questions from Welsh school children. Following Youth Wants to Know, ITN's early evening news at 5:40 pm was read by Huw Thomas from TWW's studios at Pontcanna.
The main opening programme came at 7:00 pm with The Stars Rise in the West, a filmed special introduced by It's That Man Again regular Jack Train. The programme, produced in association with ITN, featured appearances from Sir Ralph Richardson, Stanley Baker (later a founder of TWW's successors, Harlech Television), Naunton Wayne, Donald Sinden, Tessie O'Shea, Donald Houston, Petula Clark, Tommy Cooper and Ralph Reader. Harry Secombe also appeared in a short film clip, performing Nessun Dorma.
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