Television South West
Encyclopedia
Television South West was the ITV
franchise holder for the South West England
region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from the former Westward Television
studios in Plymouth
, Devon
.
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 the company for several years and incurred criticism from the Independent Broadcasting Authority
. During negotiations to purchase Westward's facilities at Derry's Cross, Plymouth
the management of TSW bought the whole company for £2.38million and thus went on-air four months early in August 1981, although they transmitted under the Westward name until the end of the year.
TSW 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 its forebear.
TSW was one of the last ITV companies to start broadcasting 24 hours, which it did so on 2nd September 1988, alongside Border
, Tyne Tees
, HTV
and Grampian
. It was also one of the first ITV companies to start broadcasting in Nicam Digital Stereo, which it started doing in summer 1990.
(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 IBA's wish not to renew TVS's franchise, despite theirs being the highest bid, while renewing Granada's when they 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.
Westcountry Television
were the south-west region franchise winners and took over from TSW at midnight on 1 January 1993. On 31 December 1992, TSW marked its final transmission with a number of special programmes and continuity links. Continuity announcers Sally Meen and Tristram Payne shared the daytime announcing/newsreading shift with Ian Stirling
and Ruth Langsford
taking over for the final evening shift. 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 lookback at TSW's programming.
The final sign-off announcement was made by Ian Stirling and Ruth Langsford at 11:55pm - after which, TSW handed over to ITN for news headlines and the midnight chimes of Big Ben in a brief news bulletin entitled Into The New Year. At the end of the bulletin, transmission was switched to Westcountry
, who began with a quick introduction and movie.
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 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 the entire surviving back catalogue of Westward and TSW programmes, together with archive material from BBC South West
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 aims to preserve moving image material as a resource for future generations. With five staff, four of whom came from TSW, they regularly supply material for 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.
studio facilities at Derry's Cross, Plymouth
along with all the staff. The studios, which had suffered from 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 their franchise, their successors, Westcountry, chose not to purchase the studios, preferring new facilities just outside Plymouth, at Langage Science Park, Plympton instead. Transmission control of the new station would not be handled in Plymouth as previously, but in Cardiff
at HTV Wales
headquarters, ending 31 years of broadcasting from Derry's Cross Studios. The old TSW studios were then stripped with the equipment being auctioned, and the building itself was converted into office space. A solicitors practice called Foot Anstey (formerly Foot & Bowden) were then based there until 16 March 2009 The studios were demolished just before Christmas 2009 to make way for an adjacent retail, residential and hotel development.
In addition to the Plymouth base, TSW also operated a newsroom and remote controlled studio in Yeovil
, as well as local offices in Barnstaple
and Exeter
.
TSW's original ident
(a jingle
that preceded station output) attracted much derision for failing to reflect the identity of the area it served. Although the static version showed green hills and a river to symbolize the West Country, the bubble and wave animation of the moving version was said to confuse viewers. In 1985 the ident was remodeled solely on the hills and river motif with a reworking of the accompanying tune. Whereas the original used a mixture of CGI
and stop-frame animation the latter comprised purely of CGI. The ident was originally created by a graphic designer called, Paul Honeywill, who said in the 2001 documentary, 40 Years of ITV In The South-West: "It doesn't actually represent anything in particular, but through its simplicity it stays in your brain.".
Their first ident from 1982 was on a black background, with an overhead view of a static television screen with a red border around it. A blue square comes out of the screen. The square curves and starts to cover the screen as a pink volcano-like object rises out of the screen. Once the screen is covered, it is now a blue sphere. The sphere splits into three and then six in a mitosis-like effect. The spheres then flip to reveal that they are green hemispheres with a blue interior. The hemispheres then form pairs at various angles (looking a bit like the Sydney Opera House) and move toward the center of the screen. A blue zigzag line appears below them and "TSW" appears below the line. The music accompanying the ident was a section of the station theme, That's Soul, Write, written and composed by Will Malone, which was also aired regularly at closedown until 1986.
The remodeled 1986 ident was on a fading sky background, with 3 pairs of green semicircles (same design as the first logo) that flip from the bottom of the screen into 2D at the middle of the screen. The blue zigzag line comes with them and flips back into its normal place as the 3D letters "T", "S", and "W" appear from the top of the screen and spin a little as they go to their normal place.
In September 1989, when ITV introduced its first official corporate logo and national on-air identity, TSW was one of the five regions that refused to use the generic idents that were designed for their respective regions, each preferring to stay with their distinctive on-screen branding instead. In the case of TSW, the station instead chose to launch seasonal idents which would continue to be utilised, alongside the 1986 ident, until it went off air in 1992. Anglia
, Channel
, TVS
and Ulster
also chose to opt out of the network branding.
. 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 the region; in the arts world, it produced documentaries showcasing amongst others, leading concert pianist Moura Lympany
, potter Bernard Leach
, and sculptor Barbara Hepworth
.
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 they lost their franchise in 1981. TSW took over the requirement from 1982, until 1986, when Channel switched to TVS
for the feed instead. After TVS lost their franchise in the 1991 ITV auction round, Meridian Broadcasting
provided the network feed from 1993 onwards.
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
franchise holder for the South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
region from 1 January 1982 until 31 December 1992, broadcasting from the former Westward Television
Westward Television
Westward Television was the first ITV franchise holder for the South West of England from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward provided a popular, distinctive and highly regarded service to its region, until public boardroom squabbles led to its franchise not...
studios in Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
.
Origins and Launch
On 28 December 1980 Television South West was awarded the contract to serve the south-west of England from 1 January 1982 for a ten-year period, succeeding incumbent Westward, which had served the area since 1961.TSW promised greater investment in the area including the introduction of Electronic News Gathering
Electronic news gathering
ENG is a broadcasting industry acronym which stands for electronic news gathering. It can mean anything from a lone broadcast journalist reporter taking a single professional video camera out to shoot a story, to an entire television crew taking a production truck or satellite truck on location...
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 the company for several years and incurred criticism from the Independent Broadcasting Authority
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
. During negotiations to purchase Westward's facilities at Derry's Cross, Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
the management of TSW bought the whole company for £2.38million and thus went on-air four months early in August 1981, although they transmitted under the Westward name until the end of the year.
TSW was seen as slightly more ambitious than both its predecessor Westward Television
Westward Television
Westward Television was the first ITV franchise holder for the South West of England from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward provided a popular, distinctive and highly regarded service to its region, until public boardroom squabbles led to its franchise not...
and its successor Westcountry Television
Westcountry Television
Westcountry Television, is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, TSW , from the 1 January 1993...
and its presentation, although still homelier than much seen on ITV and not dissimilar to that of Westward, was considered more professional than its forebear.
TSW was one of the last ITV companies to start broadcasting 24 hours, which it did so on 2nd September 1988, alongside Border
Border Television
Border Television is the ITV franchise holder for the Border region, spanning the England/Scotland border and covering Dumfries & Galloway region, a small part of the south-west area of Ayrshire, the Scottish Borders, parts of north and west Northumberland and the majority of Cumbria...
, Tyne Tees
Tyne Tees Television
Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
, HTV
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
and Grampian
Grampian Television
Grampian Television is the ITV franchisee for the North and North East of Scotland. Its coverage area includes the Scottish Highlands , Inverness, Aberdeen, Dundee and parts of north Fife...
. It was also one of the first ITV companies to start broadcasting in Nicam Digital Stereo, which it started doing in summer 1990.
Franchise loss and Closure
On 16 October 1991, following changes to the way ITV contracts were issued (now 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 CommissionIndependent Television Commission
The Independent Television Commission licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003....
(ITC) as being far too high. This triggered TSW to apply for a judicial review
Judicial review
Judicial review is the doctrine under which legislative and executive actions are subject to review by the judiciary. Specific courts with judicial review power must annul the acts of the state when it finds them incompatible with a higher authority...
against the ITC, on the grounds that its bid had been unfairly dismissed. TSW believed that it was a casualty of the IBA's wish not to renew TVS's franchise, despite theirs being the highest bid, while renewing Granada's when they had been outbid. The case went right to the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
, 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.
Westcountry Television
Westcountry Television
Westcountry Television, is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, TSW , from the 1 January 1993...
were the south-west region franchise winners and took over from TSW at midnight on 1 January 1993. On 31 December 1992, TSW marked its final transmission with a number of special programmes and continuity links. Continuity announcers Sally Meen and Tristram Payne shared the daytime announcing/newsreading shift with Ian Stirling
Ian Stirling (broadcaster)
Ian Andrew Stirling was a British actor and television presenter, best known for his work with Westward Television and Television South West....
and Ruth Langsford
Ruth Langsford
Ruth Langsford is an English television presenter.Langsford began her career as a continuity announcer and newscaster with ITV regional station TSW in the South West of England...
taking over for the final evening shift. 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
TSW Today
TSW Today was the news programme on Television South West, the ITV licensee for South West England.The programme began as Today South West in 1982, then in the mid-1980s was renamed Today and subsequently, in 1989, became TSW Today....
special featuring the last regional news bulletin and an expansive lookback at TSW's programming.
The final sign-off announcement was made by Ian Stirling and Ruth Langsford at 11:55pm - after which, TSW handed over to ITN for news headlines and the midnight chimes of Big Ben in a brief news bulletin entitled Into The New Year. At the end of the bulletin, transmission was switched to Westcountry
Westcountry Television
Westcountry Television, is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, TSW , from the 1 January 1993...
, who began with a quick introduction and movie.
After 1993
After the franchise loss, TSW undertook a reverse takeoverReverse takeover
A reverse takeover or reverse merger is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public...
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
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
, based around the back catalogue of Westward and TSW programmes they owned. They created 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
Charitable trust
A charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization".-United States:...
, 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 the entire surviving back catalogue of Westward and TSW programmes, together with archive material from BBC South West
BBC South West
BBC South West is the BBC English Region serving Devon, Cornwall and the Channel Islands.-Television:BBC South Wests television service consists of the flagship regional news service Spotlight, the opt-out service BBC Channel Islands, the topical magazine programme Inside Out and a 20-minute...
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 aims to preserve moving image material as a resource for future generations. With five staff, four of whom came from TSW, they regularly supply material for 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.
Studios
When TSW won the franchise, the company purchased Westward'sWestward Television
Westward Television was the first ITV franchise holder for the South West of England from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward provided a popular, distinctive and highly regarded service to its region, until public boardroom squabbles led to its franchise not...
studio facilities at Derry's Cross, Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
along with all the staff. The studios, which had suffered from 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 their franchise, their successors, Westcountry, chose not to purchase the studios, preferring new facilities just outside Plymouth, at Langage Science Park, Plympton instead. Transmission control of the new station would not be handled in Plymouth as previously, but in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
at HTV Wales
HTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
headquarters, ending 31 years of broadcasting from Derry's Cross Studios. The old TSW studios were then stripped with the equipment being auctioned, and the building itself was converted into office space. A solicitors practice called Foot Anstey (formerly Foot & Bowden) were then based there until 16 March 2009 The studios were demolished just before Christmas 2009 to make way for an adjacent retail, residential and hotel development.
In addition to the Plymouth base, TSW also operated a newsroom and remote controlled studio in Yeovil
Yeovil
Yeovil is a town and civil parish in south Somerset, England. The parish had a population of 27,949 at the 2001 census, although the wider urban area had a population of 42,140...
, as well as local offices in Barnstaple
Barnstaple
Barnstaple is a town and civil parish in the local government district of North Devon in the county of Devon, England, UK. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete.It is the main town of the...
and Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
.
Station Identity
Ident
The Ident Protocol, specified in RFC 1413, is an Internet protocol that helps identify the user of a particular TCP connection. One popular daemon program for providing the ident service is identd.-How ident works:...
(a jingle
Jingle
A jingle is a short tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. The jingle contains one or more hooks and lyrics that explicitly promote the product being advertised, usually through the use of one or more advertising slogans. Ad buyers use jingles in radio and television...
that preceded station output) attracted much derision for failing to reflect the identity of the area it served. Although the static version showed green hills and a river to symbolize the West Country, the bubble and wave animation of the moving version was said to confuse viewers. In 1985 the ident was remodeled solely on the hills and river motif with a reworking of the accompanying tune. Whereas the original used a mixture of CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
and stop-frame animation the latter comprised purely of CGI. The ident was originally created by a graphic designer called, Paul Honeywill, who said in the 2001 documentary, 40 Years of ITV In The South-West: "It doesn't actually represent anything in particular, but through its simplicity it stays in your brain.".
Their first ident from 1982 was on a black background, with an overhead view of a static television screen with a red border around it. A blue square comes out of the screen. The square curves and starts to cover the screen as a pink volcano-like object rises out of the screen. Once the screen is covered, it is now a blue sphere. The sphere splits into three and then six in a mitosis-like effect. The spheres then flip to reveal that they are green hemispheres with a blue interior. The hemispheres then form pairs at various angles (looking a bit like the Sydney Opera House) and move toward the center of the screen. A blue zigzag line appears below them and "TSW" appears below the line. The music accompanying the ident was a section of the station theme, That's Soul, Write, written and composed by Will Malone, which was also aired regularly at closedown until 1986.
The remodeled 1986 ident was on a fading sky background, with 3 pairs of green semicircles (same design as the first logo) that flip from the bottom of the screen into 2D at the middle of the screen. The blue zigzag line comes with them and flips back into its normal place as the 3D letters "T", "S", and "W" appear from the top of the screen and spin a little as they go to their normal place.
In September 1989, when ITV introduced its first official corporate logo and national on-air identity, TSW was one of the five regions that refused to use the generic idents that were designed for their respective regions, each preferring to stay with their distinctive on-screen branding instead. In the case of TSW, the station instead chose to launch seasonal idents which would continue to be utilised, alongside the 1986 ident, until it went off air in 1992. Anglia
Anglia Television
Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
, Channel
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...
, TVS
Television South
Television South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
and Ulster
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...
also chose to opt out of the network branding.
Programming
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 the London Underground. It also produced The Cut Price Comedy Show, a short-lived production broadcast in the early days of Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. Locally, TSW continued to utilise the Westward star Gus Honeybun
Gus Honeybun
Gus Honeybun was the station mascot for Westward Television, and later Television South West, from 1961 to 1992. A puppet rabbit, and star of Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays, he achieved a longevity for a TV puppet second only to Sooty....
, 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 the region; in the arts world, it produced documentaries showcasing amongst others, leading concert pianist Moura Lympany
Moura Lympany
Dame Moura Lympany DBE was an English concert pianist.She was born as Mary Gertrude Johnstone at Saltash, Cornwall. Her father was an army officer who had served in World War I and her mother originally taught her the piano...
, potter Bernard Leach
Bernard Leach
Bernard Howell Leach, CBE, CH , was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery"-Biography:...
, and sculptor Barbara Hepworth
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE was an English sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism, and with such contemporaries as Ivon Hitchens, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo she helped to develop modern art in Britain.-Life and work:Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on 10 January 1903 in Wakefield,...
.
Scheduling opt-outs
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 the other ITV regions or even opt-out of network activity completely. Such notable scheduling changes included:- Series two of Blockbusters was not broadcast, but around 50 editions of the 1984/5 series were shown on TSW, during summer holiday mornings: 1 July - 24 August 1985.
- Weekday editions of Gus Honeybun's Magic BirthdaysGus HoneybunGus Honeybun was the station mascot for Westward Television, and later Television South West, from 1961 to 1992. A puppet rabbit, and star of Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays, he achieved a longevity for a TV puppet second only to Sooty....
often replaced the first & last Children's ITV live in-vision continuity links of the day, from 1987 - 1990. - The Australian soap, Home and AwayHome and AwayHome and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
was moved from its 5:10pm teatime repeat slot to a much earlier time-slot of 3:27pm on 20 September 1989. It stayed in this afternoon time-slot for 3 years, - The networked sitcom, The Piglet FilesThe Piglet FilesThe Piglet Files is a British sitcom produced by LWT .The show consisted of three series totaling twenty-one episodes that ran between 1990 and 1992....
, starring Nicholas LyndhurstNicholas LyndhurstNicholas Simon Lyndhurst is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses, Gary Sparrow in Goodnight Sweetheart, and as Adam Parkinson in Carla Lane's series Butterflies...
, was not shown on TSW until a few months after its original run in all other ITV regions. Another networked sitcom, The Nineteenth Hole, starring Eric SykesEric SykesEric Sykes, CBE is an English radio, television and film writer, actor and director whose performing career has spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and/or performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Peter...
, was dropped mid-run after complaints from viewers regarding its politically incorrect humour. - The ITV Chart ShowThe Chart ShowThe Chart Show is a music video programme which ran in the UK on Channel 4 between 1986 and 1988, then on ITV between 1989 and 1998. The production company was Video Visuals, and was credited as "A Yorkshire Television Presentation" from 1993 and 1998...
was dropped on occasions (mostly for special programmes) so that TSW could show its weekly news review for the deaf, The South West Week.
Additionally, Channel Television
Channel Television
Channel Television is a British television station which has served as an Independent Television contractor to the Channel Islands since 1962. It is based in Jersey...
, the ITV contractor for the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
required a network feed from another nearby ITV region on the mainland, which was provided by Westward Television for many years, until they lost their franchise in 1981. TSW took over the requirement from 1982, until 1986, when Channel switched to TVS
Television South
Television South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
for the feed instead. After TVS lost their franchise in the 1991 ITV auction round, Meridian Broadcasting
Meridian Broadcasting
Meridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited....
provided the network feed from 1993 onwards.
Programmes
- About Britain (contributions for the ITV network)
- Amoebas to Zebras
- The Cut Price Comedy Show (for Channel Four)
- Frootie Tooties
- Gardens For All (1982–1992)
- Get FreshGet FreshGet Fresh was a children's television programme that ran from 1986 to 1988 in the United Kingdom.-Premise:Broadcast on the Children's ITV network, the show starred Gareth Jones , Charlotte Hindle, and a puppet named Gilbert the Alien...
(contributions for the ITV network, 1986–1988) - Ghost TrainGhost Train (TV series)Ghost Train was a children's television programme broadcast on ITV, between 1989 and 1991, produced by Tyne Tees Television in association with various ITV regional stations including Border Television, Television South West, Ulster Television, Channel Television and Grampian...
(contributions for the ITV network, 1989–1992) - Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays (1982–1992)
- HighwayHighway (TV series)Highway is a British television series broadcast from 1983 until 1993. Presented by Sir Harry Secombe, the show was a mixture of hymns and chat from various locations across Britain, produced by their respective regional ITV franchise holders...
(contributions for the ITV network, 1983–1992) - Interpub (1986–1988)
- ITV TelethonITV TelethonThe ITV Telethons were three charity telethons organised and televised in the UK by the ITV network. They took place in 1988, 1990 and 1992. Each lasted for 27 hours and all were hosted by Michael Aspel.- Thames Telethon :...
(local and networked contributions, 1988, 1990, 1992) - Judi (1984)
- Morning Worship (contributions for the ITV network, 1982–1992)
- Nightcall
- Postscript
- The Saturday Show (later Freeze Frame, c. early - mid 1980s)
- Scene South West
- Sounds Like MusicSounds Like MusicSounds Like Music was a daytime quiz programme that tested the contestants knowledge of musicals from the stage or on film. It was produced by TSW, ran on ITV from 1989-91, and was hosted by pianist Bobby Crush, who also performed the show's theme tune....
- The South West Week (1982–1992)
- That's My DogThat's My DogThat's My Dog was a television game show which aired on The Family Channel in the United States. Two families and their dogs competed for prizes in games and stunts oriented toward the dogs...
(1984–1988) - TeleViews
- Today (1986–1989)
- Today South West (1982–1986)
- Treasures of the Mindlord (1986)
- TSW Community Action
- TSW Farming Week
- TSW Newsport (1982–1992)
- TSW Sportsweek (1982 - c.1990)
- TSW TodayTSW TodayTSW Today was the news programme on Television South West, the ITV licensee for South West England.The programme began as Today South West in 1982, then in the mid-1980s was renamed Today and subsequently, in 1989, became TSW Today....
(1989–1992) - Tube MiceTube MiceTube Mice is a children's animated series produced in 1988 about the adventures of mice who dwell in the tunnels of the London Underground, the subway system locally referred to as 'the tube'....
(1988)
External links
- SWFTA
- Transdiffusion Ident
- Recreation of TSW's clock Shockwave Flash required
- Television South West at TV Ark
- TSW at TV Live