ITV Cymru Wales, previously known as Harlech Television and HTV Wales, is the ITV franchise for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The new separate licence began on 1 January 2014, replacing the long-serving dual franchise region serving Wales and the West of England.

Licence

The licence continues to be held by ITV Broadcasting Ltd, who hold all Channel 3 licences in England and Wales. As of January 2014, the former HTV companies are still legally named ITV Wales and West Group Ltd and ITV Wales and West Ltd. Each of these companies is, along with most other regional companies, owned by ITV plc, though listed at

Companies House Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are in ...

as a "

dormant company A dormant company is a company that carries out no business activities in the given period of time. Dormant companies do not engage in buying/selling for profit, not carrying on business or profession, providing services, earning interest, managi ...

".ITV Cymru Wales news shake-up under new Ofcom licence
Huw Thomas,

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 23 July 2013

History

The broadcasting licence was created following the split of

ITV Wales & West ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchise area in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to a broadcaster by the regulator Ofcom. There is no channel, past or present, named "ITV Wales ...

. It is hoped that the separate licence will benefit local viewers. In May 2012, Ofcom raised the possibility of a stand-alone licence for Wales. 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.

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 ''Wales This Week'' is a long-running Welsh current affairs television programme produced by ITV Cymru Wales (formerly HTV Wales). The programme deals with a wide range of topics relating to the Welsh public, and is usually told through the eye ...

'' 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 Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

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 with

Dai Jones David John Jones (18 October 1943 – 4 March 2022), known as Dai Jones Llanilar, was a Welsh language television presenter, singer and radio broadcaster. Early life David John Jones was born in Holloway, London, Middlesex, to a family of W ...

and the investigative current affairs programmes and . 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, with ''The Village'' documenting Portmeirion, ''The Strait'' showing life around the Menai Strait and ''The Harbour'' showing a year in Tenby. ITV Cymru Wales' latest coastal six-part series is ''The Pier'', with Llandudno Pier having been filmed during the summer of 2021. The series started on ITV Cymru Wales on 4 October 2021, with one episode from the series broadcast so far on ITV in England on 13 March 2022. In addition to these shows, ''The Mountain'' and ''Return to the Mountain'' were filmed on Mount Snowdon, while Sean Fletcher has presented a couple of walking documentaries for ITV Cymru Wales with ''Wonders of the Border'' taking Flecher along the

Offa's Dyke Offa's Dyke ( cy, Clawdd Offa) is a large linear earthwork that roughly follows the border between England and Wales. The structure is named after Offa, the Anglo-Saxon king of Mercia from AD 757 until 796, who is traditionally believed to ha ...

Path and ''Wonders of the Coast Path'' 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'' alongside Ruth Dodsworth, with the programme transmitted in Wales since 2013.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:ITV Cymru Wales Companies based in Cardiff Economy of Cardiff Cymru Wales Television channels and stations established in 2014 Television channels in Wales 2014 establishments in Wales