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ITV Westcountry

ITV Westcountry, formerly known as Westcountry Television and Carlton Westcountry, was the ITV franchise holder for the south west of England, covering Cornwall, Devon, Isles of Scilly, southern and western Somerset and western Dorset. The company replaced its predecessor, TSW (Television South West), from 1 January 1993. The station was owned and operated by ITV plc under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited (formerly Westcountry Television Limited).[1]

ITV Westcountry
Final logo, used from 2006 to 2013
The ITV Westcountry region when its franchise ended in 2013
TypeRegion of television network
BrandingITV1
Country
First air date
1 January 1993; 30 years ago (1993-01-01)
TV transmittersStockland Hill, Huntshaw Cross, Caradon Hill, Redruth, Beacon Hill
HeadquartersPlymouth
Broadcast area
South West England
OwnerITV plc
DissolvedLost on-air identity on 27 October 2002 (2002-10-27) (since known as ITV at all times)
Franchise ended 31 December 2013
Former names
Carlton Westcountry
Westcountry Television
Picture format
1080i HDTV, downscaled to 16:9 576i for SDTV
Affiliation(s)ITV
LanguageEnglish
ReplacedTSW
Replaced byITV West Country

ITV West Country incorporating the former ITV Westcountry ("West") and ITV West ("East") regions was (until 31 December 2013) a non-franchise ITV regional station covering south west England. With the formal split of the Wales and West Channel 3 licence in January 2014, a separate licence was created for Wales with the West licence merged with that of West Country. ITV West Country thus became a franchise region. Both companies which make up the new regional licence still legally exist. ITV Wales & West Ltd, ITV Wales & West Group Ltd and Westcountry Television Ltd are each, along with most other regional companies owned by ITV plc, listed on www.companieshouse.gov.uk as a "Dormant company". This article however, covers the Westcountry Television part of the franchise.

History Edit

Franchise award Edit

Westcountry Television was one of two rival consortia bidding against the incumbent TSW when the ITV franchises were put to tender early in 1991.[2] Two of Westcountry's original shareholders were Brittany Ferries and South West Water; the latter investor attracted criticism as only three years earlier it had been responsible for one of the worst water pollution incidents in the United Kingdom and which had occurred within the franchise area at Camelford. On 16 October 1991, Westcountry was announced as the winner, bidding £7 million a year against TSW's bid of £16 million a year.[3][4] Several local MPs were concerned that South West Water's involvement would lead to partiality in news items concerning the local water firm.

TSW launched a legal challenge to the franchise award,[5] and after initially being refused permission to do so in the High Court,[4] a legal action began which would last almost three months and went all the way to the House of Lords.[6] In February 1992 the legal process found in favour of Westcountry[7] and while it could now finally sign the franchise agreement, its original programme plans were hit by the delay. Following discussions with the Independent Television Commission, Westcountry announced on 1 April 1992 it had abandoned the plans to build new studios on the Plymouth waterfront, opting instead to convert an industrial unit at Langage Science Park, Plymouth. It also reduced its planned staffing levels – already far fewer than those of TSW – leading to an expression of disappointment by TSW's managing director Harry Turner. Of the 297 TSW employees, only 16 found work at Westcountry at the start of the franchise.[6] Around 112 staff were employed by Westcountry at the time of the station's launch.

Launch Edit

Westcountry Television took over from TSW at stroke of midnight on New Year's Day (1 January) 1993.

At the stroke of midnight, following ITN's Into The New Year bulletin featuring the Westminster clock tower chimes, technicians at switched from TSW to the Westcountry Television was officially opening ceremony took place at srtoke of midnight or 00:00:00 GMT on New Year's Day (1 January 1993). The channel's launch sequence was a two-minute promo voiced by Bruce Hammal and Trish Bertram (two of Westcountry's first trail voiceovers) welcoming viewers to Westcountry and trailing its forthcoming regional programmes. The promo was followed by the Eddie Murphy and Dudley Moore film Best Defense. The new station promised an increase to 11 hours a week of regional programming of mixed genres.[8]

Six months after the launch, the company joined up with Meridian Broadcasting, HTV, Channel Television and S4C to create a joint advertising sales operation.[9]

During the summer of 1996, Westcountry prepared to float the company on the stock market, which resulted in HTV, United News & Media, Carlton Communications and Canwest bidding to buy out Westcountry.[10] In October 1996 GWR, the radio group, made a bid of £70m for Westcountry TV, outbidding both HTV and Carlton,[11] but within a few weeks United News & Media increased its offer and was expected to acquire the company,[12] But Westcountry owners had become increasingly frustrated at the slow progress of talks[13] and criticised United boss Lord Hollick's "nickel and dime" tactics over negotiations, opting instead to sell to Carlton Communications for £10m higher than United's offer of around £75m, around 25 November 1996. Hollick was described as "disappointed but far from livid" at the outcome.[14][15] Subsequently, Westcountry was re-branded as Carlton Westcountry in September 1999, although only referred on screen as Carlton.[15][16] On 27 October 2002, Carlton Westcountry lost its regional identity, and became known as ITV1 Carlton prior to regional programmes only, while being known as ITV1 at all other times.[16][17] The franchise briefly became ITV1 for the Westcountry in 2003, before being renamed onscreen as ITV1 Westcountry upon the ITV plc merger of 2004,[16] and officially taking this name two years later. ITV1 Westcountry was used for a time after this, although from 13 November 2006, the regional name was only verbally mentioned before any locally produced programming.

ITV West Country Edit

Following a speech by Michael Grade about regional broadcasting post-switchover at the 2007 Nations and Regions conference in Cardiff, there was speculation that ITV West and ITV Westcountry could merge news operations, as part of further streamlining of regional operations.[18] Rumours suggested that, while a newsroom (and separate regional identity) would be retained in the south west, the main Westcountry Live programme would move to a studio alongside The West Tonight at ITV West in Bristol (akin to the Meridian and Thames Valley news services at Whiteley). On 12 September 2007, ITV issued a statement to the City of London, saying that it wished to reduce the number of news studios from 17 to just nine. This included merging ITV West with ITV Westcountry to form a non-franchise region, ITV West and Westcountry, from February 2009.[19][20][21]

Shortly after the broadcasting regulator OFCOM gave final approval to the changes, the regional news service was phased out with the final broadcast from Plymouth aired on Sunday 15 February 2009. A new programme entitled The West Country Tonight replaced the Westcountry Live on Monday 16 February 2009 but included separate opt-out news bulletins (some of which were pre-recorded depending on the day's news) and weather forecasts for the Westcountry region during the main 6pm programme and in the weekday late bulletin after News at Ten. Separate daytime bulletins for the region were reintroduced in September 2011.

On 14 January 2013, the region became known as ITV West Country. In September 2013, the south west opt-out within the main 6pm news programme ITV News West Country was extended to at least 20 minutes. Separate weekend bulletins were also reintroduced, effectively restoring a full regional news service for the former Westcountry region.

Studios Edit

Westcountry was originally based at Brittany Ferries' offices in Millbay Docks, Plymouth with a view to constructing a purpose-built studio centre on the Plymouth waterfront. However, following the delay caused by TSW's legal proceedings, these plans were scrapped. The company opted instead to convert an industrial unit at Langage Science Park in Plympton, which was backed up by a network of seven local newsrooms and studios in Torbay, Penzance, Truro, Exeter, Barnstaple, Weymouth and Taunton.[22]

Although Westcountry's headquarters were in Plymouth, transmission for the channel was outsourced and run by HTV Wales staff at HTV's presentation centre in Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff[23] with continuity announcers based at the Plymouth studios. This arrangement lasted from the first day of broadcasting until shortly after regional continuity was abandoned in October 2002.

Following the merger to form ITV West Country, most of Westcountry's operations were transferred to HTV's West headquarters in Bristol, where production of the regional news service is now based. The only operation left in Plymouth is a newsroom and sales office, alongside two newsrooms in Truro and Exeter.

Sub-regions Edit

Up until early 2009, Westcountry ran four sub-regional services, each providing short opt-out bulletins for their area during the flagship news programme Westcountry Live and the late bulletin after News at Ten.[19] The opt-outs were broadcast from Westcountry's studios in Barnstaple (covering north Devon), Exeter (serving east Devon and parts of Somerset), Plymouth (south Devon & parts of east Cornwall) and Truro (Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly).[19] Westcountry was the first and only ITV company to produce four opt-outs for its region.

Identity Edit

Between 1 January 1993 and 5 September 1999, Westcountry's presentation featured that of a large 'W' shape on a frosted screen over a background video of a nature scene. The idents were made so that the scene could only be seen clearly through the 'W' shape. Accompanying the video was a five-note jingle featuring string and flute instruments. This presentational package lasted throughout the whole period, with the only change on 8 September 1997 that of a form-up added made out of diagonal lines.[24]

From 6 September 1999 however, the look changed drastically, as the Carlton 'Star' ident package was launched on the network. The look, featuring a start up film involving hearts would flash out to reveal the Carlton name over a spinning star background. The Westcountry name was only used on the news programme Westcountry Live. This package lasted until 28 October 2002, when regional continuity was lost.[15][16]

In its place, a national ITV1 branding package, with local idents featuring the ITV1 logo on the left hand side of the screen with Carlton logo below.[16][25] This remained until late 2003, when the Carlton name was removed from regional idents, which instead featured four colour cubes randomly located in a scene from the region. The ITV1 logo was located in the bottom right corner with the caption ITV1 for the Westcountry located beneath.[16][25] Following the 2004 ITV rebranding, the new local ident featured the national ident of three cubes containing the letters 'ITV' above a large cube '1', with the addition of the region name below.[26] A few blunders occurred however. To begin with, Westcountry's local ident had the word West beneath which was later replaced as West Country.[26] The ident was finally amended to show the right name at approximately the same time that regional idents were abandoned. In 2006 and 2009, the Westcountry brand completely disappeared from continuity and the news service respectively. The station would now be known on-air as just ITV1 at all times.

On 14 January 2013, the station's on-air identity was changed to ITV, along with all other ITV plc-owned franchises.

Programmes Edit

Westcountry's programme offerings were primarily aimed at a regional market as opposed to gaining network slots. Westcountry's flagship programme was the regional news magazine Westcountry Live, which ran between Westcountry's launch in 1993 until the merger in 2009. Other regional programmes included:

  • Bendell at Bedtime – Topical debate (2004)
  • Birthday People – Birthday slot for children (1993–2005)
  • Blooming Marvelous – (1994–96)
  • Brief Encounters – Feature series about unusual pastimes (1993–94)
  • Energize! – A Saturday Children's magazine programme[27] (1996–2000)
  • Little River Journeys – A look at the Westcountry region's waterways, later aired by Channel 4 (1995)
  • On the Road to the Islands – Jack Pizzey's tour of islands in the south west, later aired by Channel 4 (1993)
  • Richard Digance: For One Night Only – Local entertainment series (1997–98)
  • Special Report – current affairs programme
  • The L.A.D.S. – A rare partly network commission, A magazine programme for men. (1996)
  • Ruth Meets The Entertainers – (1995)
  • The West At Work – (1993–96)[28]
  • Westcountry Focus – Westcountry's first regular current affairs series
  • Westcountry Life – Short 30-second films reflecting aspects of life in the region (1993–96)
  • Westcountry Soccer Night – Local football magazine show (2004–08)
  • Westcountry Update – Weekly news review for the deaf and hard of hearing (1993–2004)
  • West Wise – Short-lived inter-town quiz, one of Westcountry's first local programmes (1993)

In its annual reports, the Independent Television Commission (ITC) commented on Westcountry's programming and performance; in 1995 it said that Westcountry had a "good news service and regional programming", despite a difficult first year.[29] Two years later in 1997 the ITC again noted its "strong, high quality regional programming" and that it had "scored a major network success with Christmas with the Royal Navy, a series of five live programmes".[30] In 1999 the ITC again commented that Westcountry provided a "regional service of generally high quality"[15] and that overall its range of regional programmes was "wide and included some strong factual material", also noting that one of its children's programmes had been supplied to the network.[15]

See also Edit

References Edit

  1. ^ . Ofcom. Archived from the original on 14 December 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Television South West bid under fire". Times. London, United Kingdom. 22 July 1991. p. 21. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  3. ^ Wittstock, Melinda (17 October 1991). "Legal threats follow biggest ITV shake-up". The Times. London, United Kingdom. p. 1. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  4. ^ Wittstock, Melinda (2 November 1991). "TV franchise loser seeks first review of decision". Times. London, United Kingdom. p. 20. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  5. ^ a b Hidalgo, Louise (31 December 1992). "Station pays a high price for failed bid". Times. London, United Kingdom. p. 5. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  6. ^ Wittstock, Melinda (6 February 1992). "TSW franchise appeal dismissed". London, United Kingdom. p. 2. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  7. ^ Woodstock, Melinda (2 January 1993). "Midnight, and ITV's revolutionaries complete their Thatcherite takeover". Times. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  8. ^ "TV companies link up". Times. 20 July 1993. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  9. ^ Horsman, Mathew (28 October 1996). "Westcountry sale to go ahead this week". The Independent. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  10. ^ "Digests". Marketing Week. 11 October 1996. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  11. ^ Brierley, Sean; McCann, Paul (22 November 1996). "United to buy Westcountry TV". Marketing Week. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  12. ^ "Carlton Beats United To Buy Westcountry". MediaTel. 25 November 1996. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  13. ^ Horsman, Mathew (25 November 1996). "Westcountry chief pockets pounds 4m from bid". The Independent. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  14. ^ a b c d e "Westcountry". Guardian. 5 September 2000. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  15. ^ a b c d e f Luxton, Simon. . TVARK: The Online Television Museum. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  16. ^ Snoddy, Raymond (22 October 2002). "New-look ITV goes national". Times. London, United Kingdom. p. 6. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  17. ^ Welsh, James (29 June 2007). "Grade hints at ITV region restructure". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  18. ^ a b c "The Future of PSB on ITV – Redrawing the regional news map" (PDF). Ofcom. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  19. ^ "ITV to merge regional newsrooms". BBC News. 12 September 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  20. ^ "Strike threat over ITV news cuts". BBC News. 14 September 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  21. ^ . Westcountry Television. Archived from the original on 13 April 2001. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  22. ^ Brierly Sean, Paul McCann (22 November 1996). "United to buy Westcountry TV". Marketing Week. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  23. ^ Luxton, Simon. . TVARK: The Online Television Museum. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  24. ^ a b Wiseman, Andrew. "ITV 2003". 625:Andrew Wiseman's Television Room. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  25. ^ a b Luxton, Simon. . TVARK: The Online Television Museum. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  26. ^
  27. ^
  28. ^ "ITC's verdict on regional stations". Times. London, United Kingdom. 12 April 1995. p. 5. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  29. ^ Frean, Alexandra (23 April 1997). "Most TV regions 'could do better'". Times. London, England. p. 2. Retrieved 17 September 2012.

External links Edit

ITV regional service
Preceded by South West England
1 January 1993 – 15 February 2009
(franchise & on-air brand)
16 February 2009 – 31 December 2013
(franchise only)
Succeeded by

westcountry, this, article, about, former, regional, franchise, until, 2013, merged, franchise, region, since, 2014, west, country, formerly, known, westcountry, television, carlton, westcountry, franchise, holder, south, west, england, covering, cornwall, dev. This article is about the former ITV regional franchise until 2013 For the merged franchise region since 2014 see ITV West Country ITV Westcountry formerly known as Westcountry Television and Carlton Westcountry was the ITV franchise holder for the south west of England covering Cornwall Devon Isles of Scilly southern and western Somerset and western Dorset The company replaced its predecessor TSW Television South West from 1 January 1993 The station was owned and operated by ITV plc under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited formerly Westcountry Television Limited 1 ITV WestcountryFinal logo used from 2006 to 2013The ITV Westcountry region when its franchise ended in 2013TypeRegion of television networkBrandingITV1CountryUnited KingdomFirst air date1 January 1993 30 years ago 1993 01 01 TV transmittersStockland Hill Huntshaw Cross Caradon Hill Redruth Beacon HillHeadquartersPlymouthBroadcast areaSouth West EnglandOwnerITV plcDissolvedLost on air identity on 27 October 2002 2002 10 27 since known as ITV at all times Franchise ended 31 December 2013Former namesCarlton WestcountryWestcountry TelevisionPicture format1080i HDTV downscaled to 16 9 576i for SDTVAffiliation s ITVLanguageEnglishReplacedTSWReplaced byITV West CountryITV West Country incorporating the former ITV Westcountry West and ITV West East regions was until 31 December 2013 a non franchise ITV regional station covering south west England With the formal split of the Wales and West Channel 3 licence in January 2014 a separate licence was created for Wales with the West licence merged with that of West Country ITV West Country thus became a franchise region Both companies which make up the new regional licence still legally exist ITV Wales amp West Ltd ITV Wales amp West Group Ltd and Westcountry Television Ltd are each along with most other regional companies owned by ITV plc listed on www companieshouse gov uk as a Dormant company This article however covers the Westcountry Television part of the franchise Contents 1 History 1 1 Franchise award 1 2 Launch 1 3 ITV West Country 2 Studios 3 Sub regions 4 Identity 5 Programmes 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksHistory EditFor a chronological guide see Timeline of Westcountry Television Franchise award Edit Westcountry Television was one of two rival consortia bidding against the incumbent TSW when the ITV franchises were put to tender early in 1991 2 Two of Westcountry s original shareholders were Brittany Ferries and South West Water the latter investor attracted criticism as only three years earlier it had been responsible for one of the worst water pollution incidents in the United Kingdom and which had occurred within the franchise area at Camelford On 16 October 1991 Westcountry was announced as the winner bidding 7 million a year against TSW s bid of 16 million a year 3 4 Several local MPs were concerned that South West Water s involvement would lead to partiality in news items concerning the local water firm TSW launched a legal challenge to the franchise award 5 and after initially being refused permission to do so in the High Court 4 a legal action began which would last almost three months and went all the way to the House of Lords 6 In February 1992 the legal process found in favour of Westcountry 7 and while it could now finally sign the franchise agreement its original programme plans were hit by the delay Following discussions with the Independent Television Commission Westcountry announced on 1 April 1992 it had abandoned the plans to build new studios on the Plymouth waterfront opting instead to convert an industrial unit at Langage Science Park Plymouth It also reduced its planned staffing levels already far fewer than those of TSW leading to an expression of disappointment by TSW s managing director Harry Turner Of the 297 TSW employees only 16 found work at Westcountry at the start of the franchise 6 Around 112 staff were employed by Westcountry at the time of the station s launch Launch Edit Westcountry Television took over from TSW at stroke of midnight on New Year s Day 1 January 1993 At the stroke of midnight following ITN s Into The New Year bulletin featuring the Westminster clock tower chimes technicians at switched from TSW to the Westcountry Television was officially opening ceremony took place at srtoke of midnight or 00 00 00 GMT on New Year s Day 1 January 1993 The channel s launch sequence was a two minute promo voiced by Bruce Hammal and Trish Bertram two of Westcountry s first trail voiceovers welcoming viewers to Westcountry and trailing its forthcoming regional programmes The promo was followed by the Eddie Murphy and Dudley Moore film Best Defense The new station promised an increase to 11 hours a week of regional programming of mixed genres 8 Six months after the launch the company joined up with Meridian Broadcasting HTV Channel Television and S4C to create a joint advertising sales operation 9 During the summer of 1996 Westcountry prepared to float the company on the stock market which resulted in HTV United News amp Media Carlton Communications and Canwest bidding to buy out Westcountry 10 In October 1996 GWR the radio group made a bid of 70m for Westcountry TV outbidding both HTV and Carlton 11 but within a few weeks United News amp Media increased its offer and was expected to acquire the company 12 But Westcountry owners had become increasingly frustrated at the slow progress of talks 13 and criticised United boss Lord Hollick s nickel and dime tactics over negotiations opting instead to sell to Carlton Communications for 10m higher than United s offer of around 75m around 25 November 1996 Hollick was described as disappointed but far from livid at the outcome 14 15 Subsequently Westcountry was re branded as Carlton Westcountry in September 1999 although only referred on screen as Carlton 15 16 On 27 October 2002 Carlton Westcountry lost its regional identity and became known as ITV1 Carlton prior to regional programmes only while being known as ITV1 at all other times 16 17 The franchise briefly became ITV1 for the Westcountry in 2003 before being renamed onscreen as ITV1 Westcountry upon the ITV plc merger of 2004 16 and officially taking this name two years later ITV1 Westcountry was used for a time after this although from 13 November 2006 the regional name was only verbally mentioned before any locally produced programming ITV West Country Edit Following a speech by Michael Grade about regional broadcasting post switchover at the 2007 Nations and Regions conference in Cardiff there was speculation that ITV West and ITV Westcountry could merge news operations as part of further streamlining of regional operations 18 Rumours suggested that while a newsroom and separate regional identity would be retained in the south west the main Westcountry Live programme would move to a studio alongside The West Tonight at ITV West in Bristol akin to the Meridian and Thames Valley news services at Whiteley On 12 September 2007 ITV issued a statement to the City of London saying that it wished to reduce the number of news studios from 17 to just nine This included merging ITV West with ITV Westcountry to form a non franchise region ITV West and Westcountry from February 2009 19 20 21 Shortly after the broadcasting regulator OFCOM gave final approval to the changes the regional news service was phased out with the final broadcast from Plymouth aired on Sunday 15 February 2009 A new programme entitled The West Country Tonight replaced the Westcountry Live on Monday 16 February 2009 but included separate opt out news bulletins some of which were pre recorded depending on the day s news and weather forecasts for the Westcountry region during the main 6pm programme and in the weekday late bulletin after News at Ten Separate daytime bulletins for the region were reintroduced in September 2011 On 14 January 2013 the region became known as ITV West Country In September 2013 the south west opt out within the main 6pm news programme ITV News West Country was extended to at least 20 minutes Separate weekend bulletins were also reintroduced effectively restoring a full regional news service for the former Westcountry region Studios EditWestcountry was originally based at Brittany Ferries offices in Millbay Docks Plymouth with a view to constructing a purpose built studio centre on the Plymouth waterfront However following the delay caused by TSW s legal proceedings these plans were scrapped The company opted instead to convert an industrial unit at Langage Science Park in Plympton which was backed up by a network of seven local newsrooms and studios in Torbay Penzance Truro Exeter Barnstaple Weymouth and Taunton 22 Although Westcountry s headquarters were in Plymouth transmission for the channel was outsourced and run by HTV Wales staff at HTV s presentation centre in Culverhouse Cross Cardiff 23 with continuity announcers based at the Plymouth studios This arrangement lasted from the first day of broadcasting until shortly after regional continuity was abandoned in October 2002 Following the merger to form ITV West Country most of Westcountry s operations were transferred to HTV s West headquarters in Bristol where production of the regional news service is now based The only operation left in Plymouth is a newsroom and sales office alongside two newsrooms in Truro and Exeter Sub regions EditUp until early 2009 Westcountry ran four sub regional services each providing short opt out bulletins for their area during the flagship news programme Westcountry Live and the late bulletin after News at Ten 19 The opt outs were broadcast from Westcountry s studios in Barnstaple covering north Devon Exeter serving east Devon and parts of Somerset Plymouth south Devon amp parts of east Cornwall and Truro Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 19 Westcountry was the first and only ITV company to produce four opt outs for its region Identity EditBetween 1 January 1993 and 5 September 1999 Westcountry s presentation featured that of a large W shape on a frosted screen over a background video of a nature scene The idents were made so that the scene could only be seen clearly through the W shape Accompanying the video was a five note jingle featuring string and flute instruments This presentational package lasted throughout the whole period with the only change on 8 September 1997 that of a form up added made out of diagonal lines 24 From 6 September 1999 however the look changed drastically as the Carlton Star ident package was launched on the network The look featuring a start up film involving hearts would flash out to reveal the Carlton name over a spinning star background The Westcountry name was only used on the news programme Westcountry Live This package lasted until 28 October 2002 when regional continuity was lost 15 16 In its place a national ITV1 branding package with local idents featuring the ITV1 logo on the left hand side of the screen with Carlton logo below 16 25 This remained until late 2003 when the Carlton name was removed from regional idents which instead featured four colour cubes randomly located in a scene from the region The ITV1 logo was located in the bottom right corner with the caption ITV1 for the Westcountry located beneath 16 25 Following the 2004 ITV rebranding the new local ident featured the national ident of three cubes containing the letters ITV above a large cube 1 with the addition of the region name below 26 A few blunders occurred however To begin with Westcountry s local ident had the word West beneath which was later replaced as West Country 26 The ident was finally amended to show the right name at approximately the same time that regional idents were abandoned In 2006 and 2009 the Westcountry brand completely disappeared from continuity and the news service respectively The station would now be known on air as just ITV1 at all times On 14 January 2013 the station s on air identity was changed to ITV along with all other ITV plc owned franchises Programmes EditWestcountry s programme offerings were primarily aimed at a regional market as opposed to gaining network slots Westcountry s flagship programme was the regional news magazine Westcountry Live which ran between Westcountry s launch in 1993 until the merger in 2009 Other regional programmes included Bendell at Bedtime Topical debate 2004 Birthday People Birthday slot for children 1993 2005 Blooming Marvelous 1994 96 Brief Encounters Feature series about unusual pastimes 1993 94 Energize A Saturday Children s magazine programme 27 1996 2000 Little River Journeys A look at the Westcountry region s waterways later aired by Channel 4 1995 On the Road to the Islands Jack Pizzey s tour of islands in the south west later aired by Channel 4 1993 Richard Digance For One Night Only Local entertainment series 1997 98 Special Report current affairs programme The L A D S A rare partly network commission A magazine programme for men 1996 Ruth Meets The Entertainers 1995 The West At Work 1993 96 28 Westcountry Focus Westcountry s first regular current affairs series Westcountry Life Short 30 second films reflecting aspects of life in the region 1993 96 Westcountry Soccer Night Local football magazine show 2004 08 Westcountry Update Weekly news review for the deaf and hard of hearing 1993 2004 West Wise Short lived inter town quiz one of Westcountry s first local programmes 1993 In its annual reports the Independent Television Commission ITC commented on Westcountry s programming and performance in 1995 it said that Westcountry had a good news service and regional programming despite a difficult first year 29 Two years later in 1997 the ITC again noted its strong high quality regional programming and that it had scored a major network success with Christmas with the Royal Navy a series of five live programmes 30 In 1999 the ITC again commented that Westcountry provided a regional service of generally high quality 15 and that overall its range of regional programmes was wide and included some strong factual material also noting that one of its children s programmes had been supplied to the network 15 See also EditITV Wales amp West Television South West ITV TV network References Edit Westcountry ITV Channel 3 broadcasting licences Ofcom Archived from the original on 14 December 2012 Retrieved 10 September 2012 Television South West bid under fire Times London United Kingdom 22 July 1991 p 21 Retrieved 10 September 2012 Wittstock Melinda 17 October 1991 Legal threats follow biggest ITV shake up The Times London United Kingdom p 1 Retrieved 10 September 2012 a b Wittstock Melinda 6 December 1991 Court backs TSW licence challenge The Times London United Kingdom p 4 Retrieved 10 September 2012 Wittstock Melinda 2 November 1991 TV franchise loser seeks first review of decision Times London United Kingdom p 20 Retrieved 17 September 2012 a b Hidalgo Louise 31 December 1992 Station pays a high price for failed bid Times London United Kingdom p 5 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Wittstock Melinda 6 February 1992 TSW franchise appeal dismissed London United Kingdom p 2 Retrieved 10 September 2012 Woodstock Melinda 2 January 1993 Midnight and ITV s revolutionaries complete their Thatcherite takeover Times London United Kingdom Retrieved 17 September 2012 TV companies link up Times 20 July 1993 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Horsman Mathew 28 October 1996 Westcountry sale to go ahead this week The Independent Retrieved 25 June 2013 Digests Marketing Week 11 October 1996 Retrieved 25 June 2013 Brierley Sean McCann Paul 22 November 1996 United to buy Westcountry TV Marketing Week Retrieved 25 June 2013 Carlton Beats United To Buy Westcountry MediaTel 25 November 1996 Retrieved 25 June 2013 Horsman Mathew 25 November 1996 Westcountry chief pockets pounds 4m from bid The Independent Retrieved 25 June 2013 a b c d e Westcountry Guardian 5 September 2000 Retrieved 17 September 2012 a b c d e f Luxton Simon Carlton Westcountry Idents TVARK The Online Television Museum Archived from the original on 2 November 2012 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Snoddy Raymond 22 October 2002 New look ITV goes national Times London United Kingdom p 6 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Welsh James 29 June 2007 Grade hints at ITV region restructure Digital Spy Retrieved 17 September 2012 a b c The Future of PSB on ITV Redrawing the regional news map PDF Ofcom Retrieved 17 September 2012 ITV to merge regional newsrooms BBC News 12 September 2007 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Strike threat over ITV news cuts BBC News 14 September 2007 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Regional Studios Westcountry Television Archived from the original on 13 April 2001 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Brierly Sean Paul McCann 22 November 1996 United to buy Westcountry TV Marketing Week Retrieved 17 September 2012 Luxton Simon Westcountry Television Idents TVARK The Online Television Museum Archived from the original on 27 September 2013 Retrieved 17 September 2012 a b Wiseman Andrew ITV 2003 625 Andrew Wiseman s Television Room Retrieved 17 September 2012 a b Luxton Simon ITV Westcountry Idents TVARK The Online Television Museum Archived from the original on 27 September 2013 Retrieved 17 September 2012 BFI org BFI org ITC s verdict on regional stations Times London United Kingdom 12 April 1995 p 5 Retrieved 17 September 2012 Frean Alexandra 23 April 1997 Most TV regions could do better Times London England p 2 Retrieved 17 September 2012 External links EditITV West Country at itv comITV regional servicePreceded byTSW South West England1 January 1993 15 February 2009 franchise amp on air brand 16 February 2009 31 December 2013 franchise only Succeeded byITV West Country Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title ITV Westcountry amp oldid 1173050850, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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