Westcountry Television

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**Westcountry Television**

Based in	Plymouth
Broadcast area	Devon Cornwall South and West Somerset West Dorset
Launched	1 January 1993
Westcountry TV logo 1993
Closed	Became Carlton Westcountry in 1999, but its lost on-air identity on 27 October 2002 (now known as ITV1 Westcountry before regional programming only)
Replaced	TSW
Website	itvregions.com/westcountry
Owned by	ITV plc

Westcountry Television is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, TSW (Television South West), on 1 January 1993. It covers Devon, Cornwall, and areas of Somerset and Dorset.

Formerly an independent regional ITV broadcaster, Westcountry was taken over by Carlton Communications plc (now ITV plc) in 1996 (who by that time owned the London weekday (Carlton Television) and Midlands (Central) franchises), and was rebranded "Carlton Westcountry" in 1999.

Westcountry has not made any notable contribution to the ITV network, but produces mainly regional programmes such as Westcountry Live, the main evening news bulletin, as well as several regional factual series.

As with all other Carlton owned ITV franchises, the on-screen regional name has changed, several times. The region was simply called "Westcountry" between 1993 and 1999, and then "Carlton" between 1999 and 2002 (although the official name was "Carlton Westcountry"); today, the region is labelled "ITV1 Westcountry".

As with all other Carlton- and Granada-owned ITV franchises (and Channel Television), from 2002 the regional name has only been used before regional programming; the remainder of the time it is called ITV1. The regional name on screen, between 2002 and 2003, was "ITV1 Carlton"; then from 2003 to 2004, it was "ITV1 for the Westcountry"; and from 2004 to 2006, it was "ITV1 West Country" (now simply "ITV1 Westcountry").

In 2009, the UK plans to begin its five-year process to cease analogue television broadcasts region-by-region, with HTV Wales Westcountry TV and Granada TV.

Westcountry Live presenters are David Foster, Sheila Jansen, Peter Wareham, Lorna Dunkley, Richard Bath, Nicky Parr, Jemma Woodman, Alexis Bowater and James Wignall. Richard Bath and Alexis Bowater usually present the main programme at 6pm.

Although ITV Westcountry is made for people in Devon and Cornwall, it can be picked up in parts of South Wales and even South-West Ireland (i.e Munster). In Wales, Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan, Swansea and the Gower Peninsula can all pick up the frequency, while the area around Waterford and Wexford in Ireland can also receive ITV Westcountry. Since Cornwall is one of the Celtic nations it seems somewhat appropriate that it's Celtic cousins in Ireland and Wales can see what is happening in Cornwall. Likewise, people in North Devon and North Cornwall can sometimes pick up ITV Wales and RTE (the national television service of Ireland).