Television South West

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Television South West

Based in	Plymouth
Broadcast area	Devon Cornwall south and west Somerset west Dorset
Launched	1 January 1982
Closed	31 December 1992
Replaced	Westward
Replaced by	Westcountry
Owned by	Self-owned

Television South West (TSW) 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.

Contents 1 History 2 Programming 3 Franchise loss 4 South West Film and Television Archive 5 UK Safety Group 6 Programmes 7 External links

[edit] History

On 28 December 1980 Television South West were awarded the contract to serve the south-west of England from 1 January 1982 for a ten-year period, succeeding incumbent Westward who had served the area since 1961.

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 were 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 incured 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 1982.

The studios, which had suffered from underinvestment, were completely refurbished with an additional studio being constructed, this programme being completed in 1984.

[edit] Programming

Like their predecessor, TSW produced few programmes for the ITV network. Exceptions to this included the game show That's My Dog and children's cartoon Tube Mice, about mice who lived beneath the London Underground. They also produced The Cut Price Comedy Show, a short-lived production broadcast in the early days of Channel 4. The station continued using the Westward star Gus Honeybun, a toy rabbit that accompanied continuity announcers during children's programmes, but who was controversially dropped by successor Westcountry Television. Gus was broadcast twice a day on weekdays (before & after Children's ITV), and usually once a day at weekends. The show was called Gus Honeybun's Magic Birthdays, and usually lasted about 2 or 3 minutes per episode. TSW used to sometimes cut out the first & last Children's ITV links of the day, to fit in Gus' birthday slot on weekday afternoons. Gus had a theme tune composed by legendary TV composer, Ed Welch & a short video was made by TSW, featuring Gus & various TSW presenters walking around in Plymouth. A 7" single of the theme song was released in several local record shops. Other Gus merchandise available were cuddly toy puppets, keyrings and car stickers. One car sticker said "Watch Gus on TSW!" and had both his face & the TSW logo on it.

TSW specialised in making high-brow programmes for their region; in the arts world, they had some big names who worked with them, including Moura Lympany, who was one of Britain's leading concert pianists at the time, potter Bernard Leach, and sculptor Barbara Hepworth.

TSW were a notably regional company, declaring themselves as a channel in their own right, rather than just being part of the ITV network, whose branding was rarely seen on TSW.^{[citation needed]} Paradoxically TSW were seen as slightly more ambitious than its' predecessor 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.

[edit] Franchise loss

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 their franchise because of an 'unrealistic business plan' related to their bid, which was viewed by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) as being far too high. This triggered TSW to apply for a judicial review against the ITC, on the grounds that their bid had been unfairly dismissed. The case went right up 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 chose not to purchase the studios of TSW, preferring new facilities just outside Plymouth. The studios were stripped with the equipment being auctioned, and the building itself was converted into office space. Currently, a solicitors' practice use the premises but the site, occupying prime building land in the heart of Plymouth, is earmarked for closure and scheduled for demolition and redevelopment.

Just before midnight of 31 December 1992 TSW went off-air replaced by Westcountry Television (later taken over by Carlton Television, returned to ITV, now ITV Westcountry) began.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] South West Film and Television Archive

On losing their franchise, the directors of TSW decided to establish 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. It is an invaluable source of rare footage reflecting the region's cultural heritage.

TSWFTA (renamed the SWFTA in 2003) holds the entire surviving back catalogue of Westward and TSW programmes, together with 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.

[edit] UK Safety Group

After the franchise loss, TSW undertook a reverse takeover 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.

[edit] Programmes

• Today South West
• TSW Today
• TSW Newsport
• Tube Mice
• That's My Dog
• Sounds Like Music

[edit] External links

• SWFTA
• Transdiffusion Ident
• Recreation of TSW's clock Shockwave Flash required
• Television South West at TV Ark