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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.
Programming Like their predecessor, TSW rarely produced 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. 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. Franchise loss On 16 October, 1991, 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. At midnight, on the night of 31 December 1992, TSW was replaced by Westcountry Television 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. 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. Presenters TSW had three main news programmes over the course of its existence, Today South West, Today and TSW Today. Presenters included: Programmes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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