S4C
S4C logo
Launched 1 November 1982
Owned by Welsh Fourth Channel Authority
Audience share 7.8% (with Channel 4)
(February 2008, [1])
Country Wales Wales, United Kingdom United Kingdom
Headquarters Llanishen, Cardiff
Sister channel(s) S4C2
Website www.s4c.co.uk (Welsh)
www.s4c.co.uk (English)
Availability
Terrestrial
UK analogue
(S4C)
Normally on Channel 4 (Wales only)
Freeview
(S4C Digidol)
Channel 4 (Wales only)
Satellite
Freesat
(S4C Digidol)
Channel 104 (in Wales)
Channel 120 (rest of UK)
Sky Digital
(S4C Digidol)
Channel 104 (in Wales)
Channel 134 (rest of UK)
Astra 2A
(S4C Digidol)
12129V 27500 2/3
Cable
Virgin Media
(S4C Digidol)
Channel 194 (only in Wales)

S4C (Welsh: Sianel Pedwar Cymru, meaning Channel Four Wales) is a television channel in Wales. Two versions of the channel exist: on analogue television, the channel is bilingual (Welsh and English), with most English language programming being rebroadcast from Channel 4 (analogue reception of which is unavailable to the vast majority of Wales); on digital television (via which Welsh viewers can also receive Channel 4), S4C provides an entirely Welsh language service known as S4C Digidol (S4C Digital).

Contents

Programming[edit]

S4C's remit is to provide a service which is in the Welsh language in peak viewing hours. S4C does not produce programmes of its own; instead, it commissions programmes in Welsh from the BBC and independent producers (although the quantity purchased from ITV Wales has greatly reduced since the early years of S4C), and it has particularly developed a reputation for commissioning cartoons, such as SuperTed, Sam Tân (which became Fireman Sam in its English version on the BBC) and Shakespeare: The Animated Tales. BBC Wales fulfills its public service requirement by producing programmes in Welsh, including Newyddion, S4C's news bulletin, and a soap opera, Pobol y Cwm, and providing them to S4C free of charge. It has also provided (or licensed) Welsh language versions of English language programmes eg: The Tweenies. In non-peak hours on analogue, S4C shows programmes produced for Channel 4 in the rest of the UK (usually a few days later).

To make them more accessible to English speakers, all Welsh language programming carry English subtitles on Teletext page 888 (sometimes marketed as transl888), with Welsh subtitles on page 889. Both subtitle languages are also available on digital television platforms.

For speakers of English who are learning Welsh, certain programmes, particularly those during the Dysgu am 12 slot, Planed Plant Bach and Planed Plant carry subtitles on page 889 of teletext, designed in such a way that you see subtitles in Welsh, but with words which the learner may not know bracketed off in a different colour in English straight after the Welsh word. S4C has a website for Welsh learners powered by Acen which is available on www.learnons4c.co.uk.

TV movies produced for S4C have received some good foreign reviews — Hedd Wyn being nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar in 1993 and Solomon & Gaenor being nominated in 1999.

Those who have no interest in Welsh-language TV have been known to point their aerials at the nearest English transmitters to avoid S4C, as well as BBC Wales and HTV Wales. However it is true that this practice dates back before the start of S4C in 1982, when Welsh-language programming was included on BBC1 and HTV Wales. S4C sports programme Sgorio has been known to reverse this practice, with English football fans watching S4C as the only British terrestrial broadcaster of Spanish and German league football.

The S4C signal also spills over into southeast Ireland, where it is retransmitted on UHF terrestrial signals by so-called 'deflectors', although those who watch it largely do so because Channel 4 isn't available via cable or MMDS in rural areas.

On analogue and digital satellite, S4C runs its own teletext service, Sbectel ("Sbec" being both Welsh for "a peek" or "a glimpse", and a reference to an S4C schedule insert formerly included in the TV Times issues for the ITV Wales region. "Sbectols" is also colloquial Welsh for "spectacles").

Digital channels[edit]

On digital television, the S4C Digidol (S4C Digital) variant of S4C is broadcast. It is an exclusively Welsh language service broadcast within Wales on Freeview and throughout the UK and Ireland on Freesat and Sky Digital. S4C's Welsh programming generally airs simultaneously on S4C Digidol.

In addition, S4C also operates a sister channel, S4C2. It broadcasts coverage of the National Assembly for Wales when it is in session. The programme content is provided by the BBC. Like S4C Digidol, S4C2 is available within Wales on Freeview and throughout the UK and Ireland on Freesat and Sky Digital. S4C2 has two audio feeds, allowing viewers to select between an untranslated version and an English-only version where all Welsh spoken is translated into English.

In addition to the analogue TV signal transmitted throughout Wales, S4C, along with United News and Media, owned the company S4C Digital Networks (SDN). SDN was awarded the UK-wide contract to provide half a digital multiplex worth of programming. The other half belonged, and still does belong to the broadcaster Five.

On 27 April 2005 S4C sold its share of SDN to ITV plc for approximately £34 million, though it still has the half-multiplex as of right in Wales. ITV already owned some of SDN due to the consolidation of the ITV industry: Granada bought UNM's stake in SDN, and this was then incorporated into the united ITV plc.

One benefit of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in Wales is that Channel 4 can now be broadcast alongside S4C, thereby placating disgruntled English speakers who have often had to put up with Channel 4 programmes aired hours or days later (if at all) on S4C. It remains to be seen what impact the availability of Channel 4 will have on S4C, as both channels share a significant proportion of their English output. However, by launching its all-Welsh digital service, S4C has essentially conceded that its future will be in serving that language only, and not as a mixed-language service.

In January 2007, S4C announced plans to launch a Welsh-language children's channel[1] The channel was due to launch on 29 October 2007 and advertisements for the channel had been airing on S4C.[2]. It is now expected to be launched around June 2008.

History[edit]

File:S4c-i2.jpg
S4C Logo 1987-1995
File:S4C.png
S4C Logo 1995-2007
File:S4Clogo.png
S4C Logo 2007-present

Before the launch of S4C, Welsh speakers had been served by occasional programmes in Welsh broadcast as regional opt-outs on BBC Wales and HTV Cymru Wales (the ITV franchise in Wales), often at obscure times. This wasn't only unsatisfactory for Welsh speakers, who saw them as a sop, but also an annoyance of the non-Welsh-speaking community which found the English programmes seen in the rest of the UK often rescheduled or not transmitted at all.

During the 1970s, Welsh language activists had campaigned for a TV service in the language, which already had its own radio station, BBC Radio Cymru. This led to acts of civil disobedience, including refusals to pay the television licence, thereby running the risk of prosecution or even a prison sentence, and sit-ins in BBC and HTV studios. Some took more extreme measures, including attacking television transmitters in Welsh-speaking areas. In 1980, the former president of Plaid Cymru, Gwynfor Evans, threatened to go on hunger strike if the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher didn't honour its commitment to provide a Welsh language TV service. The channel started broadcasting on 1 November 1982, the night before Channel 4's opening.

In January 2007, S4C announced that their digital channels would be refreshed under a new corporate logo and brand.[3]. On 17 January, s4c.co.uk was updated with the new look, with S4C channels adopting the new look from 18 January. The S4C logo used since 1995, often stylised as "S4C~" because of the "dragon" design element which accompanied it, was replaced. The new design emphasises the channel's Welsh connection with the "C" for Cymru (Wales) separated from the "S4" (Channel 4) by a forward stroke. S4C2 is now seen on screen as S4C Dau (Two), but still listed as S4C2 on the broadcaster's website and on Sky.

On-Air Identity[edit]

S4C's on-air appearance has always been a representation of the Welsh society and people, but how it has been represented on-air has changed several times. Initial idents featured clips from the natural landscapes of Wales with a basic logo animation and fanfare, with the logo forming as WALES4CYMRU. In 1988, the ident changed to a computer generated ident featuring an animation of the streamlined S4C logo. Other idents featuring a weather vane with the S4C logo and a water based setting were used during the early 1990's. In 1992, a new series of idents debuted. The new idents featured inanimate objects such as a kite and a stapler representing a Dragon (specifically, representing Y Ddraig Goch, the Red Dragon depicted on the flag of Wales), usually by trying to fly or breathe fire like an actual dragon. These idents carried on through 2006 (with a logo change in 1995, featuring a new modernized font and a tilde representing the Dragon motif). The Dragon idents were retired in January 2007 alongside a wider relaunch of the channel. The theme of the new idents were to show the magnetism of the Welsh society, represented by large amounts of objects gathering in one place, such as shopping carts at a grocery store, and golf carts at a golf course. These idents were produced by Proud Creative, a London based design firm. In 2007, another new set of live-action idents debuted, featuring live rendered dynamic elements which react to the voice of the continuity announcers, an effect similar to the initial idents of BBC Four - but utilizing live-action footage instead of 3D rendered footage. [4]

Funding and regulation[edit]

S4C is financed from its advertising revenue and a fixed annual grant from the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), receiving £94m of funding in 2007.[5]

In addition, some Welsh-language programming (including Newyddion and Pobol y Cwm) is produced by BBC Wales as part of the BBC's public service remit, and provided to S4C free of charge.

S4C is controlled by the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority (Welsh: Awdurod Sianel Pedwar Cymru or Awdurdod S4C), an independent body unconnected to Ofcom which regulates other UK television channels such as the BBC, ITV or Channel 4.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "S4C unveils kids' channel and rebrand". Broadcast Now (subscription required to view article). 2007-01-20. Retrieved 2007-10-28. 
  2. ^ "New S4C kids channel launching October 07". S4C. 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2007-10-26. 
  3. ^ Oatts, Joanne (2007-01-09). "S4C gets a rebrand". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2007-01-11. 
  4. ^ The new S4/C idents, that react to voice. | idents.tv
  5. ^ "About us". www.s4c.co.uk. S4C. Retrieved 2008-06-03. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport finances S4C. In 2007, the Channel will receive a grant of £94.4m from DCMS. 

External links[edit]