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Distributed for University of Wales Press

Broadcasting for Wales

The Early Years of S4C

The early years of S4C, the only Welsh-language TV channel.
 
This is the first study of the early formative years of one of Wales’s most important cultural organizations—Sianel Pedwar Cymru (S4C). The volume chronicles the decisions and activities of the channel during its trial period between 1981 and 1985. Through a detailed study of minutes, correspondence, and interviews with individuals who were key to the channel’s development during its early years, it charts the many challenges, successes, and failures faced by the S4C Authority and its staff as they aimed to create a Welsh-language television service that would meet the desires and needs of Welsh viewers. S4C is no ordinary channel, and no other period in its history portrays this more effectively than the trial period given to it at the beginning of the 1980s.

328 pages | 7 halftones | 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 | © 2022

History: British and Irish History

Media Studies

Political Science: Public Policy


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Reviews

"Based on meticulous, thorough research, revealing interviews and an interpretation that demonstrates an understanding of the spirit and circumstances of the period, Elain Price presents the essence of the exciting early years of establishing S4C. This volume depicts and interprets the history of broadcasting from a practical perspective against the backdrop of the political, economic and cultural context of Wales and the Welsh language in the latter quarter of the twentieth century." 

Euryn Ogwen Williams, former S4C Programme Director, in review of the first publication Nid Sianel Gyffredin Mohoni! – Hanes Sefydlu S4C (2016)

Table of Contents

Introduction
Chapter 1 – The Welsh fourth channel campaign
Chapter 2 – Eighteen months to prepare – the early days of the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority
Chapter 3 – Realising the experiment – first broadcasts and audience reactions
Chapter 4 – Financial ventures – ensuring fair terms and expanding to new markets
Pennod 5 – Reviewing the channel – opinion polls and the Home Office Review
Conclusion

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