NationMaster - Encyclopedia: S4C

S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru, which is Welsh for 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). Image File history File links S4Clogo. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... The Welsh Fourth Language Channel Authority controls S4C, Sianel Pedwar Cymru, Channel 4 Wales. ... It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Wales_2. ... This article is about the country. ... Llanishen (Welsh Llanisien llan church + Isien Saint Isan) is a district of the city of Cardiff, Wales. ... Cardiff (English: , Welsh: ) is the capital, largest and core city of Wales. ... S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru - Channel Four Wales) is a Welsh-language television channel broadcasting in Wales, United Kingdom, which was established in response to demands for a channel to cater for the Welsh-speaking minority population in Wales. ... As of 2005, analogue transmissions are still the most used method of receiving television in the United Kingdom. ... Freeview is the operator of free digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, using the DVB-T standard. ... Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcastings digital satellite television service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28. ... Virgin Media Inc. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... This article is about the country. ... Analog television encodes picture information by varying the voltages and/or frequency of the signal. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ... Digital television (DTV) is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound by means of digital signals, in contrast to analog signals used by analog (traditional) TV. DTV uses digital modulation data, which is digitally compressed and requires decoding by a specially designed television set, or a...

Programming

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 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. In non-peak hours on analogue, S4C shows programmes produced for Channel 4 in the rest of the UK (usually a few days later). The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion. ... SuperTed is a Welsh language animated television series from the United Kingdom that first aired on 1 November 1982. ... Fireman Sam (Welsh: ) is a stop-motion animation Welsh childrens television programme about a fireman called Sam, his fellow firefighters, and other townspeople in the Welsh town of Pontypandy (a mix of two actual places, Pontypridd and Tonypandy, in the South Wales valleys). ... BBC Wales (Welsh: ) is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. ... This is a service provided by BBC for S4C. Newyddion is the Welsh word for News, and exactly like any other news service, it provides local, national and global news. ... Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) is a Welsh language television soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. ...

To make Welsh language programmes accessible to English speakers they all carry English subtitles which are viewed as a Teletext page (888, promoted as transl888); Welsh subtitles are also available on page 889. A BBC Ceefax page from January 9, 2007. ...

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 words which the learner may not know bracketed off in a different colour in English straight after the Welsh word.

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. Hedd Wyn (13 January 1887â€“31 July 1917) was a Merionethshire farmer and poet of World War I. Born Ellis Humphrey Evans, the eldest of eleven children of Evan and Mary Evans, he used the Bardic name Hedd Wyn, Welsh for white peace. Evans spent most of his life on... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ... Solomon & Gaenor is a movie released in 1999. ... Year 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar). ...

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, Italian, and German league football. Sgorio presenter Morgan Jones Sgorio is a Welsh soccer television programme broadcast in Wales on S4C presented by Morgan Jones. ...

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. This article is about the radio frequency. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ... Multichannel multipoint distribution service, also known as MMDS or wireless cable, is a wireless telecommunications technology, used for general-purpose broadband networking or, more commonly, as an alternative method of cable television programming reception. ...

On analogue and digital satellite, S4C runs its own teletext service, Sbectel ("Sbec" being both Welsh for "a peek" or "a glimpse", and a pun on the pronunciation of "S4C", which is pronounced "es pedwar ec" in Welsh). A BBC Ceefax page from January 9, 2007. ... Sbectel is the name of S4Cs ancillary teletext service. ... A pun (also known as paronomasia) is a figure of speech which consists of a deliberate confusion of similar words within a phrase or phrases for rhetorical effect, whether humorous or serious. ...

Digital channels

On digital, the S4C Digidol (S4C Digital) variant of S4C is broadcast. It is an exclusively Welsh language service broadcast within Wales on digital terrestrial television and throughout the UK and Ireland on Sky Digital (from the same satellite around Europe). S4C's Welsh programming generally airs simultaneously on S4C Digidol. Digital Terrestrial Television (DTTV or DTT) is an implementation of digital technology to provide a greater number of channels and/or better quality of picture and sound using aerial broadcasts to a conventional antenna (or aerial) instead of a satellite dish or cable connection. ... Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcastings digital satellite television service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28. ...

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. The channel is available on Freeview in Wales and throughout the UK and Ireland on Sky and cable. It 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. S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru - Channel Four Wales) is a Welsh-language television channel broadcasting in Wales, United Kingdom, which was established in response to demands for a channel to cater for the Welsh-speaking minority population in Wales. ... The National Assembly for Wales (Welsh: ) is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion. ... Freeview is the operator of free digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, using the DVB-T standard. ... A typical daytime sky. ... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ...

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. Categories: Stub | Media companies of the United Kingdom | Companies traded on the LSE ... S4C Digital Networks Ltd (SDN) is a company that operates Multiplex A, one of the six groups of channels on digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom. ... Five, launched in 1997, is the fifth and final national terrestrial analogue television channel to launch in the United Kingdom. ...

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. April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ITV plc (LSE: ITV) is the British media company that operates 11 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ... It has been suggested that Channel 3 (UK) be merged into this article or section. ...

One benefit of 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. It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ...

In January 2007, S4C announced plans to launch a Welsh-language children's channel^[1]

History

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. Image File history File links S4c-i2. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (900x369, 15 KB) fair use This is a logo of a television station, network, corporation, or other organization, and is protected by copyright and/or trademark. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (900x369, 15 KB) fair use This is a logo of a television station, network, corporation, or other organization, and is protected by copyright and/or trademark. ... Image File history File links S4Clogo. ... Image File history File links S4Clogo. ... BBC Wales (Welsh: ) is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. ... HTV logo, 1990s HTV Group plc is a television company, the ITV contractor of Wales and the West of England, owned by ITV plc. ... It has been suggested that Channel 3 (UK) be merged into this article or section. ...

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. BBC Radio Cymru is BBC Wales Welsh language radio station, broadcasting throughout Wales on FM since 1979. ... A television licence (or more correctly broadcast receiver licence, as it usually also pays for public radio) is an official licence required in many countries for all owners of television (and sometimes also radio) receivers. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Plaid Cymru â€“ The Party of Wales (pronounced IPA: ; Plaid) is a political party in Wales. ... Richard Gwynfor Evans (1 September 1912 â€“ April 21, 2005), was a Welsh politician and the first Member of Parliament to represent Plaid Cymru at Westminster (1966-1970; 1974-1979). ... The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative and Unionist Party) is the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), the largest in terms of public membership, and is the second oldest extant political party in the world. ... Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC (born October 13, 1925), former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, in office from 1979 to 1990. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...

In January 2007, S4C announced that their digital channels would be refreshed under a new corporate logo and brand.^[2]. 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. 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... January 18 is the 18th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Y Ddraig Goch on the Flag of Wales Y Ddraig Goch (IPA: ) (Welsh for the red dragon) appears on the national Flag of Wales (the flag itself is also called Y Ddraig Goch), and is the most famous dragon in Britain. ... The slash A slash or stroke, /, is a punctuation mark. ... S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru - Channel Four Wales) is a Welsh-language television channel broadcasting in Wales, United Kingdom, which was established in response to demands for a channel to cater for the Welsh-speaking minority population in Wales. ... Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcastings digital satellite television service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28. ...

Funding and regulation

S4C is financed from its advertising revenue and a fixed annual grant from the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). According to a report by the Scottish Executive's Cultural Commission on the possibility of mirroring the Welsh experience with a Gaelic channel, S4C is funded by the government to the tune of £85m per annum (as at June 2005). In addition, some Welsh-language programming (including Newyddion and Pobol y Cwm) is produced by BBC Wales using funding from the TV licence fee, and provided to S4C free of charge. DCMS Logo DCMS headquarters in Cockspur Street The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (sometimes abbreviated DCMS) is a department of the British government. ... The Executives logo, shown with English and Scottish Gaelic caption The term Scottish Executive is used in two different, but closely-related senses: to denote the executive arm of Scotlands national legislature (i. ... // Scottish Gaelic (GÃ idhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. ... This is a service provided by BBC for S4C. Newyddion is the Welsh word for News, and exactly like any other news service, it provides local, national and global news. ... Pobol y Cwm (People of the Valley) is a Welsh language television soap opera produced by the BBC since October 1974. ... BBC Wales (Welsh: ) is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. ...

S4C is controlled by the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority (in Welsh, Awdurod Sianel Pedwar Cymru or Awdurdod S4C), an independent body unconnected to the bodies which regulate the other UK television channels such as the BBC, ITV or Channel 4. The Welsh Fourth Language Channel Authority controls S4C, Sianel Pedwar Cymru, Channel 4 Wales. ...

Contents

Programming

Digital channels

History

Funding and regulation

See also

References

External links

Contents

Programming GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Digital channels

History

Funding and regulation

See also

References

External links

Programming