BBC Wales Today is theBBC's nationaltelevision news programme forWales, broadcast onBBC One Wales from theheadquarters ofBBC Cymru Wales inCentral Square,Cardiff. According to the BBC, it is the world's longest-running television news programme.[1]
| BBC Wales Today | |
|---|---|
 Title card used since April 2022 | |
| Theme music composer | David Lowe |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | BBC News BBC Cymru Wales |
| Production locations | BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House, Cardiff, Wales, UK |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30 minutes(main 6:30pm programme) 10 minutes(1:30pm and 10:30pm programmes) Various(on weekends andBreakfast) |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One Wales |
| Release | 17 September 1962 (1962-09-17) – present |
| Related | |
The programme can be watched in any part of the UK (and Europe) ondigital satellite channel 972 on theBBC UK regional TV on satellite service. Selected video packages from the programme are available on the BBC news website.
History
editThe programme began at 6:10 pm on Monday 17 September 1962. Its predecessor, a shortNews from Wales bulletin, started in 1957 and was originally presented byMichael Aspel. The new programme, originally presented by Brian Hoey, shared a 25-minute timeslot for regional news withPoints West from Bristol – at the time, both programmes were broadcast to Wales and the West of England from the Wenvoe transmitter near Cardiff.
By February 1964, two new television regions,BBC Wales andBBC West, had been created with the addition of a new channel (13) for Wales on Wenvoe.BBC Wales Today thus became a 25-minute programme broadcast only to Wales whilePoints West was only broadcast to the West of England. In 1969, the opening of separate UHF transmitters at Wenvoe (Wales) and Mendip (West) led to complete separation, except for overlap areas in South Wales.
Between September 1984 and September 1988, the programme aired at 5:35 pm – one hour earlier than most of its counterpart BBC news programmes elsewhere in the UK – before moving to the 6:30 pm timeslot in September 1988.[2]BBC Wales Today shared the same studio facilities (studio C2 at Broadcasting House in Cardiff) as S4C'sNewyddion programme.
On 28 September 2020,BBC Wales Today joined BBC Cymru Wales' presentation and radio teams atnew headquarters in Central Square, in Cardiff's city centre.[3] The first bulletin from the building was coverage of the Welsh Government dailyCOVID-19 pandemic briefing.
On air
editOn weekdays,BBC Wales Today broadcasts six three-minute bulletins at 27 and 57 minutes past each hour duringBBC Breakfast. A 10-minute lunchtime programme airs at 1:35 pm during theBBC News at One, with a short preview at 5:15 pm. The main half-hour edition of the programme airs at 6:30 pm after following theBBC News at Six. The late night bulletin airs at 10:30 pm following theBBC News at Ten.
Three bulletins air during the weekend: early evening bulletins on Saturdays and Sundays, and a late-night bulletin on Sundays, following theBBC Weekend News.
From November 2001, a fifteen-minute news bulletin was broadcast on the digital opt-out serviceBBC 2W, first as2W News and Sport and later,Wales Today on 2W. The bulletin was axed in 2007.
In 2020 a separate 30-minute broadcast was added to the schedule during the2019 Coronavirus outbreak, reporting on liveWelsh Government press conferences.[4]
Notable on-air team
edit| Person | Position |
|---|---|
| Nick Servini | Main presenters[5] |
| Jennifer Jones | |
| Lucy Owen | |
| Rebecca John | Relief presenters |
| Claire Summers |
Weather presenters
edit| Person | Position |
|---|---|
| Derek Brockway | Main weather presenter |
| Sue Charles | Weather presenter |
| Sabrina Lee | Weather presenter |
| Rhian Haf | Weather presenter (Morning bulletins) |
Former presenters
edit- Sara Edwards
- Kevin Owen
- Jamie Owen
- Patrick Hannan (deceased)
- Bob Humphrys (deceased)
- Vincent Kane
- Jason Mohammad
- Chris Morgan (deceased)
- David Parry-Jones (deceased)
References
edit
- ^"Wales Today and 50 years of regional news programmes"(PDF). p. 6.Archived(PDF) from the original on 4 November 2021. Retrieved14 August 2021.
- ^"TVARK | BBC Wales | News". Archived fromthe original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved26 May 2015.
- ^"TV news last and firsts for BBC in Cardiff". BBC News. 28 September 2020.Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved30 September 2020.
- ^"BBC One Wales to broadcast Welsh Government's daily news conference". BBC.Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved26 July 2021.
- ^"New presenting team for BBC Wales Today news programme". BBC News Wales.Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved13 February 2023.