Rhaglenni Cymreig

Welsh Programmes

Ivor Emmanuel, star of Land of Song. TWW
Ivor Emmanuel, star of Land of Song. TWW

Yr oedd amryw broblemau arbennig, rhai technegol a rhai cymdeithasol, yn wynebu’r awdurdodau wrth drefnu gwasanaeth radio sain a theledu i Gymru.

Un oedd natur y wlad ei hun, gwlad o fynyddoedd uchel a chymoedd culion. Un arall oedd y ffaith bod y boblogaeth mor anwastad, yn niferus ac yn drwchus yn y rhannau diwydiannol yn y De-ddwyrain a’r Gogledd-ddwyrain, ond yn denau yng Nghanol Cymru ac yn y Gorllewin.

Hefyd dyna’r iaith; hyd yn gymharol ddiweddar, Cymraeg oedd iaith y mwyafrif; hyd yn oed yn nechrau’r ganrif, yr oedd eu cyfartaledd dros 50 y cant; erbyn heddiw y mae i lawr i 27 y cant; ond mae’r nifer yn dal yn sylweddol, sef 650,000, or’ holl boblogaeth o 2.6 miliwn.

Deau Cymru

Agorodd yr Awdurdod Teledu Annibynnol (ATA) ei orsaf gyntaf yng Nghymru yn St. Hilary yn Ionawr 1958. Cyn hynny, dim ond traethau gogleddol Cymru, a’r gororau yng nghanol Cymru, a gai raglenni’r Teledu Annibynnol yn swyddogol.

Mae trosglwyddydd St. Hilary, sydd 11 milltir i’r gorllewin o Gaerdydd, yn cyflen-wi’r darn gwlad sy’n ymestyn yn fras o Aberdau-gleddau yn y gorllewin hyd at Gaerloyw (Gloucester) yn y dwyrain, gyda Bannau Brycheiniog fel ei ffin ogleddol. Cyflenwa diriogaeth gyffelyb yr ochr arall i For Hafren hefyd.

Poblogaeth y rhannau hyn yw tua 3.3 miliwn, gyda 1.8 miliwn ohonynt ar ochr Cymru.

Dewiswyd TWW Cyf., gan yr ATA, i ddarparu rhaglenni trwy St. Hilary. O’r cychwyn cyntaf, yr oedd gan y cwmni hwn gysylltiadau Cymreig cryf, a nifer o Gymry adnabyddus ymhlith y Cyfarwyddwyr. Ym Mhontcanna, Caerdydd, y mae stiwdio’r cwmni.

Cyn pen ychydig o amser, yr oedd TWW yn cynhyrchu hyd at 8½ awr o raglenni lleol yr wythnos, a rhan sylweddol ohonynt yn Gymraeg. Gellir cymharu hyn a rhyw 3 awr yr wythnos o raglenni a gynhyrchid yn lleol gan y BBC a’u gyrru allan trwy eu trosglwyddydd y Wenfô, a hynny ar ol 5 mlynedd o wasnaethu de Cymru a gorllewin Lloegr.

Parhaodd TWW i gynhyrchuY un faint ar hyd y 5 mylnedd diwethaf, ac yn 1962 yr oedd y rhaglenni a gynhyrchent yn ami tros 9 awr yr wythnos. Ar gyfartaledd yr oedd tros 3 awr yn yr wythnos yn rhaglenni Cymraeg, ac o’r 6 awr arall yr oedd mwy na’r hanner yn rhai o ddiddordeb arbennig i wylwyr yng Nghymru. Gan hynny, fe wnaeth Teledu Annibynnol gyfraniad pwy-sig iawn i fywyd arbennig y genedl.

Gorllewin a Gogledd Cymru

Yn 1962 agorwyd gwasanaeth newydd ar gyfer y rhan hwnnw o Gymru sydd, yn fras, i’r gorllewin i’r llinell o Landudno i Borth-cawl, ynghyd a’r gogledd-ddwyrain hefyd, sef rhan helaethaf siroedd Fflint a Dinbych.

Dewiswyd Cymdeithas Teledu Cymru gan yr ATA i gyflenwi’r rhaglenni, ac adwaenir y cwmni hwn fel Teledu Cymru neu Wales (West and North) Television.

Ceir tri throsglwyddydd i wasanaethuT rhan hwn, sef un y Preselau, un Arfon, ac un Moel-y-Parc sydd ar y ffin rhwng Fflint a Dinbych.

Dechreuodd un y Preselau drosglwyddo rhaglenni ar Fedi 14, 1962, un Arfon ar Dachwedd 9, 1962 ac un Moel-y-Parc yn nechrau 1963.

Erbyn hyn y mae’r ddau gwmni Teledu Annibynnol sy’n gwasnaethu Cymru, TWW a Theledu Cymru, gyda’i gilydd yn cynhyr-chu o 13 awr i 14 awr yr wythnos o raglenni, ar gyfartaledd, gyda rhyw 5 awr ohonynt yn Gymraeg. Yn nhiriogaeth Teledu Cymru, rhoir 10 awr o raglenni o ddiddordeb Cymreig arbennig, yn cynnwys 5 awr o raglenni a gymerir oddiwrth TWW.

Pwyllgor Cymreig yr ATA

Gan hynny, y mae gan Deledu Annibynnol wasanaeth eang yng Nghymru; ac y mae Mr. J. Alban Davies, yr aelod o’r ATA sydd a materion Cymru yn bennaf gofal ganddo, wedi galw ynghyd nifer o Gymry blaenllaw i gynorthwyo’r Awdurdod i weithredu a datblygu Teledu Annibynnol yng Nghymru.

Dyma aelodau’r Pwyllgor Cymreig: Mr. Jenkin Alban Davies, U.H. (Cadeirydd); Miss Norah Isaac; y Parchg. D. R. Thomas, M.A.; Major-General Lewis Owain Pugh; Dr. Ivor Davies; Mr. Thomas Ieuan Jeffreys Jones, M.A.; Mrs. Enid Watkin Jones; a Mr. Leslie Richards. Mr. Lyn Evans, y Swyddog Tros Gymru yn yr Awdurdod, yw ysgrifennydd y Pwyllgor; cynhelir ei gyfarfodydd weithiau yn Swyddfa Gymreig yr Awdurdod yng Nghaerdydd ac weithiau mewn lleoedd eraill yng Nghymru. Y mae gan yr Awdurdod ddau Bwyllgor tebyg i’w gynghori, un tros yr Alban ac un tros Ogledd Iwerddon.

WELSH PROGRAMMES

The coverage of Wales has always presented special problems, technical and social, for the sound and television broadcasting authorities. There is the broken terrain of the country, a land of high mountains and deep narrow valleys. There is the uneven distribution of the population with large concentrations in the industrial South and North-East and a low density in the Central and Western areas. Then again there is the language. Until comparatively recently most people in Wales spoke Welsh; even at the beginning of the century the proportion was more than half. By today this has declined to 27 per cent, but in absolute numbers this represents the still significant number of 650,000 out of a total population of 2.6 million.

South Wales

The Independent Television Authority opened its first television station in Wales at St. Hilary in January 1958. Up to then Independent Television’s official coverage in Wales was confined to the North Wales coast and along the Eastern border of Mid-Wales. The coverage of the St. Hilary transmitter, 11 miles West of Cardiff, extends in a rough arc from Milford Haven to near Gloucester with the Brecknock Beacons as the northern boundary. It covers also a comparable area on the other side of the Bristol Channel. The total population is about 3.3 million, of whom 1.8 million are on the Welsh side.

TWW Limited was appointed by the ITA to provide the programmes for transmission from St. Hilary. From the outset the company has had strong Welsh associations, with a group of distinguished Welshmen among the directors. The company has studios at Pontcanna Fields, Cardiff.

Within a short while TWW built up its local production to about 8J hours a week, including a significant proportion in Welsh; this compared with about 3 hours of local production from the BBC’s Wenvoe transmitter, which had then been serving South Wales and the West of England for more than five years. TWW has maintained its output during the past five years, and in 1962 local programmes often exceeded 9 hours a week. Welsh language programmes were on average more than 3 hours a week, and of the remaining 6 hours more than half were of special interest to viewers in Wales. Independent Television has therefore made a major contribution to the distinctive Welsh way of life.

West and North Wales

In 1962 a new service area — West and North Wales — was inaugurated covering roughly that part of the Principality west of a line from Llandudno to Porthcawl with another area in North-east Wales including most of Flintshire and Denbighshire. A group known as Wales Television Association was awarded the ITA’s contract to provide the programmes. This company, owned and controlled by Welshmen, is now known as Wales (West and North) Television or Teledu Cymru.

The new area is served by three transmitters—Presely in Pembrokeshire, Arfon in Caernarvonshire and Moel-y-Parc on the boundary of Flintshire and Denbighshire. The Presely Station began transmissions on 14th September 1962, Arfon on 9th November, and Moel-y-Parc early in 1963.

The two Independent Television companies serving Wales are between them now producing an average of 13 or 14 hours of programmes every week, of which about 5 hours are in Welsh. In the Wales (West and North) service area, 10 hours of programmes of specifically Welsh interest are being transmitted, including 5 hours of programmes taken from TWW.

The ITA’s Welsh Committee

Independent Television now has a substantial Welsh coverage and the member of the Authority who makes the affairs of Wales his special concern, Mr. J. Alban Davies, has called together a group of representative Welsh people to assist the Authority in the conduct and development of Independent Television in the Principality.

The Welsh Committee consists of the following: Mr. Jenkin Alban Davies, J.P. (Chairman); Miss Norah Isaac; The Rev. D. R. Thomas, M.A.; Major-General Lewis Owain Pugh; Dr. Ivor Davies; Mr. Thomas Ieuan Jeffreys Jones, M.A.; Mrs. Enid Watkin Jones; and Mr. Leslie Richards. Mr. Lyn Evans, the Authority’s Officer for Wales, is secretary to the committee, which holds meetings both in the Authority’s Welsh office in Cardiff and in other parts of Wales. There are two other regional committees advising the Authority, one for Scotland and one for Northern Ireland.

WELSH LANGUAGE PROGRAMMES

Programme Description Company Mins. Time & Day Distribution
Newyddion y Dydd News in Welsh TWW 5 4.25 Mon.-Fri. Local
Ffein a Difyr Light music TWW 30 4.30 Monday Part Network
Trysorau Cymru Welsh museums TWW 30 4.30 Tuesday Part Network
Pwy Fase’n Meddwl Panel game TWW 35 4.30 Wednesday Part Network
Amser Te Magazine TWW 35 4.30 Thursday Part Network
Taro Deg Quiz TWW 30 4.30 Monday Part Network
Gwlad y Gan Land of Song TWW 45 6.15 Sunday monthly Part Network
Holi’r Merched Women’s Institute quiz TWW 35 4.15 Tuesday Jan.-Feb. 1962 Part Network
Gwyr Lien Literary discussion TWW 35 4.25 Tuesday Feb.-June 1962 Part Network
Trin y Tir Farming and gardening TWW 35 4.25 Tuesday June-Sept. 1962 Part Network
12.15 Sunday Aug.-Oct. 1962
Gair am Air Quiz TWW 35 4.25 Wednesday Jan.-June 1962 Part Network
Twmpath Dawns Folk dancing TWW 35 4.25 Thursday June-July 1962 Part Network
Swynol Sain Light music TWW 35 4.25 Thursday Aug.-Sept. 1962 Part Network
Codi Testun Religious discussion TWW 35 4.15 Friday Jan.-Feb. 1962 Part Network
Celtic Films Travelogue TWW 35 4.25 Friday April-Dee. 1962 monthly Part Network
Wrth eu Gaith (At their Work) Discussion TWW 35 4.25 Friday May-Sept. 1962 Part Network
Hoffwn Wybod Current affairs TWW 30 4.30 Friday Oct.-Dec. 1962 Part Network
O Fon i Fynwy From Anglesey to Monmouthshire TWW 35 12.05 Sunday April-July 1962 Local
Caneuon O Gymru Songs from Wales TWW 30 6.30 Sunday March-May 1962 monthly Part Network
Urdd Eisteddfod Youth Eisteddfod TWW 13 4.25 Wednesday 6th June 1962 Part Network
35 4.25 Thursday 14th June 1962
Eisteddfod Genedlaethol Frenhinol Cymru National Eisteddfod of Wales TWW 35 4.25 Mon.-Fri. 6th-10th August 1962 Part Network
Dewch i Mewn Magazine programme Granada 40 4.20 Monday Jan.-June 1962 Part Network
Y Newydd News in Welsh WWN 10 6.06 Mon.-Fri. Local
Y Tywydd Weather forecast WWN
Golwg ar Gymru A Look at Wales WWN 25 6.15 Tuesday, Thursday Local
Heno i’r Plant Children’s programmes WWN 25 6.15 Wednesday Local
Cip a’r Chwarae Sports magazine WWN 5 6.15 Friday Sept.-Dec. Local
Myfyr a Maw1 Religious WWN 30 5.00 Sunday Local