BBC 2W was a digital television channel run by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in Wales until January 2009. It replaced the standard

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

broadcast on digital services in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

– running on weekdays from 8.30pm to 10pm. Launched on 5 November 2001, it had an initial reach of 1.1 million viewers.

History

It served as a replacement for BBC Choice Wales, which had been shut down on 30 March 2001. 2W broadcast in English and was aimed at the English-speaking population, unlike

S4C S4C (, ''Sianel Pedwar Cymru'', meaning ''Channel Four Wales'') is a Welsh language free-to-air public broadcast television channel. Launched on 1 November 1982, it was the first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speakin ...

, which broadcasts primarily in Welsh. The digital-only service was replaced with a single

for Wales on 2 January 2009. BBC 2W was designed to offer "a unique experience unavailable anywhere else with the watchwords of topicality and style, intelligence with an occasional touch of irreverence, shining through" for Welsh audiences. The channel name on the Electronic Programme Guide was BBC 2W although outside its broadcast hours the channel was referred to onscreen as ''

BBC Two Wales BBC Two Wales is a Welsh free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales as a variation of the BBC Two network. It is broadcast from BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House, Central Square in Cardiff with live continuity prov ...

'', using the

logo. The channel received complaints from some viewers because of its policy of broadcasting only Welsh-based programmes (including many repeats) during its opt-out hours; unlike BBC Two Wales which only opted out for live sport and new programming. The first switchoff of analogue television in the UK, for instance, was controversial because viewers in Llansteffan and Ferryside, whose analogue transmitter was due to be switched off, insisted that BBC Two Wales be left broadcasting in analogue. The channel did provide a choice to all other viewers. Viewers on satellite could select a different BBC Two region (but not BBC Two Wales), and viewers on Freeview and cable could switch back to analogue to watch BBC Two Wales, although they were unable to watch the programme in widescreen. Originally, the channel's news programme was ''2W News & Sport'', launching with the channel. In 2005, this was replaced by a bulletin of '' Wales Today'', also shown on BBC One Wales. The bulletin, entitled ''Wales Today on 2W'' carried the same titles as that on BBC One Wales and was broadcast from the same studio with the same main presenters.

On-screen presentation

BBC 2W's original ident in 2001 was a bright green design with a stylised spinning cube that could transition directly into a programme menu. In 2003, a new set of idents debuted featuring a number of live action sequences where a green BBC 2W logo box is integrated into the scene as a physical object (such as on a beer tap or painted on a garage door), whilst still ending up in the bottom right-hand corner location like the usual BBC Two idents.Idents (7) - Regional
The TV Room However from 18 February 2007, BBC 2W simply used the standard BBC Two idents with the 2W box. At crossover (when BBC Two Wales became BBC 2W) the boxes alternated between each other during the ident. This alternation also occurred during trailers which advertised programmes during BBC 2W hours.

Closure

BBC 2W closed down on 2 January 2009 in the run-up to digital switchover as part of plans to achieve 3% annual efficiencies at

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

. Digital BBC Two in Wales reverted to the network version, with less frequent regional programmes as is the arrangement on Analogue BBC Two Wales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc 2w BBC television channels in the United Kingdom Defunct BBC television channels Television channels and stations established in 2001 Television channels and stations disestablished in 2009 2001 establishments in Wales 2009 disestablishments in Wales 2000s in Wales 2000s in the United Kingdom 2000s in British television