''Newyddion S4C'' (''S4C News'') is a Welsh-language news programme broadcast on

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 ...

and produced by

BBC Cymru 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, ...

, covering national and international news stories from a Welsh perspective.

History

Welsh-language television news on the BBC first aired on 6pm on 16 March 1956. Under the name ''Tele-Newyddion'', this fifteen-minute bulletin was broadcast as an opt-out on the Wenvoe,

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...

and Holme Moss transmitters, in the style of a

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...

, presenting news items from the past weeks at the time of broadcast. Before S4C started broadcasting in November 1982, the BBC's main Welsh-language TV news programme was '' Heddiw'' (''Today''), which ran from 1961 to 1982. Initially shown in a lunchtime slot on certain transmitters around the UK, in later years, ''Heddiw'' moved to an early-evening slot in Wales following '' Nationwide'', which incorporated the sister English-language programme '' Wales Today''. Both the BBC and HTV Wales bid for the provision of a news service, but in 1981, HTV's decision to withdraw, following disagreements with

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

over the use of its material, saw the BBC win the contract by default.Elain Price. Broadcasting for Wales: The Early Years of S4C Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2022. ''Heddiw'' ended in July 1982 and was replaced by short five-minute bulletins while preparations were made for the launch of ''Newyddion Saith'', S4C's first regularly scheduled programme, which went on air at 7pm on 1 November 1982. A short news summary was also aired later in the evening, along with 15-minute bulletins at weekends. In 2020, S4C launched a digital version of the ''Newyddion'' service, employing its own journalists and producing original stories, that would be repackaged for the television bulletin.

Overview

The main evening programme (branded ) is broadcast each weekday evening at 7:30pm with shorter editions airing throughout the day and at varying times on Saturday and Sunday evenings. Five-minute updates are broadcast at midday, mid-afternoon (2pm, 3pm), and evenings (8:55pm). Dewi Llwyd, who presented the programme for almost 30 years, was dropped from the presentation team in 2013. S4C weather forecasts are now broadcast in the news programme after BBC Cymru Wales moved into its new

headquarters Headquarters (often referred to as HQ) notes the location where most or all of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. The term is used in a wide variety of situations, including private sector corporations, non-profits, mil ...

in Central Square,

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Children's spin-offs

Spin-offs of ''Newyddion'' have been created for younger audiences. These include ''Newyddion Ni'' for school-age children and ''Ne-wff-ion'' for preschoolers. ''Newyddion Ni'' is a successor to S4C's previous newscast for school-age children known as '' Ffeil''. It mainly covers general topics and sport. The current ''Newyddion Ni'' presenter is Siôn Tomos Williams. ''Ne-wff-ion'' covers general topics in a perspective that preschoolers can easily understand. There are no human presenters; instead, 2 dog puppets act as the presenters.

Awards

won the 2012 BAFTA Cymru Award for News Coverage for a special programme broadcast from New York to mark the tenth anniversary of the

11 September 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. At the 2013 BAFTA Awards ceremony was mistakenly awarded the News Coverage award. The award was later correctly presented to

ITV Cymru Wales ITV Cymru Wales is the ITV franchise for Wales. The new separate licence began on 1 January 2014, replacing the long-serving dual franchise region ITV Wales & West serving Wales and the West of England, which had previously used the branding " ...

. At the 2015 BAFTA Awards ''9'' was awarded the News Coverage Award for a special programme on the Paris Attacks. They also won the News Coverage Award at the 2016 BAFTA awards for a programme about the refugee crisis.

Ratings

Viewing figures for ranged at one time from 180,000 to 250,000 according to S4C's weekly ratings report.

References

External links

Newyddion S4C
* {{Media in Cardiff 1971 British television series debuts 1970s Welsh television series 1980s Welsh television series 1990s Welsh television series 2000s Welsh television series 2010s Welsh television series 2020s Welsh television series BBC Cymru Wales television shows BBC Regional News shows S4C original programming Television shows set in Cardiff Television shows set in Wales Welsh television news shows