The opening segment of this is shot on 16mm film. Everything else were shot on one-inch type C videotape, except the IDs. The S4C IDs from 1982-1986 were shot on film, using 2D celluloid sheets.
Technically isn't it the other way round; i.e. Channel Four Wales is a translation of Sianel Pedwar Cymru? I know it doesn't make a material difference to the point you make, I just wonder if the station was named in Welsh at conception rather than in English initially.
@@peterwilliamskelhorn6675 lol I should have been clearer I didn't mean the word order. I meant any English name for it is a translation of the original Welsh.
No, if you lived in Wales unless you lived in the border areas with England you would not have been able to see Channel 4 at the time. This was odd in a way as it meant that S4C would show CH4 series out of prime time when Welsh series were on then the English ones later which annoyed some of the audiences. For instance it meant that the soap opera Brookside would be shown at 8.00pm on CH4 but at 10.00pm on S4C at the time. This odd set continued really until 2010 when Wales went digital which meant that Welsh viewers were able at last to see Channel 4 and S4C became in Welsh only with subtitles. Thank you!!
on the coast of north wales we could receive both - i don't understand welsh but remember watching the s4c launch the night before c4, but switching over fairly soon after. the c4 launch was of much more interest to me - for me S4C was useful occasionally when they showed Channel 4 programmes later - it also took the Welsh language programming from BBC and HTV. Presumably for Welsh speakers it was a godsend, but for me Channel 4 was the most groundbreaking channel to launch in the UK and exactly the kick up the arse that was needed.
Cardiff in analog TV era was like a border area, because the sea is only a few miles wide. You could get the West Country channels just as well as the Welsh. So watched S4C and C4 openings equally clearly on successive days
The Channel 4 promo is brilliant, and one of the clips in that promo was the film that was to end the night, which probably was part of the schedule for its first week of operation, Sidney Lumet and Paddy Chayefsky's tragicomic yet prophetic masterpiece, _Network._
What a fantastic video to see! Thank you so much for uploading this. May S4C live long and bring more brand new programmes. Excellent work, Transdiffusion. Well done for uploading this video! Keep up the great work.
I remember S4C opening. We didn't live in the S4C service area, but could just about receive a picture (albeit a noisy one), and as it was the opening of a new channel, I had a look. It seems very strange now, but I think I'm right in saying that the first programme (at 5:30pm-ish) was a repeat of The Munsters! I can now say that I've become (as of three-or-so years ago) a regular S4C viewer. Llawer o raglenni gwych!
Penblwydd hapus yn 40, S4C. Helpu i gadw’r Gymraeg yn fyw ar gyfer cenedlaethau’r dyfodol. Daliwch ati gyda'r gwaith da. (And, for those of you who don't speak Welsh: Happy 40th birthday, S4C. Helping keep the Welsh language alive for future generations. Keep up the good work.)
Also... S4C's animated buddy didn't last that long. Mike Young's creation, "SuperTed", made his animated television debut on S4C's launch, on November 1, 1982 (in Welsh). This happened just one year before the show made its' way onto British TV, albeit, dubbed to British English, for the Children's BBC programming block.
Oh, jeez... I can't understand (mostly) exactly what all of the former hosts at S4C were saying, because all of the words they said, for the most part, were in Welsh! (Especially the channel's former director, Owen Edwards, and his fellow buddies, including Robin Jones, who used to be one of the channel's hosts, alongside Siân Thomas and Rowena Jones-Thomas.)
This is really amazing! Thank you for posting! For years, I have been wondering if someone has a copy of the original S4C test service. This was on repeat prior to the launch, advertising the new service, new studios at Culverhouse Cross and programmes in Welsh and English. It would be interesting to see again if it's out there..
@@TyroneDaviesWELSHMAN Yeah, but in 1982 HTV would still have been at Pontcanna on a studio site sandwiched between Pontcanna Fields and Llandaff Fields, a stone's throw from S4C's base at the time, just down Cathedral Road on Sophia Close.
At 9:54 is a scene of Network, with actor Peter Finch as newscaster Howard Being screaming "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" and at 9:55 is a shot of Fantásticos intro, a variety show broadcast on Sunday nights on the Brazilian Globo Network. As a Brazilian, I wonder how it got there. Does anybody know why? Was there any programme on Channel 4 or S4C about Brazil those days? czcams.com/video/C0AcnNKCmWk/video.html
I would imagine because the population/percentage of Gaelic speakers in Scotland is a lot lower than Welsh speakers in Wales. 29% of Welsh people speak fluent Welsh where only around 1% of Scotland can actually speak Gaelic. Despite that we do have BBC Alba though.
@@studentviewsnelson BBC Alba make some great football related programmes and other things. Even as a non Gaelic speaker I watch them as they have subtitles. I also watch S4C football coverage even though I don't live in Wales as it's all on the iPlayer.
Never sat right with me to have an “acronym” that started with the final letter of a word rather than the first one (the “terminal” as opposed to the “initial”?)… I know it’s just a stylistic choice, but it really bothered by OCD mind.
Channel 4 showed repeats of TV series The Avengers, and I know a film version was proposed in the 1980s, but wasn't until 1998 one was finally made. I wonder if he is referring to the proposed film.
Looking at the S4C launch and the Channel 4 launch a day later shows how different they were, with S4C being a Welsh first channel with the fallback of Channel 4 programming, whereas Channel 4 was seen back then as a fringe alternative to contemporary ITV programming. The setup was/is an almighty compromise, though the end result is that Channel 4 is on it's race to the bottom and S4C now has low viewing figures. Perhaps it is time to move on from them 🤔
I would watch S4C as a kid in Ireland (Co.Wicklow) and was always fascinated by the incomprehensible language of our neighbours across the Irish Sea 😁
Happy 40th Birthday to S4C!
The opening segment of this is shot on 16mm film. Everything else were shot on one-inch type C videotape, except the IDs. The S4C IDs from 1982-1986 were shot on film, using 2D celluloid sheets.
The full name of S4C, otherwise known as Sianel Pedwar Cymru is a Welsh translation of Channel Four Wales.
Technically isn't it the other way round; i.e. Channel Four Wales is a translation of Sianel Pedwar Cymru? I know it doesn't make a material difference to the point you make, I just wonder if the station was named in Welsh at conception rather than in English initially.
@@RW-nr6bh i think Sianel must be Welsh for channel. Pedwar is Welsh for the number 4
@@peterwilliamskelhorn6675 lol I should have been clearer I didn't mean the word order. I meant any English name for it is a translation of the original Welsh.
@@RW-nr6bh that's ok
Where we lived we could not get C4 - but S4C allowed us to watch their output -plus the welsh programmes -which we still do to this day !
No, if you lived in Wales unless you lived in the border areas with England you would not have been able to see Channel 4 at the time. This was odd in a way as it meant that S4C would show CH4 series out of prime time when Welsh series were on then the English ones later which annoyed some of the audiences. For instance it meant that the soap opera Brookside would be shown at 8.00pm on CH4 but at 10.00pm on S4C at the time. This odd set continued really until 2010 when Wales went digital which meant that Welsh viewers were able at last to see Channel 4 and S4C became in Welsh only with subtitles. Thank you!!
on the coast of north wales we could receive both - i don't understand welsh but remember watching the s4c launch the night before c4, but switching over fairly soon after. the c4 launch was of much more interest to me - for me S4C was useful occasionally when they showed Channel 4 programmes later - it also took the Welsh language programming from BBC and HTV. Presumably for Welsh speakers it was a godsend, but for me Channel 4 was the most groundbreaking channel to launch in the UK and exactly the kick up the arse that was needed.
Cardiff in analog TV era was like a border area, because the sea is only a few miles wide. You could get the West Country channels just as well as the Welsh. So watched S4C and C4 openings equally clearly on successive days
A special thanks to Transdiffusion for releasing an important part of British television history.
The Channel 4 promo is brilliant, and one of the clips in that promo was the film that was to end the night, which probably was part of the schedule for its first week of operation, Sidney Lumet and Paddy Chayefsky's tragicomic yet prophetic masterpiece, _Network._
Finally, a piece of history....
What a fantastic video to see! Thank you so much for uploading this. May S4C live long and bring more brand new programmes. Excellent work, Transdiffusion. Well done for uploading this video! Keep up the great work.
Picture roll on cutting to the BBC for Newyddion Saith. I wonder if in those early days S4C genlocked to the C4 feed.
I remember S4C opening. We didn't live in the S4C service area, but could just about receive a picture (albeit a noisy one), and as it was the opening of a new channel, I had a look. It seems very strange now, but I think I'm right in saying that the first programme (at 5:30pm-ish) was a repeat of The Munsters! I can now say that I've become (as of three-or-so years ago) a regular S4C viewer. Llawer o raglenni gwych!
Penblwydd hapus yn 40, S4C. Helpu i gadw’r Gymraeg yn fyw ar gyfer cenedlaethau’r dyfodol. Daliwch ati gyda'r gwaith da.
(And, for those of you who don't speak Welsh: Happy 40th birthday, S4C. Helping keep the Welsh language alive for future generations. Keep up the good work.)
10:14 There's a brief snippet the Little Waster himself, Geordie comic Bobby Thompson.
Also... S4C's animated buddy didn't last that long. Mike Young's creation, "SuperTed", made his animated television debut on S4C's launch, on November 1, 1982 (in Welsh). This happened just one year before the show made its' way onto British TV, albeit, dubbed to British English, for the Children's BBC programming block.
Oh, jeez... I can't understand (mostly) exactly what all of the former hosts at S4C were saying, because all of the words they said, for the most part, were in Welsh! (Especially the channel's former director, Owen Edwards, and his fellow buddies, including Robin Jones, who used to be one of the channel's hosts, alongside Siân Thomas and Rowena Jones-Thomas.)
This is really amazing! Thank you for posting! For years, I have been wondering if someone has a copy of the original S4C test service. This was on repeat prior to the launch, advertising the new service, new studios at Culverhouse Cross and programmes in Welsh and English. It would be interesting to see again if it's out there..
S4C never came from Culverhouse Cross.
@@antster1983 Yes I know but the broadcast noted the HTV production facilities. If someone can find the test transmission, it will make sense :-)
@@TyroneDaviesWELSHMAN Yeah, but in 1982 HTV would still have been at Pontcanna on a studio site sandwiched between Pontcanna Fields and Llandaff Fields, a stone's throw from S4C's base at the time, just down Cathedral Road on Sophia Close.
@@antster1983 Sophia Close, Cardiff.
38:43 first S4C logo
Is there a full version of all this?
At 9:54 is a scene of Network, with actor Peter Finch as newscaster Howard Being screaming "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" and at 9:55 is a shot of Fantásticos intro, a variety show broadcast on Sunday nights on the Brazilian Globo Network. As a Brazilian, I wonder how it got there. Does anybody know why? Was there any programme on Channel 4 or S4C about Brazil those days?
czcams.com/video/C0AcnNKCmWk/video.html
Peter Finch's film role in the film is his last one prior to his death.
40 years ago today
14:45 the music used here is a different arrangement of "Theme One" by George Martin.
That might have been Cozy Powell's version, with Jack Bruce on bass and Don Airey on keyboards.
10:12 is that Gary numans stage?!
Why didn't Scotland get something like D4A for Gaelic people?
I would imagine because the population/percentage of Gaelic speakers in Scotland is a lot lower than Welsh speakers in Wales. 29% of Welsh people speak fluent Welsh where only around 1% of Scotland can actually speak Gaelic. Despite that we do have BBC Alba though.
What are you talking about? They do have BBC Alba
@@studentviewsnelson BBC Alba make some great football related programmes and other things. Even as a non Gaelic speaker I watch them as they have subtitles. I also watch S4C football coverage even though I don't live in Wales as it's all on the iPlayer.
They finally did in 2007 with BBC Alba before then, it used to be a few hours of Gaelic programmes on BBC Two
I think it's because BBC created BBC Alba for people who speak that language.
11:21-11:22 Something in Welsh that Owen said to Jeremy again...
19:15-19:18 Jeremy Isaacs said something in Welsh, as his closing words to Owen Edwards.
75,000 in 1982 for a Barrett home? Wow!....
#longlives4c
Never sat right with me to have an “acronym” that started with the final letter of a word rather than the first one (the “terminal” as opposed to the “initial”?)… I know it’s just a stylistic choice, but it really bothered by OCD mind.
HOW DID YOU FIND THIS S4C LAUNCH HISTORY?!?!?
Someone recorded it and kept the tape.
Was this the first time Network was shown on U.K television?
On S4C First Then Channel 4
10:36-10:50 What the heck did Owen Edwards and Jeremy Isaacs of both S4C and C4UK say? (HINT: They're saying something in Welsh.)
Pretty much what he says in English either side of it. Noswaith dda i chi gyd = Good evening to you all.
@@nowster Yep. I did mean it. Owen said "Good evening, Jeremy.", to Jeremy Isaacs, and Mr. Isaacs replied "Good evening to you all." in Welsh.
Kind of like SABC in early 1970s style production.. certainly not up to CH4 hipness
What do they mean “on film, The Avengers”? That spy series? That didn’t get a film until 1998!
Channel 4 showed repeats of TV series The Avengers, and I know a film version was proposed in the 1980s, but wasn't until 1998 one was finally made. I wonder if he is referring to the proposed film.
@RW-nr6bh The 1960s Series of the Avengers, with exception of the first series,was shot on 35mm film.
@@martinhughes2549In 1998-2000 Granada Plus Did Rerun The TV Series Of The Avengers
39:53 Newyddion Saith
Did S4C show "Walter" with Ian Mckellen? I know it was shown on C4's opening night.
Yes, S4C showed it at 9.00pm that Tuesday night, the same time as it was shown on Channel 4.
Remember that S4C launched in Wales the night before Channel 4 went on air throughout the rest of the UK.
42:16 *BRO*
Not as cool as it sounds, innit. It's more a look into small Welsh communities as seen by school children.
@@antster1983 sorry, for me it was hilarious
40 years today
40 years old already - dwi'n cofio'r diwrnod gyntaf !!
Cyw '82
Looking at the S4C launch and the Channel 4 launch a day later shows how different they were, with S4C being a Welsh first channel with the fallback of Channel 4 programming, whereas Channel 4 was seen back then as a fringe alternative to contemporary ITV programming. The setup was/is an almighty compromise, though the end result is that Channel 4 is on it's race to the bottom and S4C now has low viewing figures. Perhaps it is time to move on from them 🤔