is the
ITV franchise holder in the South West (of England), replacing its predecessor,
TSW - Television South West , on
1 January 1993 . It covers Devon, Cornwall, and areas of Somerset and Dorset.
Formerly an independent regional
ITV broadcaster, Westcountry was taken over by
Carlton Communications Plc (now
ITV Plc ) in
1996 (who by that time owned the London weekday and Midlands (
Central ) franchises), and was rebranded Carlton WestCountry in
1999 .
Westcountry has not made any notable contribution to the ITV network, but produces mainly regional programmes such as ''Westcountry Live'', the main evening news bulletin, as well as several regional factual series.
As with all other
Carlton owned
ITV franchises, the regional name used on screen has changed several times. The region (which is now 'ITV1 Westcountry') was called simply 'Westcountry' between 1993 and 1999, then 'Carlton Westcountry' between 1999 and 2002.
As with all other
Carlton and
Granada owned
ITV franchises (and
Channel Television ), from 2002 the regional name has only been used before regional programming; the remainder of the time it is called
ITV1 . The regional name on screen between 2002 and 2003 was 'ITV1 Carlton West Country', then from 2003 to 2004 it was 'ITV1 for the Westcountry' and from 2004 to 2006 'ITV1 West Country' and now simply 'ITV1 Westcountry'.
In 2008, the UK plans to begin its five-year process to cease Analogue television broadcasts region-by-region with
Border , Westcountry, and
HTV Wales.
Westcountry Live Presenters are David Foster, Sheila Jansen, Peter Wareham, Lorna Dunkley, Alison Johns, Richard Bath, Nicky Parr, Jemma Woodman, Alexis Bowater & James Wignall.
