BBC Wales Today

BBC Wales Today
Title card used since April 2022
Theme music composer	David Lowe
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Producers	BBC News BBC Cymru Wales
Production locations	BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House,Cardiff, Wales, UK
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes(main 6:30pm programme) 10 minutes(1:30pm and 10:30pm programmes) Various(on weekends andBreakfast)
Original release
Network	BBC One Wales
Release	17 September 1962(1962-09-17)– present
Related
ITV News: Wales at Six Cardiff News Newyddion

BBC Wales Today(Welsh:BBC Cymru Heddiw) is theBBC's nationaltelevision newsprogramme forWales,broadcast onBBC One Walesfrom theheadquartersofBBC Cymru WalesinCentral Square,Cardiff.According to the BBC, it is the world's longest-running television news programme.

The programme can be watched in any part of the UK (and Europe) ondigital satellitechannel 972 on theBBC UK regional TV on satelliteservice. Selected video packages from the programme are available on the BBC news website.

History

The programme began at 6:10 pm on Monday 17 September 1962. Its predecessor, a shortNews from Walesbulletin, started in 1957 and was originally presented byMichael Aspel.The new programme, originally presented by Brian Hoey, shared a 25-minute timeslot for regional news withPoints Westfrom Bristol – at the time, both programmes were broadcast to Wales and the West of England from the Wenvoe transmitter near Cardiff.

By February 1964, two new television regions,BBC WalesandBBC West,had been created with the addition of a new channel (13) for Wales on Wenvoe.BBC Wales Todaythus became a 25-minute programme broadcast only to Wales whilePoints Westwas only broadcast to the West of England. In 1969, the opening of separate UHF transmitters at Wenvoe (Wales) and Mendip (West) led to complete separation, except for overlap areas in South Wales.

Between September 1984 and September 1988, the programme aired at 5:35 pm – one hour earlier than most of its counterpart BBC news programmes elsewhere in the UK – before moving to the 6:30 pm timeslot in September 1988.BBC Wales Todayshared the same studio facilities (studio C2 at Broadcasting House in Cardiff) as S4C'sNewyddionprogramme.

On 28 September 2020,BBC Wales Todayjoined BBC Cymru Wales' presentation and radio teams atnew headquarters in Central Square,in Cardiff's city centre.The first bulletin from the building was coverage of the Welsh Government dailyCOVID-19 pandemicbriefing.

On air

On weekdays,BBC Wales Todaybroadcasts six three-minute bulletins at 27 and 57 minutes past each hour duringBBC Breakfast.A 15-minute lunchtime programme airs at 1:30 pm with a short preview at 5:15 pm. The main half-hour edition of the programme airs between 6:30 pm and 7:00 pm. The late night bulletin airs at 10:30 pm following theBBC News at Ten.

Three bulletins air during the weekend: early evening bulletins on Saturday & Sunday and a late night bulletin on Sundays, following theBBC News at Ten.

From November 2001, a fifteen-minute news bulletin was broadcast on the digital opt-out serviceBBC 2W,first as2W News and Sportand later,Wales Today on 2W.The bulletin was axed in 2007.

In 2020 a separate 30-minute broadcast was added to the schedule during the2019 Coronavirus outbreak,reporting on liveWelsh Governmentpress conferences.

Notable on-air team

Presenters

Person	Position
Nick Servini	Main presenters
Jennifer Jones
Lucy Owen
Rebecca John	Relief presenters
Claire Summers

Weather presenters

Weather Team

Person	Position
Derek Brockway	Main weather presenter
Sue Charles	Weather presenter
Sabrina Lee	Weather presenter
Rhian Haf	Weather presenter (Morning bulletins)

Former presenters

• Sara Edwards
• Kevin Owen
• Jamie Owen
• Patrick Hannan(deceased)
• Bob Humphrys(deceased)
• Vincent Kane
• Jason Mohammad
• Chris Morgan(deceased)
• David Parry-Jones(deceased)

External links

• BBC Wales TodayatBBC Online
• BBC Wales NewsatBBC Online