Westward Television

The ITA granted the franchise for broadcasting in the South West of England to Westward Television, which began its programming on April 29, 1961. Despite an unsteady start, the station grew in popularity – in fact, some viewers in the area still call ITV ‘Westward’ to this day. The franchise was named after its chairman Peter Cadbury’s favourite golf course, Westward Ho! Cadbury was often at odds with the IBA and the Inland Revenue over what he considered to be excessive advertising revenue levies. Westward faced numerous internal disputes as well.

On December 28, 1980, during a commercial break in Westward’s own show (Drake’s Progress) on the ITV network, a newsflash announced that the station was losing its franchise. The board then sold the company to TSW and stepped down on August 11, 1981, almost four months before the new franchise was set to launch. TSW took over and maintained the Westward identity until the end of 1981.