Harlech/HTV (Wales)

Logo descriptions and captures by mr3urious Editions by Mr. Logo Lord Video captures courtesy of matipionki, emh16, TvTimes1966, BelfastGav, jkmac1973, matipionki, dragonarchive, wrmorrell, paulhatfield69

Background: Harlech Television won the ITV franchise for Wales and the West of England in the 1967 franchise round and began broadcasting early, on May 20 1968, after Television Wales and the West (TWW) had quit in bitter circumstances in March and a temporary service, Independent Television Service for Wales and the West, had been run in the meantime. The name change to HTV came with the introduction of colour in 1970, when "Harlech" was deemed to be too Welsh for viewers in the England part of the region. Despite promising a fresh approach when it first came on air, the channel proved to be little different to TWW, even after all Welsh-language programming transferred to the newly-created S4C network in 1982. After suffering financial problems in the early 1990s, the company was acquired by United News and Media in 1996 and sold on to Granada in 2001 (though for competition reasons its broadcast facilities and license passed to Carlton). Subsequently, HTV lost its on-air identity on October 28 2002 when all the ITV franchises in England and Wales adopted a single "ITV1" brand, and in 2006 the HTV name disappeared altogether, when the company was renamed ITV Wales & West.

1st Logo (May 20, 1968-1970)
Logo: We see two sets of lines, one black and one white, turning at opposite directions. The lines then zoom-out as they turn parallel and form the words "HARLECH".

Variants: There are two known variants:
 * There is a extended version which was simply a slowed version of the film.
 * There was a nighttime variant which was simply the negative of the film.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The turning lines, which are quite astonishing, really. Too bad the complex animations may give many people migraines.

Music/Sounds: A warbly Moog synthesizer tune that culminates in a two-note synth-horn fanfare, being in some cases slightly high pitched.

Music/Sound Variants: In the extended version, the music plays as normal. Then two long horn notes play into the music, then the synth plays again and at the end is a cut version of the two-note synth-horn fanfare ending.

Availability: Extinct.

Scare Factor: Medium. The animations and music may scare some, but this is more headache-inducing than anything else!

2nd Logo (1970-1987)
Nicknames: "The Aerial", "The Antenna"

Logo: Against a navy blue background, we see two slanted white lines coming in from the top and bottom of the screen; the left one going up, and the right one going down. They stop moving, and a third horizontal line "unfolds" vertically in the center. The lines retract into a conjoined, italic "HTV", resembling a TV aerial/antenna. For Wales, the words "CYMRU WALES" appear below the T (or just "CYMRU" for Welsh-language programmes), and for the West of England, "WEST" appears above.

Variants:
 * Following the transfer of all Welsh-language programmes to the S4C network in 1982, HTV Wales removed the word "CYMRU" from its logo and placed "WALES" at the top (though the Cymru Wales tag was briefly revived for use in the 4th logo). At the same time, the background on both this logo and HTV West's was changed to royal blue.
 * The HTV logo may also appear in a pale shade of blue.
 * An in-credit variant with the text "IN ASSOCIATION WITH PRIMETIME TELEVISION LTD" was seen on the 1986 Disney Channel mini-series Return to Treasure Island.

FX/SFX/Cheesy Factor: The lines drawing in, which were primitive Scanimate effects that were starting to become dated by the mid '80s.

Music/Sounds: Same as the 1st logo, except the pitch is lower.

Availability: Rare, may be seen on some VHS and DVD releases of HTV programming.

Scare Factor: Low to medium. The animation is a lot tamer than before, but the presence of the music may still cause some scares.

3rd Logo (1987-December 31, 1992)
Nickname: "(CGI) Flying Blocks"

Logo: Against a black background, we see a "screen" to the left with a time-lapsed image of a cloudy sky on it. Three large reflective blocks emerge from the screen (reflecting the cloudy sky image), followed shortly by three small blocks. As the screen folds out of view, the blocks revolve around to the right and zoom out to a blue background, forming the HTV logo as seen before. The logo shines several times as the word "WALES" or "WEST" zooms-out and stops in its usual place.

Variants:
 * A generic version, which was used for both regions, simply reads "HTV".
 * A still, silent variant at the end of programs has the HTV logo places slightly higher with "AN HTV CYMRU WALES PRODUCTION FOR" and the ITV logo below.
 * Another end variant had "Presentation" or "TRANSMITTER INFORMATION" displayed below.

FX/SFX: The flying blocks; very impressive CGI for the time.

Music/Sounds: A synthesized horn/string fanfare, ending with three synthesized notes.

Availability: Extinct.

Scare Factor: Minimal.

4th Logo (1989-December 31, 1992)
Nickname: "ITV Generic"

See ITV for description.

5th Logo (January 1, 1993-1995)
Nickname: "Glass HTV"

Logo: Against a shimmering background of colors (mostly blue), the letters "HTV", now made out of glass, and written in a font similar to that of the '80s ITV logo with the "V" composed of a smaller triangle protruding from a slightly larger triangle, slowly zoom-out and flip around from the bottom-left corner of the screen. They stop at the center of the screen.

FX/SFX: The shimmering background and flipping letters; beautiful CGI that holds up very well today.

Music/Sounds: A calm fanfare with a wind chime sound.

Music/Sound Variant: Before commercial breaks, a much more soothing re-arrangement was used, sometimes accompanied by a continuity announcement.

Availability: See 3rd logo.

Scare Factor: None.

6th Logo (1995-1998)
Logo: Against a watery green/blue background, several gold lines are drawn downward and to the right, and form a series of triangles. They are then filled in and Harlech/HTV - CLG Wikibegin zooming-out, revealing themselves to be the HTV logo from before.

Variant: For commercial breaks, the logo would quickly fade in via a rippling effect.

FX/SFX: The lines forming triangles.

Music/Sounds: A calm woodwind jingle.

Availability: See 3rd logo. Also used as a production logo on the second and third seasons of Wycliffe.

Scare Factor: None.

7th Logo (1998-1999)
Logo: We pan across a blue HTV logo against a shimmering yellow background from one angle. Then we fade to a gold HTV logo from another angle against a purplish-red background, Then the same HTV logo zooms-out against the yellow background and turns blueHarlech/HTV - CLG Wiki.

FX/SFX: The logo and shimmering background; nice CGI once again.

Music/Sounds: A calm majestic fanfare.

Availability: See 3rd logo.

Scare Factor: None.

8th Logo (1999-2002)
Nickname: "TV From the Heart"

See ITV for description.