Editing S4C (section)

===Pre-launch===
Before the launch of S4C on Monday 1 November 1982, Welsh speakers had been served by occasional programmes in Welsh, broadcast as regional opt-outs on [[BBC Cymru Wales]] (on both of its channels) and [[ITV Wales & West|HTV Cymru Wales]] (the [[ITV (TV network)|Channel 3]] franchise in Wales), as well as its predecessors usually at off-peak or inconvenient times. This was unsatisfactory for Welsh speakers, who saw the arrangement as a sop, and at the same time an annoyance for non-Welsh speakers, who found the English-language programmes seen in the rest of the UK often rescheduled or not transmitted at all.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hw1XAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Welshing+on+TV%22|title=Welshing on TV|date=28 June 1980|newspaper=The Economist|page=75}}</ref>

On 14 September 1962, the ITV network created a licence area for [[North Wales|North]] and [[West Wales]], which was awarded to ''Wales (West and North) Limited''. This traded as [[Wales West and North Television|Teledu Cymru]] and provided significant levels of Welsh-language programming. However, problems with transmission infrastructure and poor market research led to financial difficulties within two years, and after going bankrupt, the station was taken over by its neighbour [[Television Wales and the West]].

During the 1970s, coinciding with the push for a [[Fourth UK television service|fourth national television channel]] in the UK,<ref name="BFW"/> Welsh-language activists had campaigned for a television service in the language, which already had its own radio station, [[BBC Radio Cymru]]. Both the Conservative and Labour parties promised a Welsh-language fourth channel, if elected to government in the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]].<ref>{{cite web|title=A channel for Wales|first=Dafydd|last=Hancock|work=EMC Seefour|publisher=Transdiffusion Broadcasting System|url=http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/seefour/wales.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304205140/http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/seefour/wales.php|archive-date=4 March 2009}}</ref> Shortly after the Conservatives won a majority in the election, the new [[Home Secretary]], [[William Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw|William Whitelaw]], decided against a Welsh fourth channel, and suggested that, except for an occasional opt-out, the service should be the same as that offered in the rest of the UK. This led to acts of civil disobedience, including refusals to pay the [[television licence]] fee, thereby running the risk of prosecution or even a prison sentence, and sit-ins in BBC and HTV studios. Some took more extreme measures, including attacking television transmitters in Welsh-speaking areas. 

By the time of the Annan report ([[Noel Annan]], provost of [[University College London]] from 1966 to 1978), it was suggested that the fourth channel should be given to the Open Broadcasting Authority (OBA), which wouldn't start operating until the early 1980s, with Siberry suggesting the channel to be a BBC-HTV joint venture before being handed over to the OBA. Siberry on the other hand recommended a service broadcasting content in Welsh for 25 hours a week, double the planned hours another group had suggested. The transfer of the channel to the OBA when it was operational was deemed "problematic", moving away from the concept of the creation of a Welsh-language channel and a separate Welsh Broadcasting Authority.<ref name="BFW"/> The [[Welsh Language Society]] (Cymdeithas ir Iaith) considered that "the aim of the Report seemed to be find a way of keeping Welsh language broadcasting within the grasp of British infrastructure".<ref>''Teledu Cymru y Bobl Cymru'' pamphlet, Cymdeithas ir Iaith/Welsh Language Society</ref>

The government set up a Welsh Language Television Council, with members from the BBC, the IBA, ITV (limited to HTV Wales) and the OBA, with an OBA member acting as a chairman. This was proven to be a significant step for the campaign, creating an organisation overseeing broadcasting in Wales.<ref name="BFW"/> By 1980, when the initial plans fell, there were plans to move Welsh-language programming to [[BBC Two Wales|BBC2 Cymru Wales]]. The BBC thought the idea was unviable, as its schedule was not designed to receive a consistent series of opt-out slots for regions and nations, and the only programme with a fixed starting slot started at 9pm. This meant that there was no set time to leave the opt-out programming and easily rejoin the BBC2 network. This would also lead to the loss of certain programmes, including sporting events, and a dedicated teatime children's slot would disrupt the sport output the channel had at the time, if available in the timeslot.<ref name="BFW"/>

On 17 September 1980, the former president of [[History of Plaid Cymru|Plaid Cymru]], [[Gwynfor Evans]], threatened to go on hunger strike if the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government of [[Margaret Thatcher]] did not honour its commitment to provide a Welsh-language television service.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gwynfor Evans at 90|publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/2227826.stm|date=1 September 2002}}</ref>