Welsh television block for children, broadcast on S4C
Cyw Cyw end card |
| Network | S4C |
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| Launched | 23 June 2008 |
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| Country of origin | United Kingdom (Wales)
(programming within from various sources) |
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| Format | Children's programming block |
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| Running time | 6 hours |
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Cyw (Welsh for "Chick", Welsh pronunciation: [kɨʊ]) is the name of a Welsh-language children's television block from S4C (Channel 4 Wales), which launched on 23 June 2008.
Primarily aimed at children in the 3 to 6 age group, Cyw operates from Monday to Friday from 6am to 12pm, and includes programmes which have been previously broadcast by S4C in the Planed Plant Bach (Little Children's Planet) slot, such as "Bla Bla Blewog (Ha Ha Hairies) Sam Tân (Fireman Sam) Tomos a'i Ffrindiau (Thomas and Friends) and Bob y Bildar (Bob the Builder) as well as shows being transmitted for the first time in Welsh such as Dafydd a Bitw ac Owain a Henri, Heini, Y Brodyr Coala (The Koala Brothers), Y Teulu Mawr (The Large Family), Rapsgaliwn, Dona Direidi, Caio (Caillou) and Ben a Mali a'i byd bach o hud (Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom).
Channel presentation
Idents and graphics
The channel logo was built of the word Cyw in the Elementary SF Sans font, the C being in red, the y in yellow and the w in blue. Cyw is a non-commercial block, in a different format from its parent, S4C.
Mascots
The channel features six characters, created as part of the channel's global identity, which are used as short animated bumpers into programmes.
The network mascots are a lion named Llew ("Lion"),[5] an elephant named Plwmp ("Direct/Blunt" or "Plump"),[6] a small fuchsia-coloured bird named Deryn ("Bird"),[5] a giraffe named Jangl, a bulldog named Bolgi ("Glutton",[5] and a play on the Welsh word for dog), and Cyw ("Chick"), a small female chick. A three-legged dog named Triog was added in 2018.
On October 4, 2018, Hoho Entertainment signed a co-production deal with S4C to create a localised version of Cyw's segments, titled Chickpea and Friends, with the Cyw character being renamed as the titular Chickpea.[7] This series' VOD rights were later pre-sold to Canadian streaming site Kidoodle.TV in most countries and Tencent Video in China.[8]
Cyw's characters were originally from Planed Plant Bach before it was replaced by Cyw.
Presenters
Presenters currently are Cati Rhys, Griff Daniels, Elin Haf and Dafydd Lennon.
The future
In a press release, S4C announced that the plan would be eventually for Cyw to launch as a standalone channel. This was believed likely to occur during the switchover to DVB and DTT in the UK, which took place between 2007 and 2012. However, the launch never took place, and Cyw still remains as a block on S4C to this day.
Stwnsh has since replaced Planed Plant, providing two hours' of programmes every weekday evening.
