However, TSW's success in winning the contract may have been helped by boardroom friction within Westward which had blighted the company for several years and incurred criticism from the Independent Broadcasting Authority.

And to get the new year off to a good-humoured start, we have a brand new comedy with Peter Cook and Mimi Kennedy in The Two of Us.This was followed by the full version of TSW's ident.

TeleWest was headed by local independent programme producer Mallory Maltby and included BBC News personality Angela Rippon and several ex-TSW personnel in its line-up, but had failed on quality grounds unlike Westcountry.

[5] Westcountry, meanwhile, was chaired by merchant banker Stephen Redfarn, who was a former associate of James Gatward (one of the founders of neighbouring TVS), received the support of such figures as John Banham (the then-director of Confederation of British Industry), Frank Copplestone (the former managing director of TVS's predecessor Southern Television) and John Prescott-Thomas (a television executive at BBC South West), and had financial backing from Associated Newspapers, Brittany Ferries and South West Water, which TSW had assumed would have helped Westcountry to "certainly bid to their maximum capacity",[5] a bid a "worried" TSW itself had estimated would have been £12 million a year[5] rather than the less-than-£8 million Westcountry ended up bidding.

After that show's closing credits, the final sign-off announcement was made by Ian Stirling and Ruth Langsford at 11:55 pm, bidding farewell to the departing station by thanking the viewers and paying tribute – after which, TSW handed over to ITN for the news headlines and midnight chimes of the Big Ben in a brief news bulletin entitled Into the New Year.

After the franchise loss, TSW undertook a reverse takeover with the White Ward Group, makers of safety footwear and associated articles.

[citation needed] When TSW won the franchise, the company purchased Westward's studio facilities at Derry's Cross, Plymouth along with all the staff.

[9] In addition to the Plymouth base, TSW also operated a newsroom and remote studio in Yeovil, as well as local offices in Barnstaple and Exeter.

TSW's symbol was an abstract design representing palm trees, rolling hills and water; features typical of the region.

TSW also specialised in making relatively highbrow programmes for the region; in the arts world, it produced documentaries showcasing amongst others, leading concert pianist Moura Lympany, potter Bernard Leach, and sculptor Barbara Hepworth.

It had a reputation for scheduling to suit its own requirements and would often broadcast particular shows at different times to the other ITV regions or even opt out of network activity completely.

After TVS lost its franchise in the 1991 ITV auction round, Meridian Broadcasting provided the network feed from 1993 onwards.