New look Newyddion

It probably would have been quite a difficult task back then, unless they had some way of keying on Ceefax 888 in real time?

These showings were primarily intended for Welsh speaking audiences who for whatever reason couldn't receive BBC Wales, as I understand it.

In-vision subtitling was possible ISTR - the BBC had special subtitles cap gens with a very distinctive typeface (grey background) which were used on a lot of foreign movies and language learning TV series in the 80s and early 90s. News also had a system to do live subtitling of News Afternoon (which had in-vision subtitles for the hard of hearing in the days before CEEFAX sets were widespread)

Whether it was possible, or cost effective, in the time available I guess is the question. However showing Pobl y Cwm in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland without burned-in subtitles seems a somewhat odd decision... (*)

Did S4C run their Transl888 service back then (English subtitles on 888, Welsh-for-hard-of-hearing subtitles on 889) - or were we in the pre-888 era? (And did S4C provide English subtitles for their Welsh-language content back then?)

(*) Interesting 'fun fact'. In Norway they tend not to burn in subtitles for non-Norwegian language shows and instead broadcast them as optional subtitles, so if you speak good English, you can turn them off for English language shows etc. Sweden tried this, but there was too much confusion amongst audiences, so they returned to burning in.

HOWEVER - subtitles are a real issue for visually impaired viewers if they don't speak the foreign language, as they can't read the subtitles (which is why BBC editorial policy is for dubbing rather than subtitles in most cases, outside entire shows and movies, and why News usually voice over foreign content in news reports).

In Sweden they have a solution. The subtitles are burned in live on broadcast (not on the masters) and the same text data is fed to a voice synthesiser (and a very good one) which can then read the subtitles on an optional audio feed (a bit like we have for audio description) so you can watch a foreign show and have the Swedish subtitles read to you.

In 1981 S4C weren't running any subtitles, programming or any broadcasts of any sort

I think BBC Midlands used to show Pobol y Cwm in the daytime for the benefit of Welsh viewers who could not receive BBC Wales. I presume that network picked that up after most regional presentation was stopped?

D'oh! I hadn't realised that particular bit of Pres pre-dated S4C! Yes - that makes sense, particularly if there were still 405 VHF BBC One viewers...

To this day, there are still a few relays in Wales that are fed with BBC/ITV West Midlands, and areas
where only reception of English transmitters (Ridge Hill, and The Wrekin predominately) is possible.
(But yes it was much worse 40 years ago, and 405 lines from Sutton C and Holme Moss penetrated
deep into Wales).

Also, late 50s/early 60s Granada used to show their own Welsh produced programming
on Winter Hill (splitting away as an opt out from Emley Moor), because the only ITV reception possible in North Wales was from them. That ceased when the ITA built the Moel-y-Parc transmitter, that carried the ill fated Teledu Cymru station from 62.

Is S4C available on those relays nowadays? Or is it just accepted that viewers wanting a Welsh language service will need Satellite?

No, they are full blooded English only fed relays. If you want S4C (or BBC1/2/ITV Wales) in those areas it's satellite you need.

Your wish is granted:

Wow… Excellent 😍 Thank you very much!

You would think with this revamp they've had tried to incorporate the shape of the S4C logo slightly more. It's always looked slightly awkward, and the revamp does nothing to change that.