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ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Annual Report: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ in Wales rated top for quality and distinctiveness

Date: 12.07.2016     Last updated: 12.07.2016 at 12.51

Audiences in Wales rate the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½’s quality and distinctiveness higher than any other audience in the UK’s nations, according to figures published alongside the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Annual Report and Accounts today. 

The Annual Report and Accounts has been published along with the latest audience research and the Annual Review of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Audience Council Wales, the advisory body to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Trust. 

Four in five people in Wales agree that the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ delivers quality, and almost two thirds agree that the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ delivers distinctive content. Almost two thirds also agree that the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ delivers value for money, the highest score since 2009. 

There were significant online successes, with substantial growth in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ iPlayer usage in Wales; S4C’s presence on iPlayer going from strength to strength, drawing 120,000 requests a week; and the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½’s new Welsh language online and mobile service Cymru Fyw seeing 45,000 unique browsers a week. 

The past year saw marked successes in both home-grown programming for audiences in Wales, and in ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Wales contribution to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½’s UK-wide output, where it continued to punch above its weight – from the return of bilingual crime drama Hinterland to frank documentary series Young, Welsh and Pretty Skint, award-winning documentary Life After April, and Welsh Heartland, about the LlÅ·n Peninsula’s struggle to preserve its identity. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Wales production War and Peace proved a hit across the UK and around the world, the return of Sherlock gripped 11.6 million viewers on New Year’s Day, and there was continued success for Casualty, Doctor Who, Crimewatch and Coast.  The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Cymru Wales opt-out programming on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ One and Two reached a third of all Welsh adults every week.

However, the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½’s Audience Council Wales has highlighted concerns about the level of portrayal of contemporary Wales on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½’s UK-wide TV and radio services, particularly in drama and comedy, and a need for more English-language TV programming made in Wales for Wales.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Trustee for Wales, Elan Closs Stephens, said:

"ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Cymru Wales continues to make an extraordinary contribution to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½’s output across the UK and has proven itself time and time again as a hub of quality for British TV production.  The message from audiences is very clear, however, that they want the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ to do more to reflect modern Wales and the lives of its people, and as we come to the end of the current Charter and look ahead to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ of the next decade, that’s a challenge the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ must meet."

This year the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½’s radio stations also continued to perform better in Wales than in any of the other UK nations, and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio Wales and Radio Cymru had a successful year including extensive coverage of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, although both stations saw a drop in reach and share over the year.

Over the past year Audience Council Wales held seventeen public events across Wales, gathering the public’s views on the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½’s Charter Review, the performance of its services, and other issues.  In addition, a seminar was held by the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Trust in Cardiff in October as part of its public consultation on the future of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ for the next Charter.

Notes to Editors

  1. The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Annual Report .  This year for the first time the Annual Report is being formally laid in the National Assembly for Wales, Scottish Parliament, and Northern Ireland Assembly, in addition to the UK Parliament.
  2. The ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Audience Council Wales Annual Review .
  3. The Audience Council Wales advises the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Trust on the interests of audiences in Wales.  It contributes to the Trust’s decision-making about ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ services and high-level strategy, and it raises emerging issues for local audiences.  The Council is made up of volunteers from different backgrounds and experiences from across Wales.  More information .