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S4C: S4C Authority Response to the Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2010–12

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S4C: S4C Authority Response to the Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2010–12 House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee S4C: S4C Authority response to the Committee's Fifth Report of Session 2010–12 Ninth Special Report of Session 2010–12 Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed date 13 July 2011 HC 1418 Published on 15 July 2011 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Welsh Affairs Committee The Welsh Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales (including relations with the National Assembly for Wales). Current membership David T.C. Davies MP (Conservative, Monmouth) (Chair) Stuart Andrew MP (Conservative, Pudsey) Guto Bebb MP (Conservative, Aberconwy) Geraint Davies MP (Labour, Swansea West) Jonathan Edwards MP (Plaid Cymru, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) Mrs Siân C. James MP (Labour, Swansea East) Susan Elan Jones MP (Labour, Clwyd South) Karen Lumley MP (Conservative, Redditch) Jessica Morden MP (Labour, Newport East) Owen Smith MP (Labour, Pontypridd) Robin Walker MP (Conservative, Worcester) Mr Mark Williams MP (Liberal Democrat, Ceredigion) The following Members were members of the Committee during the Parliament: Alun Cairns MP (Conservative, Vale of Glamorgan) Glyn Davies MP (Conservative, Montgomeryshire) Nia Griffith MP (Labour, Llanelli) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the internet at www.parliament.uk/welshcom The Reports of the Committee, the formal minutes relating to that report, oral evidence taken and some or all written evidence are available in printed volumes. Additional written evidence may be published on the internet only. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee is Adrian Jenner (Clerk), Anwen Rees (Inquiry Manager), Jenny Nelson (Senior Committee Assistant), Dabinder Rai (Committee Assistant), Edward Bolton (Committee Support Assistant) and Jessica Bridges-Palmer (Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Welsh Affairs Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 3264; and the Committee’s email address is [email protected] 1 Ninth Special Report The Committee published its Fifth Report of Session 2010–12, S4C on 11 May 2011. The S4C Authority’s response was received by the Committee on 5 July 2011 and is published as an Appendix to this Special Report. Appendix: S4C Authority Response 1. We welcome the significant contribution that S4C has made to the Welsh economy since 1982. S4C and the independent television sector, from which it commissions much of its output, contribute approximately £90 million per year to the Welsh economy and are responsible for employing over 2,000 people. This is a story of success for the Welsh economy and should be built on in the future. (Paragraph 25) S4C welcomes the Committee’s recognition of the ‘significant contribution’ it makes to the Welsh economy. It is important that S4C continues to make a constructive contribution to the creative industries in Wales. S4C is concerned that the cut of 24% to its budget announced in October 2010 will have an adverse effect on the creative industries in Wales. It is inevitable that as the commissioning budget and the in-house spend contracts, that there will be job losses and a lower level of investment in these industries. S4C has already announced 29 redundancies and foresees further job losses as it continues to streamline its operations. 2. We note concerns that too much of the economic benefit from S4C is gained by the region in and around Cardiff where S4C headquarters and most independent television producers in Wales are based. While we are not presently persuaded of the case for moving S4C from Cardiff in the current economic climate, we do, however, consider that it merits consideration at a future date. In the meantime, we urge the DCMS and S4C to make every effort to spread S4C’s activities beyond its established bases to all corners of Wales. (Paragraph 26) S4C commissions the best ideas and programmes wherever they come from. It has not had a regional economic policy as such, but it is worth noting that there are vibrant creative sectors serving S4C and supporting jobs across Wales. S4C has invested considerably in places such as Llanelli, Swansea, Gwynedd and Anglesey. The intention to create two new funds, using S4C’s commercial monies, has been announced. The digital media and co-production funds could enable smaller scale operations to base themselves in any part of Wales. S4C has not ruled out the possibility of looking at relocating its base from Cardiff at a future date. Its Viewers Hotline service is being taken in-house and the staff relocated to its Caernarfon office. The new Chair of S4C will be based in Caernarfon and S4C is also looking at how it can better use its North Wales base. 2 3. We welcome the key part that S4C has played in bolstering the everyday use of the Welsh language, which we consider to be a cultural asset not just of Wales but of the entire United Kingdom. Through a wide range of its broadcast output, S4C has brought the Welsh language into many homes where it may not have been heard previously. In addition, S4C has provided the opportunity for Welsh people to learn, through its education and children’s programmes, and hear their language spoken as a normal part of their daily lives. We also recognise, however, that while the cultural benefit provided by S4C is compelling, the channel’s prime purpose is to provide its viewing audience with popular, high quality television programmes which inform, educate and entertain. (Paragraph 32) S4C has announced its intention to increase the emphasis on providing programmes specifically for Welsh learners in its schedule. S4C partners with Welsh learners’ specialist company ACEN to produce a comprehensive website which helps learners at every level of proficiency to understand and enjoy its programmes. This provision is supported by regular visits to communities throughout Wales where S4C staff, producers and actors meet Welsh learners. S4C is working with a range of partners, including daily papers, Tesco and adult education centres, on its 2011 ‘Welsh Learning Week’. The first programme in the popular ‘Cariad@Iaith—Love4Language’ series, where celebrities undergo a week-long Welsh language course, will be broadcast during this week. The Beaufort Research omnibus survey (March 2011) found that the audience appreciates S4C’s contribution to language and culture. Of the 500 people questioned, 86% of Welsh speakers said S4C supports the Welsh language. 64% of less fluent Welsh speakers and 52% of Welsh speakers felt that S4C had improved their grip of the Welsh language. The pre-school children’s service Cyw, introduced in 2008, has been very well received by children, parents and educationalists. Performance of the Channel 4. We note the claims by a number of witnesses that the figures provided by BARB and used by S4C to judge its performance are not reliable, particularly because they take no account of the number of viewers under four years old. We regret the misleading use of these figures by some commentators and note that the BARB figures are regarded by the BBC, S4C and other commentators as the industry “gold standard”. We have not been presented with any compelling evidence to suggest that the figures produced by BARB are unreliable. (Paragraph 40) Noted. 5. We recognise that S4C is operating in a competitive and fast-moving digital market where television viewers have a much wider choice of channels than ever before. In the light of this, it is a positive achievement that S4C’s share of the viewing audience during peak times in recent years has held up remarkably well. (Paragraph 46) 3 S4C’s Corporate Plan for 2011 includes a target to increase its weekly viewers reach across all Welsh language television services in comparison with the 2010 level. It also states the aim to “Increase our reach year on year by providing content on appropriate platforms, using recognised industry standard research measures”. 6. By presenting figures for those who watch S4C for just three minutes or more a week, S4C’s viewing figures appear more impressive than when using the comparative 15 minute metric reported by the BBC and Channel 4. (Paragraph 60) S4C currently publishes 3 minute weekly reach figures, which is the BARB standard. If it were to adopt Channel 4’s 15 minute monthly reach figure, the figures would actually be higher than those given to the Committee during its inquiry. S4C Weekly Monthly 3 min reach 445k 884k 15 min reach 298k 587k • Apr–Dec 2010 (Figures are for Wales only) Care needs to be taken when comparing viewing figures between majority and minority language broadcasters. As the only Welsh language public service broadcaster S4C must try to serve many different audiences on a single channel. It also uses other measures, such as impact and audience appreciation to measure success. 7. While 3 minute reach may be a useful metric to assess the commercial impact of a channel that carries advertising, S4C, as a public service broadcaster, should be assessed on a range of measures, including the number and proportion of those who watch the channel for at least fifteen consecutive minutes a week, a standard figure published by the BBC—including for its smaller, niche audience channels.
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