BBC Trust

Radio was an important part of their day for many of the participants, with Radio Cymru, Radio Wales and Radio 4 being the most mentioned BBC radio stations. As one participant said “Radio 4 is always on when I’m at home, and I particularly enjoy Woman’s Hour discussions.”

Other participants said that they were regular listeners to Radio Wales and Radio Cymru, with Radio Wales being the station of choice for one participant if she was driving. A number of those present were regular listeners to Radio Cymru and demonstrated an intimate knowledge of the station’s schedules with driving being a popular time once again for listening.

The afternoon schedule was subject to mixed views, with some of the view that it was “too loud” though others praised Tudur Owen, saying “Tudur Owen on Fridays just provides a bellyful of laughs at the end of the working week, when everyone is a bit tired”.

The Sunday schedule was also appreciated by older relatives of the participants, with one saying “My mother particularly likes listening to the morning service and Caniadaeth y Cysegr later in the morning”. Dewi Llwyd and Dei Tomos’ programmes on Sunday were also praised as being both interesting and informative.

There was also praise for the morning’s new schedule on Radio Cymru, with Rhaglen Dylan Jones and Shân Cothi appreciated, though some participants were still disappointed that Dafydd and Caryl had disappeared as regular morning programme presenters. Dylan Jones was praised for his tenacity in questioning interviewees, and his challenging demeanour. The schedule was appreciated for bringing a variety of presenters from across Wales to the station.

Other BBC radio stations specifically mentioned by participants were Radio 2 and Radio 5 Live.

The main non-BBC radio station to which participants listened included Môn FM, which was praised for providing opportunities for young people to contribute as well as publicising local events. It was felt too that the station provided a platform for local voices.

DAB was the least used listening platform because of poor reception and also since a high proportion of the participants did not have DAB radio sets.

Most of the participants watched TV with the BBC praised for the quality of some genres in particular – drama (particularly those broadcast on BBC Four) and nature programming being considered particularly good. The BBC was also praised for its coverage of ‘occasions’ such as state or royal occasions, large sporting events and also its coverage of the National Eisteddfod broadcast on both S4C and BBC TV channels (as well on-line on the Cymru Fyw service).

With over half the participants speaking Welsh, S4C’s drama was popular, with Rownd a Rownd and Parch, mentioned by a number of participants, though some remained of the opinion that C’mon Midffild remained unsurpassed! Other S4C programmes specifically mentioned as popular included Heno, Cefn Gwlad and Cariad@Iaith. There was a perception amongst a high proportion however, that S4C now relied to too great an extent on repeats, which was undermining the channel. Non-Welsh speakers also said they watched the channel with the English subtitles switched on, but said that it sometimes appeared as if the subtitles were out of sync.

Music and entertainment was important in the output on the BBC’s TV channels too, with Strictly Come Dancing and The Voice popular, as well as series such as Gareth Malone’s choir programmes. Other programmes specifically mentioned included Countryfile, Weatherman Walking, Coast, Casualty and Holby City, and Iolo Williams’ nature programmes. Returning drama such as Eastenders was also popular with some respondents as were quiz programmes, with Eggheads and Two Tribes specifically mentioned.

Sport was considered a key part of the BBC’s output, with the recent coverage of the Wimbledon tennis tournament having been popular (though questions were asked as to why coverage was on both BBC One and BBC Two) and the Six Nations Rugby tournament was considered an absolute appointment to view. The BBC’s coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games was also remembered positively.

Some participants accessed content first broadcast on radio via their TV (The Archers being mentioned in particular). A small number of other participants accessed on-demand content via the BBC iPlayer or via the Sky+ facility.

Some of the participants made use of the BBC’s news and weather websites via their smartphones and considered them valuable.

There was a great deal of appreciation of the BBC’s news and current affairs output, on radio, TV and on-line. As one participant said, “I may be watching ITV of an evening, but I always switch over to the BBC for the News at Ten”. The main criticism of BBC Network News output was that there was far too little attention to the UK’s nations, beyond England. One participant spoke for a high proportion of those present when she said “There isn’t half enough coverage of Wales – there is far too much focus on England”.

There was a lot of appreciation too of the BBC produced Newyddion 9 broadcast on S4C, with the presenters praised for their professionalism, and for the 6.30pm BBC Wales Today programme – though the latter was criticised for appearing orientated to too great an extent towards south Wales. The Wales bulletins during the BBC Breakfast News programme were appreciated, though a number of participants felt that the bulletins from Wales were “too short”. One participant said of BBC Breakfast that “it was a good introduction to a wide variety of news items for the day” and that she would then go on to find out more about the stories that had interested her by visiting the BBC News website.

There was widespread appreciation of the BBC’s coverage of May 2015’s UK General Election, which the participants felt had been covered well. The importance of the BBC providing in-depth coverage of each party’s policies ahead of 2016 Election to the National Assembly for Wales was emphasised. As one participant put it “the National Assembly election needs regular coverage – the public needs to be better informed”.

Discussing other sources of news, most participants relied on TV, radio and the internet for their news, with only a small proportion buying or reading local or UK-wide newspapers (with the exception of the local Papurau Bro community newspapers, which were popular). A small number of those present regularly bought The Daily Post, or the Bangor and Anglesey Mail, with only one person regularly buying a Fleet Street daily newspaper – The Telegraph.

There was a strong demand for the BBC to provide entertainment in its output, and to provide something for everyone. The TV Licence Fee was considered to be remarkably good value for money.