BBC Trust

Very few of the participants ever listened to the radio, and of those that did, it was generally while travelling by car, or during sporting events when the commentary was listened to. On those sporting occasions BBC Radio Wales was the station of choice, with one participant saying “When rugby’s on and Dad’s driving I’ll listen to Radio Wales. We listen to any rugby”.

PodCasts were a popular means of accessing audio content, but few of the participants down-loaded BBC audio content.

None of the participants claimed to watch a lot of TV, though BBC Three was the channel of choice amongst those that did. The recent departure of Jeremy Clarkson from the presenting line-up of Top Gear was keenly felt amongst a number of those present with one saying “BBC Three has lost a lots of supporters since the main reason I watched BBC TV was for Top Gear and I haven’t watched TV since Top Gear stopped. Chris Evans isn’t in the same league.” Others disagreed, and felt that the BBC had been right to terminate Jeremy Clarkson’s contract in the circumstances it had. Many participants also felt that the days of a ‘star fund’ to finance the remuneration of some stars had passed, and that it “wasn’t fair when a few people made a lot of money”.

However, despite claiming not to watch much TV, participants did make positive reference to some specific programmes such as Sherlock, Crimewatch, Doctor Who and Eastenders, though others were particularly critical of day-time programmes broadcast by the BBC, which they considered to be of a poor quality and not a good use of the Licence Fee.

There were strong feelings too that Wales was inadequately portrayed on the BBC’s TV output and that where people from Wales appeared in programmes, the portrayal was one-dimensional and full of caricatures - “we’re all portrayed as being thick and poorly educated, whereas the English are always portrayed as posh and well-off”.

Pobol y Cwm was required viewing for one participant, who watched it with her mother, and used the subtitles service since she did not understand Welsh.

Regret was expressed that the BBC was losing more and more sports broadcasting rights since the “BBC was best at sports coverage”.

There was widespread appreciation of the subtitling service on many BBC TV programmes. As one participant said “My mum is deaf, so we use the service all the time”.

BBC Four was praised too for its music related content, with one participant speaking for a number of others when he said “I love the music documentaries on BBC Four”.

Most of the participants accessed the BBC’s news content occasionally, but did so in a number of different ways. For many their main source of news was the BBC website or news app, though others said that they also watched the BBC Three Sixty Second News bulletin or listened to Newsbeat on Radio 1. A number of them also had fond memories of watching Newsround as children and considered it exceptionally useful in “bridging the gap” between childhood and young adulthood.

Most participants considered that BBC News had an important role to play in informing citizens about political and social developments, and to ensure that they were well-informed about current issues. However, the way in which the accessed news varied greatly, with only a small number watching the TV news live or listening to radio news bulletins, and the majority accessing news content via the BBC’s on-line services, via the BBC’s YouTube channel, the Corporation’s Facebook page, or through the BBC News app. 

There were a few participants who did not access any of the BBC’s news services, with one even saying “News is drivel – I’d far rather do something else than watch it” and others decrying the over-emphasis on ‘pop culture’ and ‘trivia’, which they felt had too much attention in some parts of the BBC’s news output.

There was significant criticism of Network News’ coverage of Wales, with too little attention paid to the nation, and the Wales Today inputs into BBC Breakfast News often appearing “rushed and inadequate” according to those present. Some participants also felt that while they appreciated news items that compared policy positions in the various nations of the UK, it was also important to have news items that focused on Wales as an individual nation – something which it was felt occurred frequently in relation to England. When asked how they would want Wales to be represented, there was a consensus that “how we are doing this” had be presented positively since this would counter the “lack of understanding of devolution in the nation” and that Wales was also different to other nations of the UK in “terms of needs – this needs to be pointed out”.

When asked about other sources of news, some of the participants said they bought the local newspaper – the South Wales Argus – and accessed other news via podcasts to which they subscribed, with one participant saying that he had learned a huge amount about the forthcoming USA Presidential Election by subscribing to a relevant podcast.

The BBC’s on-line and on-demand services were very important to almost all the participants, with this being a key way in which they accessed the BBC’s content. The BBC iPlayer was a key element in this, with one participant expressing the view of many when he said “I watch more stuff through the iPlayer than on TV”. Participants were not entirely uncritical however, with some expressing frustration that the iPlayer “didn’t work as it should. More often than not I just get that little rotating circle which is so frustrating and if it doesn’t work properly then my instinct is just to switch off”.

Around half those present were Netflix or Amazon Prime users, with enthusiasm expressed for those services, and the ‘archive’ experience it enabled. Participants said that in contrast, one frustration with the BBC iPlayer was the 30 day limit on viewing content, and said that it would be wonderful if the BBC were able to provide access to its historic content.

BBC PodCasts were also praised, but some of the keenest proponents expressed some frustration that they weren’t able to initiate downloads directly from BBC apps.

The Bitesize learning resources on the BBC website were warmly praised, with the content being considered exceptionally useful by the participants.

The Licence Fee was, on the whole, considered good value for money by the participants, while at the same time recognising that those on a “low budget or struggling” would consider it expensive. It was also felt that its value or otherwise depended on the extent the BBC’s services were used.

The BBC was criticised for its lack of coverage of Paralympic sport, with a lot of praise for Channel 4 both for its coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games and for tackling issues relating to disabilities more widely and in accessible ways, such as through the comedy programme The Last Leg.