BBC Trust

A wide variety of radio stations were listened to by those present, with one participant even asking why the BBC needed to have so many stations. Others appreciated the range and variety of output on BBC radio stations.

Popular Network radio stations included Radio 2 and Radio 4 with music being the main attraction to the former and the range of spoken content being the key attraction for those that listened to Radio 4. Some participants made reference to tuning to Radio 2 at specific times during the week, so as to hear specific musical genres or from particular periods, with one example being Steve Wright’s Sunday Love Songs. In the context of Radio 4 some of the participants said they particularly enjoyed the station’s afternoon plays, while others said they particularly disliked the 6.30pm comedy slot.

Awareness of and listening levels to the BBC’s two national radio stations for Wales varied greatly with some participants claiming to have little awareness of Radio Wales– with distribution issues (paucity of FM and DAB coverage of the station) being one suggested reason for this. However, of those participants who were aware of the station, it was popular, especially the Saturday morning schedules with Owen Money and Rhod Gilbert. Chris Needs was also a popular presenter, with some participants always tuning in to listen to him, and one saying “Chris Needs’ programme is great company”.

Radio Cymru was liked by those participants who spoke Welsh with the station’s policy of playing both Welsh language and English language songs commended. Dai Jones’ song request programme on Sunday night was popular with some of those who listened to the station making specific reference to it.

One of the key attractions of local commercial radio station, Radio Ceredigion was the mixture of both Welsh and English in the output, and the relevance of the station’s adverts and information to the local community.

Ways of listening to radio stations varied widely, with those present saying they listened via conventional radio sets – both at home and while travelling by car - through their television or on-line via a computer or mobile phone. There was a consensus however that radio reception by conventional means was very patchy and that this was particularly evident when travelling in the area.

The BBC’s TV output was praised in the first instance for its absence of adverts. While one participant expressed the view that she would prefer to have adverts shown if it “got rid of the licence fee” other participants strongly disagreed and said they considered 40p per day good value for money, and well worth paying to avoid adverts.

The BBC was praised for its documentary, drama and entertainment programmes, and the current mix of genres was considered vital for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC, and to fulfil the BBC’s mission statement to inform, educate and entertain. As one participant put it “It is absolutely vital that there is balance and variety on the BBC’s programmes”.

However, there was criticism that Wales, and indeed other specific geographical areas of the UK, were portrayed so infrequently on Network TV output. Drama such as Gavin and Stacey were considered important in terms of raising the profile of Wales within the UK, but it was noted that many years had now passed since they had been broadcast. The point was made on a number of occasions, that Y Gwyll/Hinterland – the police drama co-commissioned by BBC Cymru Wales and S4C, and located in Ceredigion – was very popular indeed amongst the population of Aberystwyth, and that they loved to see their town and area portrayed.interland -

Some participants also expressed the view that they felt that the BBC was increasingly becoming risk averse in its programmes and commissions. As one participant said “the BBC should take more risks, not be so ‘safe’ and afraid of stepping on toes”.

Popular BBC channels specifically mentioned included BBC Four (“it should be on in the afternoon too”), BBC Two and BBC One. There was a discussion regarding the BBC’s proposals that BBC Three should stop being a linear broadcast channel and instead become an on-line service and there was no consensus on the subject. Some were of the view that the channel was very popular amongst those young people in the channel’s target age range while others felt its loss would not be felt by them personally – albeit that they were well outside the channel’s target age range. The issue of poor broadband speeds locally was raised as a significant issue for those who would wish to access BBC Three on-line. One participant spoke for a number when she said “this decision will isolate a huge section of your people who don’t watch BBC One and Two and can’t access broadband. BBC Three has unique programming that discusses current controversial issues and get young people talking”.

Sports coverage also polarised opinion with some considering it vital to their listening, viewing and on-line activity, while others expressed the view that they wished it could be limited to just one BBC channel.

S4C’s children’s programme strand, Cyw, was warmly praised by a number of participants, and S4C in general was praised for the quality of its programmes. Pobol y Cwm was also praised, with one participant expressing the view that she was very disappointed that S4C had now reduced the number of episodes each week to 4. One participant also expressed the view that it would be helpful if the means of viewing the translated subtitles could be made more obvious.

BBC Wales’ TV programmes produced in Wales for audiences in Wales were very popular, with presenters like Jamie Owen and Dereck Brockway clearly the subject of much affection. Past drama such as High Hopes was still remembered fondly, but the current paucity of drama and comedy for Wales was a matter of disappointment.

The BBC’s news services were one of the central provisions for some of the participants, with one saying “I like the BBC just because of its news services”. However, a high proportion felt that the Wales national news services were more useful to them than the Network News provision. A number were openly critical of Network News for its “London bias” and its “obsession” with the UK Parliament – “it is as if they don’t realise that most of the news about the Westminster Parliament is only relevant to England” – and its treatment of Wales as “an afterthought” simply not considered acceptable.  However, it was recognised that it wasn’t just Wales that was treated in this way, with many parts of England, such as the north-east, north-west, and south-west as well as Northern Ireland and Scotland, also largely ignored by Network News. However, BBC News in general was praised for being “succinct and get you to the information you need to know” and was considered “less brash and chatty than other news outlets”.

A number of those present said that their first port of call for news was now the BBC News app and that the ability to localise, or denote preferences in relation to news was one of the more attractive and useful features of the app. One participant spoke for a number of those present when he said “the BBC News app is the first thing I look at on my phone each morning”.

Only a small number of those present said they used on-demand services to catch up on programmes which they had missed, and of those that did so, most used the Sky+ facility. The main disincentive for using the BBC iPlayer was poor broadband speeds in the area – as one participant put it “when iPlayer is constantly buffering or cutting out, you soon give up”. While welcoming the extension of availability of programmes on the iPlayer to a month, those present said they would like it even more if the programmes were available for longer.

A number of the participants accessed the BBC’s on-line services, with news (and health related news being of interest to some participants), weather and travel information being the first things usually accessed.

On the whole the Licence Fee was considered good value for money – particularly when compared with other pay to view services. The key point made was that it was essential for the BBC to continue to provide a wide variety of programmes and services so that all those who paid the licence fee received something that they enjoyed or found useful.