The following article was published in the Western Mail on the 15th May 2014 under the title:
What does the future hold for TV in Wales?
"With the BBC's Director-General saying English-language programming in Wales has 'eroded', Tim Hartley, chairman of the Royal Television Society, Wales Centre, asks whether it is time to take a fresh look at the way money is spent in Wales."
It came as no surprise to hear the BBC’s Director General recently admit that English language programming in Wales has been "eroded" in the last few years. Forget Doctor Who and Sherlock, spending by the Beeb on local TV programmes has fallen 18% since 2006/7 to just £20million. Tony Hall also told a not-so-shocked audience in Cardiff Bay that some aspects of Welsh life were not "sufficiently captured by the BBC's own television services in Wales". OK Tony, you’re the boss. So is now the time look afresh at the way the BBC spends our money here in Wales? By way of apology Hall added that all broadcasters are now spending less here than they were a decade ago.
ITV Wales has been granted a new ten year licence but no extension of its hours. The new licence is a Wales only affair, finally breaking the dual region ‘Wales and West’ tag of the golden HTV years. ITV plc is actually in the rudest of health. Revenues and profits are both up and shareholders can expect a special dividend this year. ‘The Ferret’is still fondly rememberedand ‘Coast and Country’ has been recommissioned but there will be no extension of ITV’s Welsh programming from the current five and a half hours a week.
The shotgun marriage between S4C and the BBC seemed to have settled down to some sort of domestic contentment. The joint production, ‘Hinterland/Y Gwyll,’ the crime series set in west Wales,has received rave reviews and achieved good audiences. The new funding deal was supposed to guarantee S4C’soperational independence, but bosses at the Welsh channel will be concerned to hear BBC Wales’s Rhodri Talfan describe a drop in S4C’speak time audiences of 17% as "a real worry in terms of providing value for money”. What’s it got to do with him? The deal was between the BBC Trust and the S4C Authority. And besides, aren’t half S4C’s programmes in peak made by BBC Wales anyway?
Local television for Wales is still a distant prospect though not so distant perhaps as it was this time last year. While London, Norwich and Grimsby all have their own TV stations we are still waiting for an ‘on air’ date from ‘Made in Cardiff’,nearly two years after they were awarded thefranchise. Meanwhile ‘Bay TV’ plans to launch local TV services in Mold and Swansea by September. But why weren’t they given Bangor too?
A recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research emphasised the importance of the creative industries to the UK economy. They are growing faster than any other industrial sector but it also said that government needs to do more on investment, tax reliefs, digital infrastructure, training and ‘regional’ support. Only some of these demands are in the gift of the Welsh Government which has put its money where its mouth is and is spending £30 million to help Pinewood Studios set up on a site near Cardiff. The spin has it that the move will allow Wales to at last build “a critical mass of television and film expertise with the potential to compete globally”. Fine words but let’s wait and see on that one.
Despite what some had hoped for, the Silk Commission said firmlythat the regulation of broadcasting should stay in Westminster. However, the report recommended creating a devolved body within the BBC Trust to oversee ‘BBC outputs in Wales’, that Ofcom should have a board member with responsibility for Wales andthat the UK government funding for S4C of £7 million should move to the Welsh Government. Not much change there then. Even if Silk’s proposalswere implemented there’s no guarantee we would see a penny more spent or an hour more broadcast from Wales to Wales.
As you might expect ambitions are far higher north of the border. If the Scots vote yes for independence a new Scottish Broadcasting Service will be set up funded by Scotland’s share of the Licence Fee. They also want to take a slice of the profits of Worldwide, the BBC’s commercial armtoo. The Scottish government argues that in 2016 the BBC will raise £320 million there but will only spend £175 million of that on services for Scotland.
Such a radical move in Scotland would be a real game changer for the BBC as it looks to renegotiate its Royal Charter. And even if there is a ‘no’ vote in Scotland,will there still be demand for a more federal BBC in Wales as well as in Scotland? But be careful what you wish for. The BBC probably spends as much in Wales as it raises through the Licence Fee, so any ‘Scottish’ solution here could backfire. As the boss of the independent production giant Tinopolis, Ron Jones, once said, there’s only one public cake in Wales, it’s just a matter of how it’s sliced up. Either way expect some serious lobbying by the ‘cornerstone of British public service television’ over the coming months.
Tim Hartley is Chair of the Royal Television Society, Wales Centre. He is writing here in a personal capacity.