BBC pledges £8.5m more for English-languageTV
THE BBC has pledged to increase its funding for Englishlanguage programming for Wales by 50% saying the investment will be “transformational”.
The broadcaster announced the investment , which will see an additional £8.5m invested each year, in what it described as the “biggest expansion of BBC Wales television output in a generation”.
The funding will go towards helping a “step-change” in programming for Wales across comedy, entertainment, drama, factual and culture genres.
It is hoped this will help BBC Wales to reach out to younger audiences and develop its online and mobile services.
BBC director-general Lord Tony Hall: “I’m delighted to announce this major increase in television funding for Wales.
“BBC Wales has a remarkable creative track record and I know they’ll seize this new opportunity with real relish.
“I believe this investment will be transformational. In areas such as comedy, drama and entertainment, we expect to more than double investment.
“In news and current affairs, it will help us move faster online and reach out to younger audiences, and provide greater specialist reporting across our output.
“It’s so important that the BBC captures the real diversity of life and experience in Wales, and this investment is a real statement of intent about our ambition to serve all audiences in Wales.”
With the new funding – which is expected to reach almost £30m per annum for English-language services – a new BBC Wales iPlayer channel will be launched.
It is hoped other benefits of the increased funding will include more than 130 hours of additional programming each year, generating a further £5m investment through coproduction agreements with other broadcasters, providing a full mix of programming, boosting portrayal and coverage of Wales on the BBC’s network channels, and providing a major financial boost to the Welsh production sector.
BBC Wales director Rhodri Talfan Davies said: “This new investment is tremendously welcome. Wales is blessed with superb storytellers, and this investment will give them a fitting national stage.
“By the time we move to our new home in Central Square in less than three years’ time, I believe the difference on screen will be clear to audiences the length and breadth of our nation.”
Lord Hall appeared before the National Assembly’s Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee in November last year, where he told members he vowed to keep his promise for the BBC to improve its portrayal of Wales and Welsh life.
His promise was made in April 2014, when he made a speech in Cardiff in which he admitted that the BBC’s English-language TV programming in Wales had been “eroded” over nearly a decade.
Between 2006/07 and 2012/13, BBC Wales’ budget for English-language TV programmes fell 18% from £24.6m to £20.2m.
Mr Davies added: “The challenges facing news provision in Wales have been well-documented, and this new investment will enable us to extend the reach of our news services among younger audiences and improve our analysis of the big stories that are shaping Wales today.”
In addition to the increased funding – the BBC said it would introduce a number of steps to improve the portrayal of Wales on its network channels.
These include the appointment of a television drama commissioner for Wales, the introduction of a BBC Writersroom team, the introduction of a £2m portrayal fund, on-screen portrayal objectives across production teams, a commitment to produce at least 5% of network programming from Wales, and a commitment to work in partnership with the Welsh Government’s proposed Creative Wales body.
Lee Waters AM, a member of the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee, said: “The BBC’s announcement takes it back to the sort of levels they were spending a decade ago, before they started slashing the budget for English-language programmes in Wales.
“I warmly welcome Tony Hall putting an additional £8.5m into programming for Wales by 2020, but it is worth noting that this sits alongside their recent announcement of £9m worth of ‘efficiencies’ in BBC Wales, and falls well short of the additional £20m that the First Minister, the Assembly’s Culture Committee and the IWA’s substantial Media Audit called for.
“That said, it will deliver improvements on what was planned before pressure was put to bear, and I’m pleased that the ambition is to target the funding on quality programmes that can earn their place on the main BBC network so that Welsh stories can be seen and heard across the UK.”