Welsh language channel S4C has secured an improved funding deal from the UK Government which includes £7.5m in new money each year from the BBC licence fee to support its digital offering.
The BBC has had its licence fee frozen at £159 until 2024, which with high TV cost inflation will mean it will have to make significant operational savings. If the Tories are still in power in Westminster the licence fee could be abandoned through charter review from 2028. Such a move would also put S4C’s future in question with its scope to generate commercial income far more limited compared to the BBC.
The new five-year agreement for S4C will see, from its next financial year starting in April, all its funding entirely sliced from the BBC’s annual £3.7bn licence fee.
In the current financial year, to end of March, 2022, the Carmarthenshire headquartered public service broadcaster will receive £81m, which includes a £6.8m grant from the UK Government’s Department for Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS) and the rest from the licence fee, The new agreement will see this rising to £88.8m, starting from the 2022-23 financial year, and solely financed from the licence fee.
As well as covering what was the DCMS grant funding contribution, the licence fee will also provide annually over the next five-years £7.5m specifically for S4C to develop its digital offer. The rise from April follows a five-year funding squeeze for S4C, which at one time had an annual budget of more than £100m with annual rises pegged to the higher retail price index measure of inflation.
S4C will continue to receive news and other content from BBC Wales in the Welsh language.
The DCMS said: “The Welsh language broadcaster S4C plays a unique role promoting the Welsh language, and supporting our wider public service broadcasting landscape. It will receive a similar settlement and is also allocated an extra £7.5m a year to develop its digital offering. This will help it reach more Welsh language speakers including younger audiences.”
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, appearing before a Culture Select Committee in Westminster in November, said she recognised the importance of the channel in supporting the Welsh language and the creative industries sector in Wales.
S4C Chair Rhodri Williams said: “This settlement reflects the faith of the DCMS, and the Secretary of State Nadine Dorries, in S4C’s vision for the next five years. Given the economic climate, this financial settlement, which comes after months of negotiation between the channel and the government, provides a good basis for S4C to plan for the next period.
“We thank the Secretary of State and her officials for a constructive and positive process that has shown support for S4C’s ambition. We are also grateful to the Secretary of State for Wales, members of Parliament, members of the Senedd, members of the House of Lords and a large number of organisations, associations and friends across Wales who supported our cause. Showing that there is cross-party support throughout Wales strengthened S4C’s case as we submitted our application to the DCMS.
S4C’s chief executive, Siân Doyle, said “This is great news for S4C’s audience in Wales and beyond. In light of the announcement we will now work carefully to implement our plans for 2022-27. We’ll look to see how we can transform our S4C Clic player, ensuring the wider distribution of our content on digital platforms, and improving our visibility on smart TVs. All of this reflects the change in the way people watch content and television programmes.”
Chair of representative body for independent production firms in Wales, TAC, Dyfrig Davies, said: “We are very pleased to see an increase in funding for S4C. TAC strongly supported the case, and we look forward to S4C will be implementing its plans to commission high-quality programming from the independent production sector in a multi-platform media landscape. This will ensure continuity of service for Welsh-language speakers and learners in Wales and to a wide audience in the UK and worldwide.”
“Overall however a two-year freeze in the TV licence fee will create significant difficulties for the BBC which, as a world leading media organisation, does very important work in supporting the UK’s creative industries. This generates huge economic and cultural value including for Wales and we have great concerns about this decision and the effect it will have on the creative industries at a time when they are still recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
