BBC Trust

Drama was, for many participants, their most enjoyed programme genre, with specific reference made to Casualty, Doctor Who and Sherlock. While some enjoyed continuing drama, others did not enjoy soaps with EastEnders and Pobol y Cwm not popular with a number of participants – largely because they felt that storylines were too often sensationalist. One participant said “Soaps contain too much violence and aggression and I fear that it’ll encourage the younger generation to regard this as normal.” Drama series were appreciated by many, with Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey and Mr Selfridge mentioned. On S4C, audiences enjoyed drama series such as Teulu and Gwaith Cartref. Some participants felt that there were too many factual programmes broadcast by the BBC to the detriment of drama with one saying “what I want to watch is quality escapism”.

Entertainment programmes, such as Strictly Come Dancing and The Voice also elicited mixed reactions, with some participants being big fans of the programmes, while others were not so keen. It was felt that in general there was too much emphasis on chasing high audience numbers at the BBC whereas the emphasis should be on the quality of the output. There was widespread praise for S4C’s Côr Cymru competition, both from Welsh speakers and non-Welsh speakers alike, with most participants considering the choir competition to have been of a very high standard and excellent entertainment.

There was a perception amongst some that too many cookery programmes were broadcast by the BBC, though others disagreed, saying that they felt it encouraged cookery amongst younger people, and that this was positive. Others also appreciated other programmes – such as the Great British Sewing Bee – which encouraged traditional crafts.

Other factual programming that was widely appreciated was coverage of rural affairs, with Countryfile and the Springwatch / Autumnwatch strands appreciated. It was felt that these programmes presented a more balanced picture of rural life than news coverage of rural affairs, which understandably concentrated to a greater extent on crises.

Comedy was an important genre for many of the participants, though tastes varied, but there was a consensus that programmes such as New Tricks – which combined a good script with serious, interesting yet humorous storylines – hit the mark. S4C’s comedy output was criticised by some for being “too slapstick, and lacking wit”.

There was wide appreciation of the coverage of the National Eisteddfod provided by the BBC on S4C, though some felt that too much time was given to interviews in the studio, rather than to coverage of the competitors and competitions themselves. A similar criticism was made of the coverage of the Royal Welsh Agricultural show, with some participants of the view that too much time was given to discussion and not enough to the competitions and animals at the show.

Participants were fans of BBC Radio 4, Radio 2 and Wales’ national BBC radio stations, though many participants felt that they listened less to the radio than in the past. Some participants felt that Radio Wales was rather too “in your face” during its morning schedules but that its output could be interesting.

Specific radio stations mentioned included Radio Cymru, Radio Wales, Radio 2, Radio 4 and Classic FM, though some participants said that their reception of Radio Wales was sometimes so poor that they ‘gave up’ and re-tuned to Radio 2. It was felt that the rugby coverage was good on both Radio 2 and Radio Wales.

Several participants felt that Radio Cymru’s music policy was “too bland” with a number expressing the view that the station’s music had been more enjoyable at the start of 2013, when a significant range of Welsh language music had been barred from broadcast as a result of a dispute on broadcasting rights.

A number of the participants used tablet devices and computers to access BBC online services, and to keep up with news during the day, with some considering the on-line news service their main means of accessing news and particularly local news.  Others used such devices to access the iPlayer.

The BBC website was important to participants for providing information on the weather.

The broadband service on offer to them was felt by most participants to be good.

The BBC’s red button service was considered to be great for catching up on sport and sports news.

Many participants consider news to be the central part of the BBC’s output (on both the BBC channels and on S4C) and a very trusted service. As one participant put it “nothing else will do”.

Some participants felt the BBC demonstrated a left wing bias in its coverage, while other participants strongly disagreed, suggesting that in fact the Corporation, if anything demonstrated a right wing leaning.

A number of participants felt that news interviews too often generated too much heat rather than light, with the Dimbleby brothers being considered by a number to be “past it, objectionable and surely due for retirement” as one participant put it.

As is often the case with evens of this kind, the view of sports was divided, with some considering the BBC and S4C’s sports coverage absolutely key to its output, while others thought it too pervasive. Some felt that some big sporting events “take over everything”, though there was a general consensus that the coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games had been great, in contrast to Channel 4’s coverage of the Paralympic Games, which participants felt had been spoilt by adverts.

The rugby coverage was particularly singled out for praise, but the BBC’s Formula 1 coverage was also considered good. Participants appreciated the use of the red button on BBC Two Wales to provide Welsh language commentary of Friday night games, and S4C’s use of the red button to provide English language commentary of rugby games at other times.

Some participants felt that there was inadequate coverage of women’s sports and that the use of women presenters appeared somewhat tokenistic.

S4C’s Sgorio programme was much appreciated since it concentrated on football teams from Wales, and information about English Premier League teams was readily available elsewhere.

Several participants said that the increasing number of recent technical issues was evidence that recent cost cuts at the BBC had led to a deterioration in the service to audiences.

A number of participants felt that there was a lack of broadcasts of religious services on TV on Sunday mornings.

Despite some improvement in recent years, the TV licensing agency was still felt by some participants to be too heavy handed in its letters and contact with the public, and that this was particularly the case for those without TV’s and so did not require a licence.