BBC Trust

On Friday, 1 April 2011 Audience Council Wales hosted an outreach event at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, Penygroes, to hear the views of year 12 pupils about the BBC and the media in general.

There were 28 pupils present and the discussion in both groups was conducted in Welsh. The number of boys and girls was similar and they were all between 16 and 18 years old. All were from the local area.

Reception

A common theme was that a significant proportion said that they hardly ever watched programmes at the time they were broadcast, relying instead on the Sky+, the BBC iPlayer or other catch up services to consume specific programmes. Several said that they used the web to source and watch US produced drama. The pupils did not report particular issues with TV reception and all received their TV service through either Freeview or Sky (the proportion receiving their service through Sky was higher than for Freeview).

TV

They said that amongst their favourite programmes were Torchwood, Doctor Who, Friends, America's Next Top Model, Eastenders, Match of the Day, Hollyoaks, Top Gear, Friends, Ugly Betty and Family Guy. Turning to Welsh language programmes broadcast on S4C they said that they still appreciated Jabas and C'mon Midffild. Of the latter, one pupil said "it was the best thing ever - I could really identify with the characters". They also said that they had really appreciated Uned 5 and its demise was regretted. They enjoyed Bandit, but felt that it was scheduled too late in the evening. Sioe Tudur Owen was enjoyed. They also had a keen sense of the genuineness of programmes and felt that Noson Lawen had deteriorated recently since the same faces appeared on the show and that it was no longer possible to see the area from which it was broadcast reflected in the programme. Rownd a Rownd was enjoyed though some expressed the view that they felt the cast was following the script "too slavishly".

The key message was S4C's programming was not appreciated when they tried to copy English programmes but that they should ask the audiences for their views and produce material that was genuinely Welsh. They also said that they would appreciate being able to buy box sets of some S4C programmes with examples given including Syr Wynff a Plwmsan, Naw tan Naw and Pam fi Duw.

Participants said that they considered that S4C would be better if older programmes were repeated, (with C'mon Midffild specifically mentioned) rather than repeating recently broadcast programmes.

In terms of channel loyalty, BBC Three was to the fore and many pupils considered its mix of programming perfect for their age group. The only regret expressed was that BBC Three did not begin broadcasting until 7pm and they thought it would be great if the channel began broadcasting at 4pm - at the time they got home from school.

Radio

BBC stations Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio Cymru were named as the main radio stations to which participants listened, although Real Radio/Heart FM as well as some Irish radio stations were also mentioned. There was some awareness too of BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5 Live. Radio 1 presenter Chris Moyles and Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans were popular, primarily because they were 'witty'.

Radio Cymru was considered to be too 'serious' in the morning, but many appreciated the Dafydd a Caryl programme at 08:30am. Dafydd Du was particularly appreciated since his accent suggested he was from the vicinity of Dyffryn Nantlle. They also appreciated the C2 strand on Radio Cymru in the evenings, though again they thought than an earlier start would be good. The ideal from their perspective would be two Radio Cymru stations, at specific times of the day - most particularly in the morning (to facilitate a programme of a similar kind to the Chris Moyles Radio 1 programme) and in the late afternoon and evening (to facilitate a longer period for the C2 strand). In the context of C2 they considered the programmes mix of Welsh and English language music to be an important part of its attraction and a means of retaining listeners.

News

Many of the participants were not huge consumers of news though there was some awareness of the news output with most expressing a preference for BBC news programming. Many watched the BBC Ten o'clock News and several were also appreciative of the 60 second news programmes on BBC Three. Wales Today was also considered a comprehensive news programme about Wales and while they recognised that Dyffryn Nantlle did not often feature in the news output, they considered that this was because not much happened there.

Radio Cymru's Post Cyntaf was considered a good programme and "told you all you need to know about the news in Wales and beyond".

Both Dewi Llwyd and Gari Owen were expressly mentioned as good presenters of the news. While they considered that the language used on the news output was formal, this was considered appropriate to the output.

The main newspaper read by the families of participants was The Sun.

Sport

Many of the participants were big fans of sport, and football in particular. The BBC's output in this regard was considered very good with Radio 5 Live, and the BBC's rugby coverage for S4C considered excellent, but Sky being the first call for soccer. Many expressed the view that the Welsh language rugby coverage was significantly better than the BBC's Welsh language soccer coverage, and while Robbie Savage was considered a good football pundit, Malcolm Allen was not held in such high regard by some. Jonathan was popular amongst participants, though several expressed the view that the programme was not as good as it had been when Eleri Siôn had been one of the presenters.

BBC website

When asked about their use of the web and in particular the BBC's website, many said that they considered the BBC website the first port of call for news, and information to help them with their homework. They also said that an element of the BBC's website they appreciated was the links provided within pages, which allowed them to explore topics and news stories further. The content on BBC websites was widely trusted.

General observations

On the whole the participants considered that the pay of top BBC executives was more of an issue than the pay of celebrities. One made the point that "it was difficult to see why the BBC Director General should earn so much more than the UK Prime Minister".

The issue of cross-promotion was also raised and participants said it would be great to see programmes broadcast on S4C promoted on Radio Cymru and vice versa. They also said that it was great to see Pobol y Cwm promoted in post Eastenders slots on BBC One Wales.

Participants were aware of the financial cuts facing the BBC and suggested that one obvious area for cost savings would be to stop transmitting programmes overnight or late at night.