S4C

Written evidence submitted by Peter Edwards and Huw Walters

The Future of Welsh Language Broadcasting

In the midst of the ongoing crisis facing Welsh language broadcasting we believe it’s important to maintain a clear focus on how S4C can (once again) become a confident, ambitious, popular, appreciated and respected broadcaster in the minds of its viewers, industry peers, government and other stakeholders.

We believe there is a risk that the current situation is simply put down to organisational, structural and regulatory failings and personality differences. In fact, the issues and challenges are much wider and were apparent before the meltdown began during the summer.

With regard to the channel’s future direction, there has been an alarming reluctance amongst many of S4C’s stakeholders to recognise the scale of the challenge and the radical extent to which Welsh language broadcasting needs to change, but also the huge opportunities which exist for those prepared for the challenge.

Schools of thought seem to fall into one of two camps :

Either :

· A significant cut to S4C’s funding is potentially fatal and a direct attack on the Welsh language. The solution lies in campaigning and protesting with the passion which helped set up the channel thirty years ago. This view often romanticises S4C’s past history in order to gloss over some of its current weaknesses.

Or :

· Those who regard the challenge as a largely financial one which can be faced by improved systems of commissioning, providing more stability for the production sector and by making efficiency savings. The concentrations of talent and resources which currently exist in the production sector can be squeezed further to make up for the funding gap. More of the same but cheaper, with some services cut completely.

We believe that a far more radical overhaul is required. The current S4C model is not delivering viewers in sufficient numbers. It is not delivering enough for the Welsh economy. It is not delivering public value in return for the significant investment which is currently being made by DCMS and which has been committed for future years via the Licence Fee. If the model doesn’t work on a £100m budget how will the same model work with an £83m budget ?

We believe there is a golden opportunity to reinvent Welsh language broadcasting in a way which can increase viewer engagement across existing and new delivery platforms, can reinvigorate the creative industries in Wales and can demonstrate clear public value to the government and other stakeholders. This will require a major rethink of the type of content which is commissioned, the way in which it is commissioned and the way in which it is financed.

What would it look like ?

As media entrepreneurs we are concerned that any new organisation that replaces S4C should be transparent in its operation, that it engages with the new technologies and that competition drives transparency, cultural and economic vitality.

We are not particularly concerned with the past failures, preferring to change the mindset of Welsh language broadcasting, to reinvigorate the audience and to engage with Welsh learners and the younger audience who have turned their backs on S4C.

The S4C Authority could be replaced by a small board not dissimilar to the new Creative Advisory Board set up by WAG with a representation of business, media, music and the digital technologies and content, not necessarily all Welsh speaking.

The relationship with the BBC would require one representative from the BBC on the Board. The Board would regulate the executive management of S4C which would remain responsible for the operation of the service. Having industry experience at Board level would make scrutiny of the Executive more effective. There must be a clear process of engagement by the Board with the audience and the production sector who should know who they are and what responsibilities they have.

The commissioning model

In any small country with limited resources there are inevitably difficulties in ensuring plurality of opinion and variety and vitality of entertainment, artistic endeavour and talent development.

Essentially in the past we have had one person making the programme decisions in the Welsh language and one in the English language. This is patently dangerous. We have to introduce an element of competition other than at commissioning level.

We are suggesting two competitive funds. The major fund would deal with output where a high degree of local content and origination is desirable – eg news, sport, current affairs, events and soap. The second fund (ideally co-funded from S4C’s commercial fund) would deal with content which has universal appeal – eg children’s content, landmark series, high-end drama and documentary, film and digital media. The responsibility for commissioning from each fund would be separated. This would open up opportunities for internal and healthy competition. Both funds should be driven by the mindset in which co-funding is the norm. This would be a major psychological change for the independent sector in Wales which has become obsessed with "regional" 100% funded output. Not everything can be co-funded, but this requirement would certainly sharpen the commercial nous of our companies and drive them to put the world market at the forefront of their thinking. As these funds would be competitive and subject to deficit funding and our concern being to develop an audio-visual sector which is competitive and genuinely commercial, the entrepreneurs must have an opportunity to profit from their business. The issue of both Welsh language and English language rights becomes important. In the way that companies elsewhere in the UK have gained complete control of their commercial rights then the same must happen in Wales.

Particular genres present specific opportunities :

Film

The announcement that the UK government is willing to increase investment in film is extremely encouraging and we see an opportunity in Wales for the Film Agency for Wales to play its part in partnership with S4C. The work of FAW is built upon backing the talent, and this has led to considerable success with films like Separado, Sleep Furiously, Submarine and I am Slave. Development of talent is the gold dust of any branch of the creative industries and this is where S4C have failed for the last 10 years, limiting the creative imagination of a generation. Outside Wales, the Film sector is 100% co-funded,and there is no reason why Welsh language film shouldn't be as successful as it has been in the past. FAW has the expertise to develop and co-fund a number of films annually. As a means of rebuilding the audience, exhibition of films in the village halls and cinemas of Wales has an important role to play. The allocation of a sum of money ring-fenced for film co-production and development could be managed by FAW, answerable to a joint board of S4C and FAW.

On-line

This area has been consistently ignored by S4C. It is however the crucial area for talent development, new programme ideas and rebuilding the audience. It is the low -cost entry point for new talent and new businesses. As a sector it has grasped the opportunities of the new technologies and the zeitgeist of the audience. Limited amounts of public funding could make an enormous difference to build the sector. However, the current frontier-type freedom that exists on-line is an essential part of its appeal therefore. Whatever funding comes to the sector must therefore be at arms length from any corporate style S4C or equivalent. A small fund with a very light touch administration and answerability could make a real impact.

Children’s services

There will be a need to gain maximum content provision for minimum cost without sacrificing quality. We believe there are 3 ways to achieve this :

1. International co-production, if set up properly, will deliver high production value original content at relatively low cost. In some cases, it will also generate income through overseas licensing of originated programming. Superted, Fireman Sam and others were all shown first on S4C and generated significant revenues for the channel and its commercial partners.

2. The consumers of content – in this case children and their families - will represent a well defined and valuable niche market for appropriate goods and services. Managing the advertising, sponsorship and merchandising functions will require specialist expertise. Managing a balance between generating income and maintaining the ethos of the service will be key.

3. The traditional broadcast industry is an insufficiently broad source for content. Games and comics will be equally engaging. Patterns of audience involvement are likely to be very different from traditional tv channels. Content will therefore have to be developed and acquired by cost effective means from a multitude of sources.

We firmly believe the focus should be on seeking innovative ways to add value to the existing investment in children’s public service content as outlined above. A franchised children’s service broadcast on S4C in Welsh, but including an English language partner and commercial partners willing to invest in return for a share of exploitation rights would be a highly saleable proposition as well as providing a better quality of service for children in the Welsh language. Such a service would also provide a useful counterbalance to the near monopoly which the BBC currently has in public service content for young children.

Partnerships

The relationship between S4C and the BBC will become even more important under the new funding arrangements, however it should not become an exclusive relationship. One of S4C’s historical strengths has been its ability to work alongside a wide range of partners in the UK and internationally – particulary in the co-production of programmes. Why limit these opportunities by getting too close to the BBC ? Why not Sky Sports or Sky Arts in their respective fields ? As a general strategic principle, S4C should be giving priority to engaging with a wide range of industry stakeholder / partners. This would : (i) provide added financial value; (ii) build relationships with partners who might be supporters of Welsh language broadcasting during difficult times; (iii) would encourage S4C and its suppliers to raise their game and prove its value by measurable successes.

We think the proposal to fund S4C from the Licence Fee is a neat solution at a time when there is very little room to manouevre in the public finances. Assurances from DCMS of editorial and operational independence are welcome, although we are puzzled by the lack of explicit guarantees regarding financial independence from the BBC. Why is DCMS stopping short of confirming that ? Is it nervous of opening a can of worms by asserting that the Licence Fee is an investment in public service broadcasting rather than the BBC’s money ?

Guiding principles for a new S4C :

· A national rather than a local or regional service. It’s content should reflect the broad range of subject matter which a national service would cover.

· A cross platform service where digital content is as important as linear television content – particularly for demographics which aren’t currently being reached by tv.

· A service which uses its public funding as a base not a ceiling for its activities and which will pro-actively seek out opportunities to co-finance content with a wide range of partners in Wales, the rest of the UK and in the international market.

· It must make a genuine economic impact for the people of Wales and the economic benefits of S4C should do much more than merely translate programme spend into jobs.

· A service which encourages the production sector to innovate – creatively as well as technically.

· A service which encourages the production sector to be entrepreunerial and to find new ways of funding Welsh language content.

Remember, this is a broadcaster which has garnered three Oscar nominations, two US Emmy Awards and whose programmes have sold to over 100 countries around the world. Ambition will be crucial to the future success of the service.

November 2010

Peter Edwards is currently Chair of the Film Agency for Wales and a former Head of ITV Wales drama department. Peter has produced and directed hundreds of hours of television as an independent producer, for ITV and BBC including being a director on the first team of Eastenders. He has produced feature films including the BAFTA Carl Foreman award winning A Way of Life. He has produced 14 x 2 hour tv movies in the A Mind to Kill series – made in Wales which have sold to over 90 countries world wide. He has worked in Spain, South Africa, Netherlands and Poland

Huw Walters is a director of Calon and has 20 years experience of media business affairs, programme finance, co-production and sales. Uniquely amongst producers in Wales, Calon’s recent track record includes working with S4C, ITV, BBC 1 and 2, Channel 4, BBC Alba, Five and Nickelodeon in the UK. Calon programmes are currently licensed to broadcasters in the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, Australia, South America and the Far East. Prior to joining Calon, Huw worked as Director of International Business at S4C where he brokered co-production deals in every major territory with partners including HBO, Discovery Networks US, ZDF Germany, France Television and ABC Australia. He also led a team exporting programmes made in Wales to over 100 countries around the World. During his time at S4C he sat on the board of the commercial subsidiaries which generated additional revenues for the channel.