Beorn
03-13-2010, 12:19 AM
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/03/11/article-1257157-08ACABFA000005DC-892_468x362.jpg
A Welsh TV channel funded by public money showed nearly 200 programmes which no-one watched last month, it has been revealed.
The dismal audiences for the programmes on S4C, Channel 4 for Wales, were so tiny they failed to register on official viewing figures.
S4C - which gets more than £100m of taxpayer's subsidy - officially recorded zero viewers on 196 out of its 890 programmes.
Not even the voice of Hollywood star Ioan Gruffudd could lift the figures for children's cartoon Igam Ogam on the Welsh-language channel.
The viewing figures for three weeks in February and March were compiled by the Broadcasters Audience Research Board.
A zero rating means the 196 shows were watched by fewer than 1,000 people.
Just 139 out of all the station's entire programmes for the period were watched by more than 10,000 viewers.
The zero viewer show include children's cartoon Sali Mali and Tocyn, where presenters visit Celtic countries and regions.
A soccer show called Sgorio scored a zero with viewers when it screened highlights of European football.
Sgorio - Welsh for score - turned into a no score draw on the night despite regularly pulling in tens of thousands of viewers on other nights
It is a regular show featuring top matches from the German, Spanish and Italian leagues.
An angry television insider said the channel was failing viewers.
He said: 'The cost per viewer must be absolutely astronomical. It would be cheaper to send every viewer a DVD.
'A lot of the viewers are old and are dying off - or are having trouble switching over to digital.'
S4C was set-up by the Conservative Government in 1982 when Channel 4 launched in the rest of Britain.
It was launched by Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru leader Gwynfor Evans who threatened to starve himself to death if the station was not set up.
The Cardiff-based channel receives £100million of taxpayers' cash as part of a public service commitment.
The shock figures were leaked after S4C claimed the digital switchover had not led to viewers snubbing the channel.
Former Conservative Welsh Office Minister Rod Richards, a Welsh speaker and broadcaster, said: 'I am disappointed and saddened by these figures.
'It is shocking that so many of S4C's programmes do not seem to resonate with the public.
'It is worrying from the point of view of anyone who is concerned about the Welsh language.
'S4C gets a huge amount of public money and it's time it was dragged into the 21st century, kicking and screaming if necessary.'
He called for the BBC to be given back responsibility for Welsh-language TV in Wales - as it did before S4C was set up.
Chairman of S4C John Walter Jones said: 'The contribution S4C makes to the Welsh language, Welsh culture and the Welsh economy has to be considered on a much broader basis than individual statistical information which can be misleading and misconstrued.'
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1257157/The-100m-Welsh-TV-channel-shows-ZERO-viewers.html)
No surprise here then. I admit I watch it when there is nothing else on, but that is because I play a game of how many times I can hear an English word in amongst the whole clip I view.
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1257157/The-100m-Welsh-TV-channel-shows-ZERO-viewers.html)
A Welsh TV channel funded by public money showed nearly 200 programmes which no-one watched last month, it has been revealed.
The dismal audiences for the programmes on S4C, Channel 4 for Wales, were so tiny they failed to register on official viewing figures.
S4C - which gets more than £100m of taxpayer's subsidy - officially recorded zero viewers on 196 out of its 890 programmes.
Not even the voice of Hollywood star Ioan Gruffudd could lift the figures for children's cartoon Igam Ogam on the Welsh-language channel.
The viewing figures for three weeks in February and March were compiled by the Broadcasters Audience Research Board.
A zero rating means the 196 shows were watched by fewer than 1,000 people.
Just 139 out of all the station's entire programmes for the period were watched by more than 10,000 viewers.
The zero viewer show include children's cartoon Sali Mali and Tocyn, where presenters visit Celtic countries and regions.
A soccer show called Sgorio scored a zero with viewers when it screened highlights of European football.
Sgorio - Welsh for score - turned into a no score draw on the night despite regularly pulling in tens of thousands of viewers on other nights
It is a regular show featuring top matches from the German, Spanish and Italian leagues.
An angry television insider said the channel was failing viewers.
He said: 'The cost per viewer must be absolutely astronomical. It would be cheaper to send every viewer a DVD.
'A lot of the viewers are old and are dying off - or are having trouble switching over to digital.'
S4C was set-up by the Conservative Government in 1982 when Channel 4 launched in the rest of Britain.
It was launched by Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru leader Gwynfor Evans who threatened to starve himself to death if the station was not set up.
The Cardiff-based channel receives £100million of taxpayers' cash as part of a public service commitment.
The shock figures were leaked after S4C claimed the digital switchover had not led to viewers snubbing the channel.
Former Conservative Welsh Office Minister Rod Richards, a Welsh speaker and broadcaster, said: 'I am disappointed and saddened by these figures.
'It is shocking that so many of S4C's programmes do not seem to resonate with the public.
'It is worrying from the point of view of anyone who is concerned about the Welsh language.
'S4C gets a huge amount of public money and it's time it was dragged into the 21st century, kicking and screaming if necessary.'
He called for the BBC to be given back responsibility for Welsh-language TV in Wales - as it did before S4C was set up.
Chairman of S4C John Walter Jones said: 'The contribution S4C makes to the Welsh language, Welsh culture and the Welsh economy has to be considered on a much broader basis than individual statistical information which can be misleading and misconstrued.'
Source (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1257157/The-100m-Welsh-TV-channel-shows-ZERO-viewers.html)
No surprise here then. I admit I watch it when there is nothing else on, but that is because I play a game of how many times I can hear an English word in amongst the whole clip I view.
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1257157/The-100m-Welsh-TV-channel-shows-ZERO-viewers.html)