07 April 2017

 In advance of the review by the Department of Culture Media and Sport into the Remit, Funding and Governance of S4C, the channel today published its vision for the future of the service it provides over the next 10 years.

S4C: Pushing the Boundaries outlines how the TV channel believes its remit should change to allow it to become a modern public service media content provider in the Welsh language.

The broadcaster has outlined 4 key areas of its vision for future service provision:

1. Ubiquitous Content Delivery: Ensuring audience segments can access S4C content when, where and how they want.

2. Creating the Right Content: Making it more relevant, competitive and diverse.

3. Wider Public Service Value: Bringing about economic, linguistic and educational benefits from the work.

4. A commercial strategy to help drive the vision: Enhancing the commercial capabilities and reputation of the channel.

Launching S4C: Pushing the Boundaries, S4C’s Chairman, Huw Jones, said: "We want to evolve from being a traditional broadcaster into a provider of modern public service media content in the connected world of the 21st century."

The vision document explains how S4C must become a media provider on all popular platforms – broadcast, Smart TVs, social media, short-form video sites, online long-form and that it must do this at the same time as continuing to invest in its presence on main broadcast TV platforms. The document also outlines ambitions to invest more in major production projects, attracting new audiences to the TV channel as well as commissioning associated online content.

S4C Chief Executive, Ian Jones said: "To deliver this vision S4C needs three things:

a. A new remit to provide Welsh Public Service Media content on television and digital platforms to the audience in Wales, across the UK and throughout the world.

b. Sufficient finance each year to deliver and sustain the new type and levels of service and maintain parity with other channels in a multi-platform digital world.

c. An objective and transparent process for deciding what constitutes sufficient funding for S4C, based on a new remit."

The independent review of S4C will be an opportunity to secure S4C’s future for decades to come so that the channel can: Meet the needs and expectations of today and tomorrow’s audience, claim a place for the Welsh language in the digital world and bring about an enhanced economic impact on the Welsh and British economies.

The S4C document outlines a new multi-platform, Welsh language media service that is engaging and constantly evolving in terms of the content commissioned and how people access that content.

Ends

Notes for Editors

S4C was created by the 1980 Broadcasting Act.

The channel broadcasts over 1,850 hours of original programming a year at an average cost of £34k/hour and a total of over 6,700 hours per year at an average of £11k/hour.

S4C’s new ten year vision is a key element of its submission to the forthcoming UK Government independent review.

The review will look at S4C’s funding, remit and accountability arrangements.

S4C: Pushing the Boundaries is available in hard copy or PDF (contact sioned.williams@s4c.cymru). A digital version is available to view at s4c.cymru/pushingtheboundaries