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The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's Annual Report and Accounts for 2012/13, published today, showed a strong performance for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Cymru Wales, both in Wales and across the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's network channels, although Audience Council Wales remains concerned about levels of DAB and FM coverage and the need for more programming made in Wales for Welsh audiences.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Wales' output on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One Wales and ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two Wales continued to reach nearly a million viewers, and 2.7m people a week visited the dedicated Wales website pages. This year ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One Wales also became available in HD for the first time.

The studios at Roath Lock made another record contribution to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ network drama. Alongside established favourites Doctor Who and Casualty, there were a number of new programmes in production including adventure series Wizards vs Aliens for C³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.Ìý And in September, daily Welsh-language news strand Newyddion won a BAFTA Cymru award for its coverage of the 9/11 commemorations in New York in 2011.

While coverage on DAB to both Radio Wales and Radio Cymru increased by 25 per cent with the launch of new transmitters in north east Wales, which saw 80,000 new listeners tune in to Radio Wales FM, audiences and the Trust's Audience Council Wales (which advises the Trust on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's performance in achieving the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's public purposes) continue to have serious concerns about the overall lack of DAB coverage in Wales.Ìý

For Welsh-speaking audiences, the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's partnership with S4C went from strength to strength with the implementation of the new Operating Agreement between the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trust and the S4C Authority.Ìý This agreement secures S4C's editorial, managerial and operational independence while setting out accountability to the Trust for the funding of the service. From April this year through to 2017, the majority of S4C's public income is from the licence fee.

Radio Cymru faced a challenging time during the still-unresolved dispute over commercial broadcast rights between the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ and Welsh language collecting society Eos.Ìý Efforts to resolve the dispute are continuing, and the Trust and the Audience Council Wales will monitor progress closely.Ìý

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Trustee for Wales Elan Closs Stephens said:

"³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Cymru Wales has had a good year, despite some very tough times for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ last autumn. We shared the excitement and drama of the Olympics with the rest of the country, and marked up some achievements of our own: a new partnership with S4C, continued strength in drama produced for the whole of the UK, an HD version of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One for Wales, as well as a much-needed increase to DAB coverage for the two national radio stations.

"However, ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Cymru Wales can go even further and, as our Audience Councils have highlighted, there are some key areas that require work this year.Ìý Programming reflecting life in Wales is important to audiences and so it is concerning that this year there was no English-language drama made in Wales for Welsh audiences.Ìý And although progress has been made on DAB, there is still a long way to go.ÌýÌý It is encouraging that work is already underway from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Cymru Wales and the wider ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ to address many of these issues the Trust and the Audience Council will continue to monitor progress."

The percentage of network TV spend in Wales rose from 5.3 per cent in 2012 to 6.8 per cent, largely thanks drama and factual programming.Ìý

Members of the Audience Council praised the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ on maintaining the weekly reach at 89 per cent – above the level for the UK as a whole.

It also recognised improvements made by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News in identifying the relevance of stories to the different nations of the UK but still feels that there is work to do in improving the reporting of differences in public policy across the four nations.Ìý

Notes to Editors

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Annual Report and Accounts for 2012/13 can be found here:Ìý³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Annual Report 2012/13

The Audience Council Wales Review can be found here: Annual Review