Extra licence fee money for S4C

Licence fee to be top-sliced by an additional £14 million a year to fund Welsh language broadcaster S4C. £7.5 million per year is to be used to develop its digital offering.

Following a new multi-year funding agreement between the Government and S4C, all public money for S4C will come from the licence fee. The channel will continue to show adverts to supplement its income. The deal was confirmed by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries.

However, the move means an additional £14 million of licence fee money will be removed from the BBC’s budget at a time when the fee is being frozen.

£7.5m of the extra licence fee money will be used to transform S4C’s streaming service S4C Clic, to ensure wider availability and visibility on digital TV platforms and smart TVs. However, S4C content is already available widely and across all major platforms through the BBC iPlayer.

Controversially, the money could end up helping to potentially duplicate S4C content across two different smart TV apps. But with the future of the BBC anything but certain, the move will ensure S4C has a widely available standalone presence on smart TV platforms if can no longer rely on the BBC iPlayer. The BBC’s current charter expires in 2027.

Critics of the funding agreement say S4C’s total public funding is still less than it was in 2010.

The new funding agreement runs from 1st April 2022 until 31st March 2028.

S4C funding: before and after

S4C also receives money from carrying advertising

S4C’s Chief Executive, Siân Doyle, said

“This is great news for S4C’s audience in Wales and beyond. In light of the announcement we will now work carefully to implement our plans for 2022-28. We’ll look to see how we can transform our S4C Clic player, ensuring the wider distribution of our content on digital platforms, and improving our visibility on smart TVs. All of this reflects the change in the way people watch content and television programmes.”