S4C 2012– Research Context

Research Sources • Focus groups (Qualitative Research)– 15 focus groups a year all over Wales, discussing programmes and other subjects - YouGov

• Research on Children & Youth – a large number of focus groups and some surveys on programmes and services - S4C’s Children’s Services Research

• Appreciation – Reaction Panel – 1,500 people questioned monthly: viewing diary & questionnaire asking their opinions on programmes & services - Kantar Media

• Image Tracking – A survey with a sample of 1,000, asking twice a year about imagery and genre strengths - SPA

Research Sources

• Webstats –industry standard figures on web currencies: visits, unique visits and page impressions - Nielsen

• Viewing Sessions - industry standard figures on numbers of viewing sessions (via Clic, other sites and Live Streaming) - Multistream & Sawmill

• Viewing Figures – Daily comprehensive industry viewing figures on programmes, including viewing behaviour, profiles, regional data fluency, etc - BARB

What does recent research show?• Viewers’ Evening 25/10/2010– we have a core audience that is

hugely appreciative of S4C (and is reponsible for a large proportion of viewing), and there is great appeal to many elements of our current schedule. But there is also a call from some for a “new” S4C. There is call from Learners for more provision for them. Very strong support for Childrens’ services and Cyw.

• The information confirms our research over the years, for example our Image Tracking and the Light Viewers project (May 2010). The latter noted our firm success in being local and providing unique content, but noted that more was needed – to serve the “middle” age group between 25-45, provide more entertainment, comedy, fun and gripping content  - “engaging” &  “talked about”.

• Ofcom – viewing TV in peak hours is still very significant.

What else does research show?• In terms of Welsh Speakers, 74% of our viewing comes

from 20% of the audience* – this is the core audience.

Characteristics of the core audience: – 92% fluency level 1 (most fluent)– 91% over 35 years of age, 62% over 65 – 45% from the North, 44% from West/Mid, 11% from South

• On the other hand, 45% of our weekly reach** comes from unique reach – i.e. occasional viewers who view one programme a week only.

• So there is a balance between core viewers and occasional viewers.

* Weeks 14-46, 2010 BARB

**BARB, 2010

What else does research show?• Non-Welsh speakers – 25% of the audience in peak hours

is comprised of Non-Welsh speakers.

• Our reach is very low among the young but is high among the older age groups:

2010: Weekly reach Welsh language hours*:Welsh Speakers

Adults 41%Children (4-15) 16%16-24 15%65+ 72%

* 2010 data: BARB

Appreciation

• S4C’s appreciation is above that of other major PSB channels in Wales.

• This is true among Welsh speakers and Non Welsh speakers

Appreciation Indices 2010

 

All Viewer

s Welsh SpeakersNon-Welsh Speakers

S4C (Welsh Language Programmes) 80 80 79

Other Channels ** 78 78 77

* Kantar Media – Reaction Panel ** BBC 1, BBC2 & ITV1

The Web and On-line Viewing• There were 161,000 visits to S4C’s site each month on average* in 2010

• There were 91,000 unique users each month on average.

• There were 1.5 million page impressions a month.

• This year, January and February are showing year on year increases in terms of visits (+23%) and unique users (+23%).

•Data Nielsen , 2010, comparison with 2009 not possible (different measurement method).

The Web and On-line Viewing

• There was a 44% year on year increase in programme viewing sessions (including live streaming) in 2010 compared to 2009.

1,606,1621,606,162 in 2010 1,113,8431,113,843 in 2009

• Kantar Media’s Reaction Panel data estimates that on-line viewing to S4C comprises 0.8% of all S4C viewing (2010). This is very similar to BARB data (omnibus survey) where 1% of adult viewing is estimated to be on-line.

• We know that the on-line viewing audience tends to be younger on average than the TV audience.

What are our strengths?• All our research, along with information from our Viewers’ Evening, shows that our strengths are:

• Being “local” and, by doing so, being relevant and unique through a wide range of our programmes.

• Reflecting the whole of Wales, and rural and modern Wales.

• Quality for specific programmes including some drama and other programmes.

• Events, sports from Wales, childrens programmes (especially Cyw), documentaries relevant to Wales, and music from Wales are clear strengths, way above other channels.

• To many of our core viewers, S4C is “television” – they view everything. (These are the people affected most by repeats).

What is needed?• Keep the core audience happy BUT:

• Be “lighter” in terms of the style of more of our content.

• Have gripping, younger content, entertainment and comedy.

• Quality continues to be important.

• The audience recognises cheap programmes when they see them – need to be more inventive.

• Being “lighter” – this needs to be specifically promoted. It is “unexpected” for most of our potential audience who are not currently viewing.

• Simpler language: clear & natural. Promote this too.

Viewing and Availability to View

• Weekly Reach 18.30-21.30 (2010) was 309,000.

• The average thousands 18.30-21.30 over the last 9 years has been between 27,000 & 32,000 (28,000 in 2010). This is an indication of stability in peak hours at a time of change to digital TV.

• Weekly Reach during All Welsh hours 2010 = 467,000 (an increase of 18,000 on 2009 figure).

• Next slide shows availability to view in 2010

Availabilty to View 2010

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Time

Thousa

nds

Mon-Fri

Sat-Sun

Peak at 21:00 - 1,421 (Mon-Fri) - 1,462 (Sat-Sun)

Significant increase in viewing after 15:30 - 509 (Mon-Fri)

- 733 (Sat-Sun)

Over 1 million watch TV after 18:00 - 997 (Mon-Fri)- 1,082 (Sat-Sun)

Significant decrease between 22:00-24:00- 918k switching off the TV (Mon-Fri)- 887 switching off the TV (Sat-Sun)

Reach

Programmes over 100,000

in 2010

• 3232 different programmes 14 Sports programmes 2 Sports-related 5 Pobol y Cwm 11 Music or Events

• 8484 single programmes reached over 100,000

53 Sports programmes 4 Sports-related 14 Pobol y Cwm 13 Music or Events

Programmes with over 100,000 reach