Cuts leave BBC Wales TV 'closer to cliff edge'

Peter Capaldi meeting Doctor Who fans in Cardiff

Spending cuts have moved BBC Wales's English language TV provision "closer to the cliff edge", according to the body that represents audiences.

Audience Council Wales said there had been "no improvement" after its concern in 2014 at the "diminishing budget" for programmes reflecting Welsh life.

The comments appear in the the BBC Trust's Wales annual review.

BBC Cymru Wales director Rhodri Talfan Davies said a public debate during charter renewal was important.

About 900,000 people tuned into BBC Wales TV for at least 15 minutes each week.

This was a fall of 70,000 on the previous year, according to BBC Wales' management review for 2014/15, which was also published.

Despite the overall decline in audience figures, more than 800,000 viewers and listeners tuned into the BBC's coverage of the Dylan Thomas centenary.

BBC Wales Today remained the most popular English language programme, with an average of 293,000 viewers at 6.30pm, while Pobol y Cwm was the BBC's most popular programme on S4C with an average of 58,000 viewers

There was a fall in the BBC's audiences on S4C, with a weekly 15-minute reach of 131,000 viewers. The figure for 2013/14 was 155,000.

Digital growth in its Welsh language output saw its online services attract 89,000 weekly browsers during 2014/15, compared to 40,000 in 2013/14.

But there was a fall in the number of online visitors to its English language pages, with 3.48m weekly unique browsers in 2014/15 compared to 3.65m in 2013/14.

ACW scrutinises output on behalf of the corporation's governing body, the BBC Trust.

Mr Talfan Davies said it was "important" there was a public debate about the BBC's programming during the forthcoming review of the BBC's charter.

He identified four priorities as the process of charter review begins:

• Improving the portrayal of Wales on English language local and network channels.

• Extending and strengthening coverage of Welsh news to help build understanding of Wales' new political landscape.

• Moving to a "digital first" approach, with greater emphasis on content delivered across mobile devices and social media.

• Reflecting an increasingly diverse Wales on-air and behind the camera.

Reflecting on the past year, he added: "More than 800,000 people in Wales - and many millions across the UK - turned to BBC Wales for an extraordinary celebration of Dylan Thomas' life and work.

"It was BBC Wales' biggest ever season of cultural programming - and delivered a remarkable slate of output full of real passion and distinction across TV, radio and online."

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Poet Benjamin Zephaniah bringing Dylan Thomas to Townhill in Swansea