BBC interactive channel in new plans for Wales

Lord Hall said he wanted an 'open BBC for the internet age'

The BBC has said it wants to improve Wales coverage on its UK-wide services.

The proposals are contained in a document setting out the BBC's plans for the next decade.

They include a new interactive channel for Wales to be launched online and a new news online homepage for Wales.

The BBC said it must do more "to reflect the lives and experiences of all licence fee payers" and commits to improving "how we portray and represent the different nations of the UK."

But while the document - British Bold Creative - acknowledged that there had been a decline in English language programming in Wales by the BBC, it does not respond directly to First Minister Carwyn Jones's request for an extra £30m of investment in the area.

The BBC said it would consult with the Welsh government and others as part of the process of Charter Review.

Among its other proposals, the BBC said a new interactive channel for Wales would be launched online, where archive and original content will be broadcast, while the four nations of the UK will have their own BBC news online home pages.

The BBC's document said it was "fully committed to broadcasting and providing services in the UK's indigenous languages," and that it would share with S4C the technology and expertise to use its new personalised service, "myBBC".

News output is also scrutinised in the document, with an acknowledgement that since devolution "there is now a much stronger case for providing a different balance in how we serve audiences with the most relevant BBC news and current affairs".

In a speech accompanying the document, director general Tony Hall said he wanted to explore how "we might better configure the BBC's news offering across the UK."

In summary:

• The report contains a candid acceptance that BBC does not adequately reflect Wales on its network output, particularly news

• There will be an interactive channel for Wales showing archive and original content

• A new BBC News online homepage for Wales

• Sharing audio and video with newspaper industry in Wales and across the UK

• BBC to share with S4C the new myBBC technology and expertise, a more personalised digital service

• Curriculum resources (Bitesize) to reflect devolved curricula in the nations

ANALYSIS by Huw Thomas, BBC Wales arts and media correspondent

The proposals contain a frank admission from the BBC that it needs to improve its portrayal of Wales on its UK-wide services.

While it hasn't offered an immediate solution, there is a hint at the creation of a Welsh Ten or a Scottish Six - an all-inclusive TV programme that would deliver Welsh, UK and world news in one programme, rather than splitting the news from London and Wales as happens now.

The creation of a BBC Wales online TV channel is designed to offer a platform for programmes.

But while the BBC acknowledges that English language programming in Wales has been in decline, the Welsh government's demands that it invests an extra £30m have been met with an offer of consultation, not cash.

The BBC wants to provoke a discussion about its future - but Welsh voices will need to shout loudly to be part of a debate framed by budget constraints and wider demands on the BBC's future resources.

Lee Waters, director of think tank The Institute of Welsh Affairs, said Lord Hall had said nothing on how the BBC will go about better reflecting the whole of the UK.

"If the BBC director general is sincere in wanting to create a BBC that is 'made to measure for you, wherever you are', as he said in his speech, he needs to make sure BBC Wales is able to produce content that allows people in Wales to see their own communities and their country reflected in its output," said Mr Waters.