I know this forum is not political, but I can’t help feeling that the threat to the funding of S4C is too important to ignore. I’m sure someone takes ‘audience figures’ but I’m not sure that they know who watches on Sky or on-line and from where. At least some S4C output is watched by some on the Forum from far away and they would watch more if they could get it!! Me, I watch on Sky. There used to be two channels, S4C and S4C2, but now only the one! Do you think we could/should raise a petition to send to the Minister of Culture, Media and Sport, asking that the one and only Welsh Language TV channel be funded enough to continue as it has been!! And to give more access to more programmes in more countries.
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Go for it… 
Not sure how to set it up so we just get names like:
Jacquleline Y. Comben, Argyll, Scotland
rather than a space taking Forum entry! Also we need to agree wording.
Shall I try asking @tatjana about the methodology?
p.s. must log off now… back on bore '.fore
Probably a good idea - but broadly speaking, the forum won’t be the right place for the actual petition - you’d be better off using something like Avaaz, or Change.org, or setting up a governmental petition at https://petition.parliament.uk/
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Hmmm … now you’ve got me the task. I have to think a bit about this but if someone has an idea already at the reach, to write it here. 
(ups … I’m at work again and just can’t resist to have browser/forum opened peering in from time to time to see what’s new. )
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In some ways, the problems were made worse when it became closely tied to the funding of the BBC, i.e. the licence fee. This means it will always be subservient to the BBC in some respects. It already worked closely with the BBC, but it’s not (unfortunately) a partnership of equals. And the BBC also has its own problems, and the licence fee is always controversial (and inevitably political - we can’t get away from that).
In some ways it would be better being completely independent and answerable only to the Welsh people via the Welsh government. But there again, Wales is part of the UK, and the BBC is the national broadcaster, so why shouldn’t Wales get a share of the licence fee “cake”? And what about people in England (or Scotland) who want to watch it as well? It’s a tricky one.
So I don’t know what the answer might be. A special Wales-only TV licence with the proceeds going to S4C? I can see that not being very popular, especially with monoglot English-speaking Welsh people.
However @henddraig, I agree with the idea of a petition. I’m just not sure what the best wording would be.
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As far as me paying licence fee for watching program online outside UK I’d have no objections. I’m paying our national TV and radio fee and. I many times don’t quite geT what I’d expect, so one fee more or less wouldn’t be such a pain especially if I’d be able to watch at least 3\4 of the content I’d like to.
As regarding wording I don’t quite have the idea just yet.
Actually that’s something I’ve wondered about at times. I don’t have a TV as I don’t want to pay a licence fee for a heap of stuff that I don’t watch. I basically ONLY watch a few programmes on S4C, and very occasionally something like Question Time on iPlayer. I wouldn’t mind paying a subscription if I knew the money went to support S4C, but I’m not happy paying for a licence when their funding is getting cut back so much.
Hi! I’d be interested in helping somehow. Also- how do you all watch S4C? I would loooove to catch the second season of Hinterland. Any ideas.
Thanks, Sarah
Then you in the UK are the lucky bunch of people. In Slovenia everyone who has electricity (and this automatically means all citizens) has to pay a licence fee regardless does one have TV or not however the truth is also that if we have more then one TV in a family we still pay only one licence fee … But, yah, the whole country pays it no matter what you watch then …
But if I’d know I’m paying S4C licence fee and all proceeds go to them I’d even give a GBP or 2 extra.
I’m not used to the licence fee idea at all. It doesn’t exist in New Zealand or Australia, so I used to have a TV that just sat in the corner and got switched on every couple of months, or just for things like the Rugby World Cup!
I got sent so many letters demanding to know why I hadn’t paid a licence fee when I moved to Wales, and even had a visit from someone to check that I didn’t have a TV hidden up my sleeve when I lived in Cardiff. They have finally given up and accepted that there are people who actually don’t have a TV!
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Ah, ja. In our country they just don’t ask and if you wouldn’t pay they even sue you … So i better give those 12.75 € then being dragged on court or delodged out of my house …
As Dee has indicated they are pretty “totalitarian” about it here. So much so that I’ve always thought it should just come out of general taxation (and therefore save the additional overheads of collection). But there would be all sorts of political problems with that.
Yup, I would go for tax-based funding and said so in the BBC funding review questionnaire. It needs proper, sane governance which might be hard to find in ‘small state’ Britain, tho. Interesting that Bois Daf have found more money for the World Service. You don’t think they’ll be broadcasting propaganda do you?
Meanwhile, real ‘British’ broadcasting takes a hammering. Daf must have had another ‘kitchen supper’ with a media neighbour.
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I’ve previously suggested to them to make more content available outside the UK. Lets be honest, how many Other channels around the world have ANYTHING in Welsh. ‘Could’ dramatically increase viewership.
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I agree. I think Pobol y Cwm could become an absolute hit on Australia’s multicultural SBS channel for example. From what I hear it’s taking a funding hammering as well, so maybe they could help each other?
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Hi, I have been watching the new series of Hinterland on my computer by going to S4C Clic, which is similar to iPlayer.
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Wow! I have started something here and I’m glad I wasn’t a lone voice!!
We need a method of collecting names by countries, so that people in Wales can signal special views, like being willing to pay a special fee, which I would think totally unfair, given that this is to watch TV in one’s own language (official) in one’s own country!
The rest of us split into UK who can (like me) use Sky and/or possibly FreeSat or FreeView to watch live, anyone elsewhere who can access via Sky or the Web, and those with real trouble seeing anything, who want access and are willing to pay a bit!!
My gut feel is to limit one petition to folk outside Wales, who cannot be included in any ‘audience statistics’.
We are saying,
"We are learning or have learned this language. We care too. We want to watch S4C programs too. Some of us have real trouble doing that and are willing to pay a fee!
Please Minister, this is an ancient language, This is the only TV channel in the world which uses it.You value old buildings and history, why not this beautiful language which the ancestors of many in England, Scotland and Ireland spoke, as well as many in the Commonwealth. Surely you do not want to cut the funds to an unsustainable level? After all, it was a Conservative Prime Minister, Mrs. Margaret Thatcher, who agreed to the setting up of S4C.
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not sure on their funding, but SBS is pretty heavily laden with ads. So they would have a fair degree of immunity to it.
I have been hoping they will pick up Y Gwyll. but if they did no doubt they’d go the English version :s