The BBC and S4C have announced plans for a major new streaming partnership which will provide greater prominence for S4C programming on BBC iPlayer.
Under the new plans, S4C’s Welsh language content will regularly feature on the BBC iPlayer main homepage in Wales, and landmark S4C content – including drama titles and live sports programming – will appear on the BBC iPlayer homepage across the UK for the first time.
Links to S4C’s children’s services, Stwnsh and Cyw, will also be featured on the BBC iPlayer Kids homepage across the UK for the first time, improving the discoverability of Welsh language children’s content.
BBC iPlayer is the UK’s fastest-growing streaming service, with over 15m accounts viewing the service on average each week, including over 700,000 in Wales.
The new audience features are expected to be introduced in a phased rollout from April this year and will mean S4C viewers no longer have to search through BBC iPlayer’s channels guide to find their biggest shows.
Final details of the agreement are being finalised, but S4C and the BBC confirmed today that the heads of terms have now been agreed – subject to final approvals by both the broadcasters’ Boards.
S4C’s Chief Executive, Geraint Evans, commented: “We’re delighted to secure a new arrangement with BBC iPlayer, which will ensure greater prominence for S4C content – from sport and drama to live events and children’s programming. And with new features such as Welsh and English-language subtitles, additional live streams and improved personalisation, the viewing experience will be richer than ever.
“As our audiences increasingly turn to digital viewing, one of our main objectives is to ensure that S4C content is available across platforms, and it will be great to see Welsh-language content given a prominent place on one of the most popular viewing platforms, in addition to S4C’s streaming service, Clic.”
Garmon Rhys, Interim Director of BBC Cymru Wales, said: “We’re extremely proud to be working in partnership with S4C to provide greater discoverability of Welsh language content on BBC iPlayer. This agreement further strengthens our commitment to serving audiences in Wales and across the UK as they seek content on digital platforms, making it easier than ever for viewers to discover and enjoy S4C’s programming.”
The new agreement between the BBC and S4C is expected to provide a wide range of additional audience benefits, including:
- Multiple live streams of S4C’s varied sports coverage, including those with optional English language commentary, as well as national events coverage including the Urdd Eisteddfod, the National Eisteddfod, and the Royal Welsh Show
- Greater user personalisation – with regular S4C viewers seeing a wider range of Welsh language programme choices on their programme guide
- Welsh and English language subtitles for S4C programmes – a boost for deaf and hard-of-hearing users as well as new Welsh speakers who use subtitles to support their learning
- Inclusion of S4C live broadcast channel ads (subject to regulatory approval)
The new agreement is set to become the new cornerstone of the 44-year-old partnership between S4C and the BBC. Under the partnership, the BBC commissions the soap opera Pobol y Cwm and produces the daily news service Newyddion S4C. It also provides S4C with HD capacity for its live channel and manages the channel’s broadcast playout from BBC Wales’s broadcast centre in Central Square in Cardiff.
