S4C's linear viewing figures down as digital grows - report

Fewer people are watching linear TV on Welsh-language channel S4C, according to its latest annual report.

Figures from BARB Audiences show the channel's average weekly TV audience in Wales fell slightly to 306,000 in the year to 31 March 2025, down from 310,000 the year before.

However, its digital engagement was growing, with 14% of viewing taking place online, via BBC iPlayer, Clic, and YouTube.

In response to changing habits, S4C said it would focus more of its budget on developing multi-platform content.

While the weekly audience remains higher than the 300,000 recorded in 2021/22, it is well below the 324,000 reached in 2022/23.

The report described the figures as relatively stable when compared with other UK linear channels, despite the overall decline in traditional TV viewing.

Across the UK, S4C's weekly audience fell to 454,000, down from 602,000 in 2021/22, with peak-time viewing between 19:00 GMT and 22:00 also dropping to an average of 17,000.

It said one of its biggest successes was Y Llais - the Welsh language version of singing contest The Voice - which has attracted new, younger audiences and new Welsh speakers.

Over half of its audience was under the age of 45, which was the same for its dating series Amour a Mynydd.

Sports coverage took seven of the top ten most viewed programmes.

The report revealed that 440,000 people watched the match between the Wales men's football team and Iceland in the Nations League in November.

There was a notable rise in the number of people watching S4C programmes on BBC iPlayer, which now accounts for 10% of the channel's total viewing hours.

Combined with its own platform Clic, S4C content was streamed digitally for 4.4 million hours - an increase of 300,000 on the previous year.

Cleddau set a new record for the highest number of viewing sessions for a Welsh-language drama on iPlayer.

The broadcaster said this shift underlines the need to invest in its digital presence.

However, questions remain over how public service broadcasters like S4C are funded.

Since 2022, all of S4C's public funding has come from the licence fee, an arrangement set to continue until at least March 2028.

S4C also receives around £7.5m a year of additional funding from the UK government, which will rise with inflation.

In its annual report, the broadcaster said it needed to evolve from being a traditional Public Service Broadcaster to a Public Service Media Publisher.

It also explained how it needs to move from "linear or digital" considerations, in order to commission content for distribution across a multiple platforms.

Geraint Evans, S4C's Chief Executive, said it was a "privilege" to deliver his first report after a year of enhancing viewer services, growing digital presence, and "reinforced our internal identity and ways of working".

Delyth Evans, S4C's new chairwoman, said she was "proud" of the continued partnership with the production sector to deliver inspiring, high-quality Welsh content, and "looks forward to building on that success".