HC Deb 10 July 2001 vol 371 c448W
Llew Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the subsidy to S4C was(a) in total and (b) per viewer in the last year. [1754]

Dr. Howells

The level of S4C's grant in aid is determined by a formula introduced by the Broadcasting Act 1996. For the calendar year 2000, S4C's grant in aid was £78.218 million. The BBC also produce 10 hours per week of Welsh language programmes for broadcasting on S4C, costed at £16 million for the financial year 2000–01. This represents a cost of approximately £65 per viewer, based on S4C's estimated weekly reach of 1.441 million viewers for the year. In addition, outside peak hours S4C broadcasts the best of Channel 4's English language output.