§ Mr. LawsTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much her Department spent on the Welsh Fourth Channel Authority (S4C) in each year since 1980–81; how many viewers the channel had in each of the last 10 years; what plans there are to transfer the funding of S4C to the Welsh Assembly; and if she will make a statement. [99838]
810W
§ Dr. HowellsThe Department for Culture, Media and Sport was created in 1992, as the Department of National Heritage. Prior to this, grant payments to S4C were made by the Home Office. The amount of grant in aid paid under S4Cs statutory funding formula since 1980–81 was:
£ million Year Amount January 1981 to March 1982 2.009 Year ending 31 March 1983 18.107 1984 25.119 1985 28.000 1986 31.900 1987 33.880 1988 40.000 1989 45.453 1990 51.738 1991 55.902 April to December 1991 43.666 Year ending 31 December 1992 58.571 1993 55.705 1994 57.971 1995 63.942 1996 68.416 1997 72.223 1998 74.895 1999 77.134 2000 78.218 2001 80.745 2002 81.468 The total number of viewers, based on average weekly reach, for each of the last 10 years for which figures are available, was:
Year 1Total number of viewers 19922 1,470,720 1993 1,531,860 1994 1,547,040 1995 1,559,240 1996 1,594,560 1997 1,544,320 1998 1,491,450 1999 1,533,260 2000 1,432,020 2001 1,268,370 1 Viewing figures are based on the average over the year of the total number of viewers in Wales aged four or over who watched S4C for at least three consecutive minutes during the course of each week. 2 The figure for 1992 is based on data for September to December, due to a temporary HTV viewing panel being used for the period January to August 1992. Source:
Broadcasters' Audience Research Board figures provided by S4C.
The Government has no plans to transfer the funding of S4C to the Welsh Assembly.