S4C bullying row: Expert asks if BBC should take control

The BBC could be best placed to take control of scandal-hit Welsh-language TV channel S4C, says a media expert.

Last Friday chief executive Sian Doyle was sacked in a unanimous decision by independent members of the S4C board.

They claimed it was made after evidence was uncovered by an investigation by Capital Law into alleged bullying.

In a letter to UK government culture secretary Lucy Frazer, Ms Doyle said S4C chairman Rhodri Williams embodied a culture of fear.

Ms Doyle has denied wrongdoing.

Media journalist and Channel 4 expert Maggie Brown told Newyddion S4C she was upset to see a "fractious and unpleasant" situation at S4C.

"If you want S4C to thrive, you'd have to sort out whether it can run itself properly," she added.

"I think that fundamentally we need to know whether it can be improved or whether it's a bit of a basket case and it needs to be reinvented."

Another option, she said, would be for BBC Wales to have a separate unit for purely Welsh-language broadcasting.

Abersytwyth University film expert Prof Jamie Medhurst said he was concerned the row could have implications for S4C's future.

"This public row gives ammunition to those people who want to undermine the channel or have a grudge against it," he said.

The BBC said: "The S4C board are responsible for running the service. It is independent of the BBC editorially and operationally."

Meanwhile, the independent production sector in Wales has hit back at comments by Ms Doyle.

She had claimed she had broken the status quo by cutting commissions to the "big five" production companies of Tinopolis, Cwmni Da, Avanti, Rondo and Boom from two-thirds to just over half.

But a former S4C commissioner Llion Iwan, now boss of Cwmni Da, asked to what extent such a policy was implemented.

"It is denying companies work, not for editorial or monetary reasons, just because companies are successful," he said.

Mr Iwan questioned Ms Doyle's assertion that getting S4C programmes on platforms such as Netflix constituted success.

He said: "We've been selling content internationally for many years and have had more success. A lot more money has come into the sector from that."

He said evidence of how much money a deal between S4C and Ryan Reynold's channel Maximum Effort had made was yet to be seen.

Ms Doyle said S4C's strategy was unanimously approved by the channel's board and the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport in February 2022 to ensure competition, creativity, and transparency in commissioning, and to diversify its suppliers.

"When I was S4C's CEO, commissioning decisions were based on merit, audience requirements, value for licence fee payers, and on the extent to which they represented the people of Wales," said Ms Doyle.

"Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and untrue."

S4C said there was no policy to reduce commissions by the "big five" but that it was important there was mix of programme providers.

"Our commissions are based on the strength of ideas being offered," a spokesman said.

The findings of the Capital Law probe are expected to be published soon.