Welsh has largely been a success story over the past 40 years, greatly helped by the launch in 1982 of S4C – a free-to-air television channel aimed at Welsh speakers. S4C was crucial in revitalising the language and making it relevant to a rapidly changing Wales. But how much longer will that be the case? A report from the House of Commons Welsh affairs committee last month warned that the rise of streaming services threatens the position of S4C, which has also suffered a substantial drop in real-terms funding and, like the BBC, is faced with a government that has fallen out of love with public service broadcasting funded by a universal licence fee.
The cross-party committee says there is a danger that Welsh-language broadcasting will be marginalised as streamers with a global perspective take over. Welsh is a living language, yet the makers of Netflix’s The Witcher, a fantasy TV show, used it as the secret tongue of a mystic land. That being said, the streaming service also bought the hit Welsh-language drama Dal Y Mellt. The success of Welsh broadcasting has rested on the close connections between broadcasters and Welsh policymakers. But Amazon Prime Video would not appear before the committee.
