±«Óătv

±«Óătv's national radio stations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales provide distinctive programmes that can't be found elsewhere, Trust review finds

Date: 20.09.2011     Last updated: 23.09.2014 at 09.53
The ±«Óătv's radio stations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are reaching large numbers of people that do not listen to any other ±«Óătv radio, and provide programmes that can't be found elsewhere, a ±«Óătv Trust review published today has concluded.

The stations under review - Radio Scotland, Radio nan Gaidheal, Radio Wales, Radio Cymru, and Radio Ulster / Foyle – offer high quality output, and audiences consider that they represent good value for money, according to the review's findings.

To further increase efficiency, the Trust recommends that there should be greater collaboration between the stations, for example in commissioning and talent development, and that a cross-nation benchmarking group be established to address variations in production costs, with a view to driving them down overall.

This review is the latest in the Trust's rolling programme of service reviews which see ±«Óătv services reviewed at least once every five years. It included a 12-week public consultation which gave audiences the chance to give their views on stations, and the Trust considered the overall performance of the stations, as well as the ±«Óătv's future plans for the services.

The review sets out the findings for each station, along with action points. It also includes the Executive's strategy for each station, which the Trust challenged the Executive to develop throughout the course of the review, though the Trust recognises that these may have to be adjusted to take into account the savings needed across the ±«Óătv as a result of the licence fee settlement.

Read the review