±«Óătv

Audience Councils

Your voice

The most important function of the Audience Council for Northern Ireland is to engage with and listen to local ±«Óătv audiences, and to champion their views to the ±«Óătv Trust.

The effectiveness of the Council’s work depends on the feedback from local audiences. We want to hear your views on different aspects of the ±«Óătv’s services and issues which you think the Council might address on behalf of licence-fee payers in Northern Ireland.

There are several ways you can make your voice heard. The Council hosts a number of events each year to listen to the audience. You can also contact the Audience Council with your views and suggestions. To find out how to contact the Council and for information about events go to Get Involved.  

The Audience Council uses audience feedback to inform its advice to the ±«Óătv Trust. It makes formal submissions to Trust consultations on, for example, proposals for new ±«Óătv services or reviews of existing services.

Please see Council's submissions to ±«Óătv Trust consultations in 2014/16 below.

±«Óătv Nations' radio, news and current affairs services

The Trust has conducted a review of ±«Óătv radio services in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as news and current affairs services - on television and online - in each of these nations.

The review aimed to assess how well the services are serving their audiences and performing against commitments set out in their respective service licences, as well as their ability to deliver these commitments in the future.

The Audience Council provided advice to the review on ±«Óătv Radio Ulster/Foyle, and ±«Óătv news and current affairs services in Northern Ireland. This advice and the Trust's findings are published below. 

±«Óătv Charter Review

The ±«Óătv’s current Charter expires at the end of December 2016 and a Government-led process of Charter Review is underway that will inform decisions about the ±«Óătv’s future.

The ±«Óătv Trust is committed to ensuring that the voice of licence-fee payers is heard in this process. Since the launch of the Government’s review (July 2015), the Trust has conducted an extensive programme of public consultation and engagement, commissioned independent research and sought advice from its four Audience Councils to inform its discussions with Government, as the future of the ±«Óătv is decided.

Details of the Trust’s work on Charter Review and the Council's advice to the Trust are published here.

±«Óătv network music and speech radio services

In 2014/15, the Trust conducted a review of the performance of the ±«Óătv's UK network music and speech radio services. The review aimed to assess how well the services were fulfilling the commitments defined in their respective service licences, whether changes to the licences were needed and whether the stations offered good value for money.

The Trust first looked at the ±«Óătv's six network music radio stations - Radio 1, 1Xtra 2, 3, 6 Music and the Asian Network - followed by the ±«Óătv's speech radio stations - Radio 4, 4 Extra and Radio 5 live, 5 live Sports Extra. The review of the services involved public consultation and audience research.

The Audience Council provided advice to the Trust, informed by its engagement with audiences in 2014 and its wider understanding of local audiences' needs and expectations of ±«Óătv network radio services.

The Council's advice to the Trust and the Trust's findings are published here.

Proposed changes to ±«Óătv television and online services

In December 2014, the ±«Óătv Executive submitted an application to the ±«Óătv Trust for a package of proposals that included - closing ±«Óătv Three as a broadcast service and its reinvention as an online-only offer, the launch of ±«Óătv One +1 channel, changes to ±«Óătv iPlayer and extended hours for C±«Óătv.

The Trust decided that the proposals constituted a significant change to the UK public services and that it was therefore required to conduct a - a rigorous evidence-based process featuring two consultation periods.

The Trust published its provisional conclusions on the Executive’s proposals, following a period of public consultation, in which it identified a number of concerns about the short-term impact of the proposal for ±«Óătv Three. The Trust asked the ±«Óătv Executive to provide further information and launched a second consultation - focused on the Trust's provisional conclusions - when this information had been received. 

The Trust’s conclusions and the Audience Council’s advice to the Trust are published here.

Arrangements for the production and supply of ±«Óătv programmes and content

In January 2015, the Trust launched a review looking at the way that programmes and content are made and supplied to the ±«Óătv across television, radio and online by either independent production companies or ±«Óătv in-house production.

The Trust's findings and conclusions, and the Council's advice to the review, are published here.