Ofcom has just released ‘Media Nations Wales 2025‘. It’s a fascinating picture of how people in Cymru are getting news and information, and of a fracturing media landscape. Here are some key takeaways.
BBC1 is losing its lead as a source of Welsh news
Asked ‘From which of the following sources do you get news about what is going on in Wales nowadays?’, BBC1 is still on top – but only just – with 27% of respondents. It’s been in steady decline since the pandemic (over 45% in 2022).
ITV Wales has held up better, albeit by retaining its second position. It’s now hot on the Beeb’s heals, on 25%.
The BBC has also seen a slight drop in terms of its website/app. Other ‘Wales-based news sites/apps’ (think Wales Online or Nation.Cymru) – have held firm.
What does this mean for communicators? Well despite these figures, the BBC, in particular its TV news, is still dominant in terms of reach. Media relations and the ability to tap in to broadcast coverage are likely to be vital parts of the comms ‘toolkit’ for a while yet.
That said, the comms landscape is become more fragmented. It’s more important that ever to identify your target audiences and understand how they access news. Smaller outlets (like Will Hayward’s newsletter/podcast and Golwg) can be an effective way to reach particular groups. And who knows, the the Senedd election looming in 2026, perhaps there are more opportunities to get UK media coverage for Welsh issues?
Radio Cymru for the young, Radio Wales for the old
Both BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru are pretty stable in terms of listening figures.
What’s more interesting is who is listening to these stations.
While Radio Wales’ listeners are generally old (and getting older), for Radio Cymru the trend is reversed:
“In Q1 2024 more than four in ten BBC Radio Cymru listeners (46%) were aged 65 and older, but this dropped to three in ten (31%) in Q1 2025. In the same period, the proportion of listeners aged 15-24 almost quadrupled, from 3% to 11%.
The inverse is true for BBC Radio Wales’ audience, which went from having just over two-thirds of its listeners aged 65 and older (67%) in Q1 2024 to just under three-quarters (73%) in Q1 2025.
This shift is reflected in the station’s average listener age; the average BBC Radio Cymru listener is now 52 (down from 58 in Q1 2024) and the average BBC Radio Wales listener is 61 (up from 60 in Q1 2024).”
This looks like a great achievement for Radio Cymru. I suspect this is at least partly down to establishing Radio Cymru 2, whose figures are combined under ‘Radio Cymru’. They’ve succeeded in attracting younger listeners. This is good news because they’re serving a wider range of listeners, better reflecting the wider population.
The fact that our only national station in English is mainly serving people of retirement age is bad news. Radio Wales needs to look to its colleagues on the Welsh-language side of the operation.
What this means for comms folk: both stations are useful for influencing politicians and government. You can bet that those in the political ‘bubble’ pay more attention, even if they’re much younger than the average listener! That said, if you’re targeting public audiences, factor in the likely age profile when planning media outreach.
A fifth of us in Wales listen to podcasts each week
More people in Wales are listening to podcasts each week, with reach now 19.4%.
This is a big increase in a short time. In 2019, that figure was just 11%. And while the figure here is a little lower than the UK average (22.4%), it’s grown steadily with the exception of a stall in 2024.
Ofcom’s UK report gives a bit more detail on podcasting (we don’t have these at the Welsh level):
- Listeners are generally more likely to be young-middle age adults and in ABC1 economic groups.
- The average podcast listener follows or subscribes to six podcasts and listens to five episodes each week.
- Findings from Edison Podcast Metrics reveal that almost two-thirds of podcast listeners (64%) spend more than three hours each week listening to podcasts
- Three in five (60%) podcast listeners also say that they spend more time listening to podcasts now than they did a year ago.
- Data from IPA TouchPoints shows that the majority of time spent listening to podcasts is to independent podcasts i.e. those not affiliated with radio stations, newspaper or magazines.
- Politics, news and current affairs are among the top categories across age groups, but more so in older listeners
What this means for comms folk:
Ask yourself:
- Is it time for a fresh look at podcasting for your organisation?
- Are there opportunities to put yourself forward as a guest on a podcast?
Podcasts are a very effective way of building deep connections with audiences and exploring topics in-depth. Now we know the audience is growing steadily over the years, I’m confident that podcasting is becoming a larger established presence, and not simply a bubble.
Bonus: Only a minority think Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs) represent Wales well on TV
OK, this might not be as relevant for your day-to-day comms work. But I think it’s important for all of us who care about Cymru, our culture and democracy.
While overall satisfaction with PSBs has remained steady, there are some interesting details if you delve a little deeper…
Ofcom’s Public Service Media (PSM) Tracker 2024 found that in Wales, about three in five (62%) PSB viewers said they were satisfied with PSBs overall, while 8% said they were dissatisfied.
Good news, right? Well, not entirely.
In the survey, people were asked:
“Thinking about the following combined [BBC TV channels / ITV Cymru Wales and ITV TV channels / Channel 4 TV channels / Channel 5 TV channels / S4C] on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 means extremely badly and 10 means extremely well, how well or badly would you say they provide …?”
Looking at how many respondents thought they were doing ‘well’ on various factors (7/10 and up), among the lowest rated categories were:
- Programmes that feature Wales (47%)
- Programmes that feature people like me (46%)
In other words, only a minority think they’re doing well on these measures.
This is pretty concerning. The PSBs need to do a better job of reflecting Cymru and its people on the screen.
Conclusions
These latest figures are yet more evidence that the media are becoming more fractured in Wales. Different people get their information in different ways and the popularity of the various platforms is constantly changing.
For communicators, it’s more important than ever to be clear about your target audiences and how to reach them. Sharing stories well means much more than simply firing out press releases and hoping for the best.
Let me know what you think in the comments. And if you found this blog useful, why not sign up to my Welsh Comms Newsletter for regular tips, offers, jobs, events and resources?
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