Welsh-language media planning: channels and sales routes

What to take away

This guide maps the Welsh-language media plan: the channels, the sales route for each, the audience currency behind it and the planning decisions a bilingual campaign forces. S4C, press and radio rates are negotiated and change with daypart, programme and volume, so for each channel it names who quotes the rate and what to ask for, rather than printing a rate card.

What Welsh-language advertising requires of a plan

Welsh-language advertising is not a translation job. It changes who you can reach, what you pay and how you judge success. About a fifth of people in Wales speak Welsh, and the proportion is higher among children and in north and west Wales. A plan that ignores that leaves reach on the table.

Start with the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, which created the Welsh Language Commissioner and the Welsh Language Standards. The policy aim is 'Cymraeg 2050: a million Welsh speakers'. Public bodies subject to the Standards must treat Welsh no less favourably than English; their language schemes and compliance notices set out what that means in practice.

The policy also means many clients in Wales expect a Welsh-language element as standard. If your media plan does not include it, you will be asked why. Budget for it from the start rather than bolting it on late.

Language choice is a media choice. Welsh-language audiences are not simply English-language audiences with a different soundtrack. They skew older on linear television, younger on digital, and they are concentrated in different places. Plan the two audiences as separate targets that overlap.

Creative costs more. Welsh-language copy, voice and subtitling add to production, and good translators are booked up. Allow more time than you would for an English-only campaign, especially if you need legal or regulatory clearance.

S4C airtime and how it is bought

S4C is the Welsh-language public service broadcaster. It shows a mix of sport, drama, news, children's programming and entertainment, mostly in Welsh. Its audience is modest in total but loyal, and it delivers Welsh-speaking viewers that commercial channels struggle to reach at scale.

S4C airtime is sold by the broadcaster's appointed sales house, Sky Media, not through the big English sales points. UK media agencies such as OMD UK, EssenceMediacom and the7stars buy TV airtime for clients; ask any agency with a Sky Media trading account to price S4C, or ask S4C about direct routes. Rates are negotiated, and Sky Media quotes on a cost per impact.

Rates depend on daypart, programme and volume. Ask Sky Media for the current cost per impact against Welsh-speaking adults, and for the daypart and programme breakdown behind it, before you plan.

Audience data comes from BARB, the UK's broadcast audience measurement body. S4C's ratings are small, so buy on impacts and share rather than on broad reach. A spot that looks expensive on cost per thousand against a national channel can be cheap against Welsh-speaking viewers.

Sponsorship and airtime around S4C's sport and children's output often works harder than spot advertising. Sgorio, Clwb Rygbi and the Cyw children's strand pull audiences that are hard to find elsewhere. Ask Sky Media about sponsorship availability and rates for those properties before you fix the spot plan.

Here is the shape of a modest S4C buy:

Treat S4C as one line in a wider Welsh schedule, not the whole answer. It does a specific job: credibility with Welsh speakers and presence where English channels are weak.

Welsh-language press and radio titles

Welsh-language press and radio are the other half of the schedule. They are cheaper than television and they reach people in the places where Welsh is strongest. They also carry a trust that national media does not.

In press, the main titles include Golwg, a current affairs magazine, and Y Cymro, a long-running Welsh-language title; ask its publisher which print and digital formats are currently sold before you build it into the schedule. The papur bro network — local Welsh-language community newspapers such as Y Ddolen and Y Tincer — adds depth in north and west Wales. Ask Golwg and Y Cymro directly for current display and series rates.

The sector is small, so book early and expect to deal with publishers directly.

On radio, BBC Radio Cymru is the main Welsh-language station, with national reach and a broad audience. BBC Radio Cymru has no spot rate because it is a BBC service; sponsorship and partnerships are the route. Commercial Welsh-language output is thin, but community stations such as Môn FM serve specific areas; Ofcom's community radio licence list is the place to check current Welsh-language licensees.

Radio is strong for reach among older Welsh speakers and for daytime listening.

Radio audience data comes from RAJAR, the joint industry currency for radio. Use it to size stations, but remember that Welsh-language stations have smaller samples. Read the trends rather than chasing small differences between quarters.

Welsh-language media also includes online publishers and newsletters. Golwg360 and BBC Cymru Fyw are the main Welsh-language news sites, and Golwg360 runs email bulletins. Ofcom's Communications Market Report for Wales covers the wider online context, including access and skills, which matters if your campaign relies on digital reach in rural areas.

A bilingual campaign that runs only in English press and radio will miss the heaviest Welsh speakers. Add the Welsh-language titles and you buy attention that the English titles cannot deliver.

BBC Cymru Wales in a bilingual schedule

BBC Cymru Wales is the BBC's national service for Wales. It runs Welsh-language output on radio and online, and English-language news and sport on television and radio. It is a public service operation, not a commercial sales point.

You cannot buy spot airtime on BBC Cymru Wales in the way you buy S4C or commercial radio. There is no spot market. Instead, plan it as a partnership: sponsorship, branded content, events or joint campaigns, all subject to the BBC's editorial rules.

That makes BBC Cymru Wales a different kind of line in the plan. It builds reach and trust, especially for news and sport, but it will not fill a spot schedule. Put it where credibility matters more than frequency.

A common pattern is to use the BBC for reach and authority, S4C for Welsh-language depth, and commercial radio and press for frequency. Each has a distinct role, which is the same logic you would apply to channel strategy in any market.

Partnerships take longer to agree than spot buys. Start talks early, expect editorial scrutiny, and do not assume a commercial rate card. The payoff is association with trusted Welsh-language and Welsh-facing output.

Planning choices bilingual campaigns force

Bilingual planning choices are the hard part. You have two audiences, two languages and usually one budget. The decisions below shape everything else.

Use this checklist before you approve the plan:

There is no single right answer. A public body in Cardiff may need a Welsh-first plan. A retailer in Wrexham may need Welsh as a targeted layer. The plan should say which, and why. The media plan should fill the fields a client needs: objective, audience, channels, budget, timing and measurement.

One more choice: how much of the plan is Welsh-language media versus Welsh-language creative in English media. Both are valid. They do different jobs, and the budget should show which you are buying.

Measuring a bilingual campaign honestly

Measurement is where bilingual campaigns go wrong. If you report one combined number, you cannot tell whether the Welsh part worked. Split the reporting by language from the start.

Use BARB for S4C and BBC television audiences, RAJAR for radio, and publisher data for press and online. These are the UK's accepted currencies, and they are what a client will recognise. Where samples are small, report confidence intervals or note the limitation.

Brand tracking should include a Welsh-language sample, or the Welsh result is invisible. If the sample is too small, say so rather than reporting a number that cannot bear weight. Honest reporting protects the next campaign.

Set the measurement plan before launch, with the same rigour you would apply to audience research in any market. Decide what success looks like for each language, and what you will do if one underperforms.

The Welsh Government publications page includes 'Cymraeg 2050: a million Welsh speakers'. The Arts Council of Wales and the Welsh Government's culture and sport funding are part of the funding landscape behind Welsh media. Both are worth checking when a client questions the basis of the plan.

Finally, write the plan so a client can approve it. If a field is missing, the plan is not finished.

Common questions