Huw Edwards, an adult film star and Bjork -30 people 'made famous' by S4C

A momentous event happened last week, although if you lived outside Wales it would probably have passed you by. To be honest, it probably passed by a fair few people in Wales too.

But, the 30th birthday of S4C (or 'the Welsh Channel 4' as it is known to some) is one of the things Wales can -and should - be proud of. And here's why...

Below is a list of actors/musicians/presenters and other such 'talent' who either got their  UK TV break on S4C or appeared a lot on S4C. They have now gone on to bigger things.

The list will shock you. Yes, Bjork made her UK TV debut on an old S4C show called Fideo 9. But look beyond that bizarre moment and see the long list of Hollywood actors and award-winning animation that have been introduced to the world by a channel much pilloried for its farming shows and people talking in a funny language.

S4C has quietly given the world a lot of talent. Its failing is being too engrossed in the little battles within itself to tell the world that.

So, here's the list in no particular order (although Superted is my favourite, so we'll start with him). Short explainers are given to perhaps the less well-known names.

1. Superted 
2. Fireman Sam
3. Ioan Gruffudd (Hornblower and Hollywood actor)
4. Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill, Twin Town etc etc etc)
5. Huw Edwards
6. Alex Jones  (One Show)
7. Sian Lloyd (ITV Weather presenter)
8. Wynne Evans (annoying singer on Go Compare ads)
9. Duffy (appeared on S4C singing talent show, Waw Ffactor)
10. Guto Harri (former Boris Johnson spin doctor; now Head of Comms at News Int)
11. Bjork (made first UK TV appearance in music show Ffideo 9)
12. Sara Elgan (ESPN Rugby reporter)
13. Gethin Jones (ex Blue Peter presenter)
14. Super Furry Animals
15. Cerys Matthews 
16. Huw Stephens (Radio 1 DJ) 
17. Bryn Terfel 
18. Aimee-Ffion Edwards (Skins actress)
19. Huw Garmon (lead in Heddwyn; went on to be in Cadfael)
20. Matt Johnson (This Morning/lottery presenter)
21. Rhodri Meilir (Alfie in BBC sitcom 'My Family')
22. Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones & E4's Misfits)
23. Rod Richards (Former Tory MP and Welsh Assembly member)
24. Kai Owen (Rhys Williams in Torchwood)
25. Steffan Rhodri (Dave from Dave's Coaches in Gavin and Stacey)
26. Daniel Evans
27.Matthew Rhys (Brothers and Sisters)
28. John Hartson
29. Stiffyn Parri (Brookside actor and West End star)
30. Lorna Morgan (the Welsh adult film star!)

My Welsh Digital Hero No. 2 -Louvain Rees

A couple of weeks ago, I started a feature on this blog called Welsh Digital Heroes. The aim was quite simple, to highlight the lesser-known achievers in Wales who are getting things done in the digital world and are making all our lives better. These people deserve as much publicity as possible for what they are doing and I hope that, after reading about my second Welsh Digital Hero, you will agree and share this link and visit her fantastic stuff online and on Facebook.

So, my second hero is actually a heroine. Ironically, a heroine who is using future technology to make us more aware of our past.

Let me introduce you to Louvain Rees. She is bringing local history into the 21^st Century with her wonderful content on her Hello Historia blog and through her ‘Remembering Bridgend’ page on Facebook.

She is no full-time historian. Yet she has managed to do very cheaply online what some renowned historical institutions have failed to do with mega-budgets. She has engaged a totally new audience in the past stories of their town by doing simple things, finding great content that makes things personal to people and showing and sharing it in a highly simple way.

She has reinvigorated my passion for my home town and opened the eyes of people much younger than me to how Bridgend was. And, as a result, she is getting people who have seen what she is trying to achieve offering her pictures of Bridgend for free to share with everyone.

By the way, we are talking about someone here who is much younger than me. I never ask a lady her age…but if she is older than 23 I’ll eat my hat. She is passionate about local history and she is using her youth to make people of all ages realise that where we come from can be relevant and exciting in a digital world.

It’s quite clear she is not doing this work for financial gain. But just look at the Facebook profile or the blog and you see she is creating something of worth to the community and our nation’s history online. I would argue she is achieving more for preserving our heritage in a digital domain than some government-funded organisations.

The popularity of her work grows day by day and I think as many people as possible should know about what she is doing. So please, go to the REMEMBERING BRIDGEND page on Facebook or visit her blog HELLO HISTORIA and say hello to my latest Welsh Digital Hero.

I'm a Real loser...Welsh voices removed completely from Welsh radio station by new owners

As of next Monday, Wales' biggest commercial radio station will have NO Welsh presenters on it at all during the whole of its weekday output.
Real Radio's new owners, Global, have decided that from the 5th of November, all of its daytime output will come from Manchester -with presenters from there getting all the jobs.
The breakfast show will broadcast from Cardiff, but it is presented by two English presenters.
This means you will not hear a single presenter with a Welsh accent or a single presenter from Wales on Real Radio Wales in day.
Irish radio stations have Irish accents. Scots stations have Scottish presenters. Even English stations are mainly using English presenters.
Real will be the only local station in Britain not to employ presenters for the nation it broadcasts to.
Whilst the new owners have promised to safeguard local news output, the fact that people will not be able to hear presenters with their nation's accents on their nation's radio station is unbelievable.
What does that say to the next generation of wannabe Welsh presenters? How can they build careers if they can't even get a break on the radio station of their own nation?
This is not about petty nationalism. There should absolutely be a diversity of voices on any station. But to eradicate the Welsh voices on a WELSH radio station shows commercial naivety at best, or a total disrespect for the Welsh at worst.
It suggests our accent is not god enough to be on our national radio station.
It seems, as of Monday, Wales REAL-LY will lose its voice.

My Welsh Digital Hero No.1 - Rhodri ap Dyfrig

A few weeks ago, I posted a rant about how us Welsh are useless at promoting our achievements - especially when it comes to digital.

Well, in an effort to right this, I promised that I would start blogging about the people who I think are doing some wonderful work in the digital arena and deserve as much exposure/support as possible for that work.

My hope is, that by doing this, you will all take a peek at their work and tell the world about it. Also, that it might spark an idea which you could work with them on.

So, let me introduce you to Rhodri ap Dyfrig - or @Nwdls as he is also known.

Rhodri is an outstanding worker bee for the promotion and use of the Welsh language on digital platforms and has used his knowledge to help create things that make it easier for people to use Welsh online.

Furthermore than that, he is reaching out to other minority languages around the world to see what they are doing online. He then brings that knowledge back to this country so he can make us all better at digital.

Whilst others talk about making Welsh a digital living language - he is doing it. 

He has been a guiding light in the formation of Haciaith -a blog and (at least annual) get together about all things digital in the Welsh Language. If you want to know what's already out there and what can be done in Welsh digitally - Haciath is the place to go.

Rhodri is a PhD student at Aberystwyth University and is funded by Boomerang. So, credit should absolutely be given to them for supporting his work. And credit should be given to all those who work with Rhodri on the growth of Haciaith - a body which wants to help us all get digital in Wales.

It is doing some of the awareness-raising and support work which should arguably be done by other bodies and it is utter proof that we can create great things together when motivated to do so.

To be fair, for most of those that already use digital methods to access the Welsh language, Rhodri is not a stranger. But I am hoping that this little blog can help those people that don't know of his work see how great his achievements are.

I hope anyone learning Welsh or interested in how we are developing as a digital nation (in whatever language) will take a peek at Haciath, look at @nwdls twitter account and generally cheer and support his work.

Say hi to him - I'm sure he'll say hi back.

What the Welsh are rubbish at

I come from the country that makes the smallest computer in the world.

I come from the country which was the birthplace of one of the biggest technology investors in the world and one of the greatest technology company bosses in the world.

I come from the country which has the highest percentage of e-book owners in the United Kingdom.

I come from a country where its native language is more appreciated in the digital sphere by US companies like Twitter and Facebook than many of its own media and government institutions.

And I come from a country which has thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people, creating wonderful things online everyday.

That's what Wales is good at. Now let me tell you the one thing it is truly useless at.

Shouting about those achievements so more and more people know about them and use them.

Over the past couple of years, I have worked with some great people making great things online in Wales. In any other country, these things would be supported by at least a social buzz -at best a considered partnership and marketing campaign where all the major bodies and people in Welsh society help to raise awareness and market these achievements.

Neither has happened. Sometimes, it feels like we are ashamed of our own success.

We don't talk about what we are achieving because it'll sound like we're bragging or being arrogant and that's not the Welsh way.

There's only been two times in the past five years that Wales has really said 'look how good we are'. The first was when we won the Grand Slam, the second was when we reached the semi finals of the Rugby World Cup.

Meanwhile, 'foreigners' that come into this country instantly recognise how brilliant we are. They ask in wonder, "Why don't I know more about what you are doing?" "What a wonderful country!"

These were the very points made to me on the balcony of the Celtic Manor by a wonderful American visitor to Wales the other day. He wasn't just any old Yank - he was a Social Media Guru! His name was Mark Schaefer (look him up here) and he spoke at a wonderful conference organised by Real Radio MD Tony Dowling in Newport the other day. (and yes, declaring an interest - I was a speaker!)

The truth is, we struggle to market to ourselves as a nation, let alone tell anyone outside about our achievements -so what hope have we got to get the world to realise what we can do when we can't even tell ourselves?

The irony is that the one thing the Welsh are good at is talking. If there was an Olympic gold for sgwrsio, we'd be the Chris Hoy or the David Weir -we'd blow the field away.

But we have a tendency when it comes to our digital abilities to either talk but not do anything or to talk and not listen. We also have a skill of undervaluing ourselves and of forming cliques which stop us all learning about what everything we do.

I don't blame one institution for this. We are all to blame. And every single one of us should start shouting and sharing the wonderful work being done by lots of individuals and companies in our country to eradicate the lack of awareness about our digital achievements either here or abroad in England :)

And I'm happy to get the ball rolling. Starting this week, I'm going to be blogging about my Welsh Digital Heroes and Heroines. People who you would have never heard of but have created some really interesting things online and are worth a look at.

I hope you will take a peek at their work and tell your friends, colleagues and enemies -so all of us know what's out there and we all get involved in our future.

If you have a 'Digital Hero' and you want them to get recognition for what they have done, then please leave a message for me on the blog and I'll be happy to blog about them.

I'm going to shut up now...these Welsh don't half rattle on, eh?!

Nawr mae bois Lundain yn gweld werth cynnwys Cymraeg

Am yr ail dro dros y misoedd diwethaf, dwi wedi gweld cwmni marchnata Llundain heb unrhyw staff sy'n siarad Cymraeg yn greu cynnwys Cymraeg ar gyfer S4C a Radio Cymru.

Yr esiampl diweddaraf yn ddod o gwmni ON Broadcast. Oedden nhw'n ffilmio sesiwnau a cyfweliadau ar rhan cystadlaeth cerddoriaeth ar gyfer gemau Olympaidd yn Nghaerdydd pan syweddolon nhw fod o leiaf un ferch yn y cystadlaeth yn siarad Cymraeg.

Felly, penderfynon nhw I ffilmio hi a wneud cyfweliad a -bang- dyma'r canlyniad ar Heno -clic yma i wylio.

Iechyd Da i'r iaith - App newydd Cymraeg/ Welsh language in good health thanks to new App

Mae Llywodraeth Cymru wedi ychwanegu at rhestr o Apps Cymraeg gan lawnsio 'Dewis Doeth'.

App gan CIG yw hon, i helpu chi gwneud 'dewis doeth' am lefel driniaeth chi eisiau pan ydych chi'n sal neu mewn damwain. Chi'n gallu chwilio am feddygon, deintydd a optegydd achosaf ar map neu chwilio am gymorth arlein.

Mae rhan fwyaf o'r wybodaeth ar yr app ar gael yn Gymraeg, ond oherwydd methiant Google maps i deall enwau Cymraeg, os ti'm chwilio am dref neu dinas, rhaid i chi defnyddio enw Saesneg.

A dyw e ddim ar gael trwy Android eto, dim ond ar iPhone a iPad - mwy o manylion ar dudlen Siop App yma  . Ond mae fersiwn Android yn dod.

Da iawn i'r Llywodraeth a CIG am greu yr app. Dim lot o apps Gymraeg ar gael o sector Cyhoeddus ar hyd o bryd. Rydyn ni angen mwy ohonynt.

===

The Welsh Government has today added to the growing list of mobile apps in the Welsh Language by launching 'Dewis Doeth'

The NHS app helps you decide who you should speak to when you are sick or in an accident. You can look for doctors, dentists and opticians on a map based or keyword search.

Most of the info on the app is in Welsh. But due to Google Maps' failure to recognise place names in Welsh, you can only keyword search for towns and cities through their English names.

And the app isn't available on Android yet - but it is coming, apparently. You can see the detail for the app in the iPhone and iPad App Store here 

Well done to the Government and NHS for creating this App. There aren't many Public Sector apps in the Welsh Language - there need to be more.

It's not hell to live in Hull, especially if you use broadband

If you live in a remote part of the UK and have broadband which moves at the speed of a slug.....look away now. Because I've just read a superb story in the Guardian about how some of the most remote villages near Hull are already wired up for 100MB super-fast broadband!

Yes, we are talking villages where there are more cows than people; villages where, if there was a flood, you wouldn't be able to get through on the tiny roads. Yet, somehow, Kingston Communications have delivered bit fat fibre-optic pipe to farms, remote homes and many other tiny locations which are deemed too financially unviable to be offered similar by rival telcos.

Please do read the whole article on the link above. But, just in case you are in a rush,  I have ripped out one section just to show you what I mean.

"Internet service providers that drove broadband take-up, such as TalkTalk and Sky, have never offered the service in Hull, arguing it was uneconomical to put their equipment in Kcom telephone exchanges. The result was a monopoly, in which only 50% of Hull homes had broadband a year ago, embarrassingly below the 68% national average then. But things are changing. Kcom has just eliminated every blackspot in its network, while in the rest of the UK 14% of broadband connections remain below the 2mbps minimum, with many more simply out of reach of a connection."

And now, here is the reason why it is happening in Hull and not everywhere else.

It is the only UK city not covered by BT's telephone network!

Yes, in the olden days, the once council-owned Kingston Communications used to be the only telecoms provider in  that part of east Yorkshire. This legacy has meant Kcom has been able to plough a faster furrow than BT in getting fast broadband to remote areas.

Truly a case, as the Housemartins put it, of London 0 Hull 4! (or Rural UK 0 Rural Hull 4).

However, the question must be asked, if a small once state-owned telephone company can afford to plant 100mb pipes in remote areas; why can't a much bigger once state-owned company do the same?

Maybe Kcom should take over rural broadband provision in the rest of the UK?

Why Wales must fight to keep it REAL

During the last Welsh Assembly election, politicians quite rightly complained that Wales was in danger of losing its voice because of the lack of local media and the reliance on London-based output.

Well, today we face a serious attack on the amount of local media we have which will cause us to lose at least one radio station with a commitment to output from Wales and about Wales - and we all have a duty to stop this from happening.

It has been announced today that London-based radio company, Global, has agreed to purchase GMG Radio - the owners of Real Radio for £70million. This move will decrease the amount of Welsh news, sport and other local content on our airwaves dramatically and will cause us to lose a major voice in the Welsh media.

Global already has form in lowering the amount of radio it produces in Wales and it has not hid its desire to affect more cost-cutting in the industry by looking to possibly network Real from London, save for breakfast and drive time.

It is something they have already done in both north and south Wales. One of the UK's most famous local radio stations, Red Dragon Radio, was turned into Capital FM overnight and 75% of its output comes from a computer in Leicester Square. The same has happened to the once mighty Marcher Group of stations in the north; with an even tougher effect of wiping out both English and Welsh language local programming.

Aside from the Global group having no heritage in local programming, they also have no heritage in sports output. So it would be safe to say that the Real Sports Phone-In would be toast in Global's hands. This show, remember, is the only other challenge to the BBC Radio Wales monopoly on sports talk in the country, and is widely respected too.

Even if you don't subscribe to my view of the way Global works with local output, there is genuine evidence that this deal is anti-competitive. If Global are allowed to keep Real and the Capital/Heart stations, they will have the monopoly on ALL independent local radio choice in north Wales, and an excessive audience share of the local radio market in south east Wales.

Now, that isn't just bad for listeners, it's bad for a free market. It means they have a substantial chunk of the airtime sales market throughout Wales - it would be harder to find a bigger monopoly in UK radio.

So, people of Wales, it is time to act to save us losing another rare larynx of Welsh opinion. Please write to OFCOM, your AM/MP and the Competition Commission to stop this purchase from going ahead. If Real is for sale, it needs to be put in the hands of a company which has a track record of promoting local output on a local station. Or, it needs to be put in the hands of a Welsh business or people from Wales who understand what this audience deserves.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not saying Real Radio is perfect. I know it has been criticised for its lack of Welsh Language output and also criticised at times for actually not being Welsh enough. But, their news bulletins are from Wales, produced in Wales with a high percentage of Welsh news.

They have a sports phone-in about Wales and most of the staff there are either from Wales or have lived here long enough to know more about this country than someone based in London.

If you are willing for a key part of our media to be run by a pre-programmed robot in Leicester Square, then please do ignore this blog. If you believe Wales deserves as many media outlets as possible run from Wales by the people of Wales, then please stop Global owning Real.

Thanks/ diolch

New TV ad for first Welsh Language magazine to launch on iPad

I'm so Appy - I've got my own TV ad! Well, ad for the first Welsh Language magazine on iPad, ApGolwg, is running on S4C. Take a peek and download the app yourself. If you want to know more, or would like help getting your own app, then send me a message!

Dyma'r hysbyseb teledu ar gyfer ApGolwg sy'n darlledu ar S4C ar hyn o bryd.

You can park your language over there mate, next to the Porsche and Estonian!

Many people have written blogs on the recent Western Mail editorial about the '£400k cost' to translate certain Assembly sessions into Welsh (ranging from the BBC's Betsan Powys to the Independent's Rob Williams)that I had no intention of even trying to compete with that sort of cerebral might!

However, I have been compelled to pen a few words about one aspect of the argument -the constant theme that we can put Welsh translation or the use of Welsh on hold whilst we battle through these austere times.

It came up today in Paul Murphy MP's response to the Western Mail article and last week, when the BMA pretty much suggested the same. They all seem to be using the word 'park'. That we should 'park' the spend on democratic documents in Welsh until austerity is over. Or that we should 'park' the growth of the use of Welsh in the NHS until we're feeling a bit more flush.

It all sounds like a car park attendant shuffling motors in the rush hour. 'Yeah, that's it, park your Welsh over there mate, next to German and Swedish -don't be leaving scratches on that German now.'

Truth is, you can't park a language. It is a living thing with an engine that wants to go forward and it doesn't like staying in one place.

Thankfully (at the moment) Welsh is not a language in reverse, it is in at least 3rd gear. If we stop public documents being written in the language, we restrict the growth of the language. New words will not be logged, there will be no records of debates in our democracy, people will not be able to be entertained/supported etc.

What's the point in learning a language if you are told that the amount of content you can use in that language is restricted?

What happened if we stopped publishing everything in English tomorrow - I mean everything from The Beano to Hansard (aren't they the same thing?!). Eventually, English would die as a living language. Not tomorrow, not even in 50 years -but eventually.

It would become as useful as Latin -great for grammar lessons, but precious little application in modern life.

So, in short -all of the hard work everyone in Wales (and beyond) has done to make Welsh an everyday language again would be lost if we restricted the amount of material in the language under the lame excuse of austerity.

Also, I have seen many examples where the Welsh Language has CREATED jobs in Wales, not lost them. Why wouldn't we want to add to that?

Yes, these are bloody hard times for many living below the poverty line in Wales. And, yes, I have never experienced poverty like that..so who the hell am I to say these things? But, we are being told a lot by Labour MPs in Westminster that to get us out of these tough times, we need to spend - and not cut. This is an example of exactly that.

Let's all keep the car on the motorway (or the A55 for my friends in the North), not park it up in some lay-by to gather rust.

PS - Note to the Western Mail. If you had just suggested finding ways of lowering the £400k cost and not suggested scrapping the service altogether, you would have won over far more friends (including me). But, as a Radio Wales phone-in caller named Richard from Bridgend said, you knew exactly what you were doing when you phrased it the way you did...it was a direct desire to get more attention. The cheapest marketing campaign Trinity Mirror has run in years!

Here endeth the lesson

Show me the money! ('cos I'm having to look all over the bloomin' place for it)

What becomes clear as you become another year older on this planet is that Welsh people are very intelligent, clever and innovative...but frankly hopeless at co-ordinating things.

For a nation that is renowned for having people that talk a lot, we are seemingly not very good at talking to (or working with) each other.

I cite my latest example -there are some wonderful people creating (or wanting to create) brilliant stuff on mobiles or which will help us all have better lives, and there are bodies and companies willing to provide seed funding for that or some money to get it off the ground.

But finding these people, my friend, is like trying to find a Cup winning medal in the Bridgend Town FC trophy cabinet. In other words, it's there..but it's getting too hard to find it.

In the past week, I have heard about two pots of funding (one worth half a million pounds, the other a more modest amount from Bridgend Council to develop hyperlocal mobile initiatives) by luck. One was a passiing comment on Facebook, the other retweeted by a friend on Twitter.

Why is it such a lottery to get a stab at this money? That is not the way it should be advertised. It seems the organisations handing out this money are not doing their best to promote that this support is available. Surely if the end game is to create something wonderful with this money, you would want as many talented Welsh digital types knowing about it, wouldn't you?

Now, in the olden days it was easy. You'd publicise it in the Western Mail and Bob's your uncle - everyone knew. Problem is, the geeks of Wales don't read the paper copy of the Western Mail these days. They are more likely to read blogs from various groups like Hacio'r Iaith in Welsh or find out through various meet ups like TEDXCDF or local User Groups.

So, if the people with the money want to get a product which will win them praise and help their tax payers, they need to spread the funding information further - to where the geeks are.

I am happy to be the conduit and create a list of funding opps if needs be. But someone needs to do it. There needs to be a central list of money available, otherwise it will be the ususal suspects picking up the cash and growth in innovation will vanish.

Before I finish, two disclaimers. 1) To start off by totally contradicting what I said above, I'm actually not a great believer in projects being reliant on funding like this.

I think any business needs to stand on its own two feet eventually and I would hate to see more funding like this because I think it could create a laissez-faire attitude to actually making money. However, I do understand the value of this money as a good way to kick start a potentially good business.

2)I'm not planning to bid for any of this money...but if you are and you need some help with the bid, you know where I am ;)

Why Leanne Wood should pop into Peacocks

A week in, and we are starting to get a sense of the things Leanne Wood wants to achieve as the leader of Plaid Cymru.

Two things that I have picked on is her desire to build a long term, sustainable economic future for Wales and her desire to build a new Wales from the bottom up, led by communities.

She is now looking for people to help that dream come true. So may I suggest she pops into Peacocks soon? Not because I think she has a questionable fashion sense, but because I think she may find a kindred spirit there.

Phillip Day, the man who has saved Peacocks from liquidation is Scottish, but he clearly believes in Wales and, more importantly, talks a lot about local identity being crucial for the future of the business and developing the business for the long term.

You can read more about his thoughts in an interview with the BBC's Nick Servini by clicking here.

To me, he seems like just the sort of person who would be an asset to Prince Adam's economic council. He's an inward investor who believes in Welsh communities and business growth for the long term - sign him up!

The five brands that missed out on cashing in from the Six Nations

So, following a three-day hangover west of Offa's Dyke (and in some parts east of it too), some business bosses are deaf from the ringing cash tills and can't move for money following a non-stop buying spree to celebrate the Grand Slam.
Brands like Brains are now past masters at making hay from Welsh victories and were straight off the blocks with some viral ads calling for a Bank Holiday and telling the English to be quiet because we have a hangover.
But hang your heads in shame the following companies, who could of ching-ching cashed-in on the glorious achievement:-

Alka Seltzer. An audience of tens of thousands were milling around Cardiff on Sunday and Monday mornings with the mother of all hangovers. So why wasn’t the ‘premier’ hangover cure being handed out on the streets of the city -or at least being offered at a special price in shops up and down the land?

Warburton's. It's an obvious one for the Bolton-based bakery, isn't it? Use your loaf - partner with Sam. You could even bring out a special product called...wait for it...BREAD OF HEAVEN!

Norton antivirus (or any similar antivirus software). Dear Norton, sign up Dan Lydiate for your next TV ad as the world's top tackler is the sort of robust role model you want to be associated with. You can see it now "Hello, I'm Dan Lydiate and nothing gets past me...just like Norton antivirus!"

Red32 - the casino company. Red wins - every time! They should have offered free play on the roulettes by choosing Red only.

And finally..
Visit England. Two of the greatest rugby players in the world right now are English. What better way to extol the virtues of the nation of the Rose than a campaign highlighting this fact. Oh, hold on a minute. Those world beating players were born in England, but they play for....Wales! Oh dear.

Bear in mind though, they are English-based companies, so they probably don't understand about rugby.

Now the money men are integrated, will TV companies FINALLY realise the power of TAMi?

For some time now I have been an advocate of traditional media adopting a multimedia audience measurement policy. I have bored-to-death many a TV and newspaper executive with my insistence that they need to shout about the number of people they are speaking to in-the-round, as opposed to reel out the same one-sided measurement systems such as BARB and newspaper sales or circulations.

I always knew that the powers that be would only truly start to take notice when the people that pay their bills -i.e. ad men and women - also started using a more unified measurement system.

Well, I am delighted to report (via the New York Times) that Group M, the largest media buying group in the World, is now doing exactly that. They have teamed up with Neilsen Ratings to develop a measurement which tracks the effectiveness of TV advertising in the online world.

The “cross-platform campaign ratings” will apply the same metrics that ad buyers and sellers are used to through tele media buying to the crazy world of websites and mobile video. Full details on this link to NYT blog.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/new-nielsen-ratings-to-measure-tv-and-online-ads-together/

It's what NBC has been doing with programmes for a while with its TAMi (Total Audience Measurement index) and the likes of the Financial Times are starting to do with their products.

And we all know, what the ad man wants...the ad man gets.

The truth is, an overall index like this ENHANCES the value of all the output. It doesn't make the TV output look worse, it makes it look stronger. Also, for minority or niche broadcasters, reporting the total sum of people that engage with you (whether that be on TV, radio, the web or social networks) does justice to your company. It shows how strong you really are.

This is what I have been saying for a while, Glad to see the overpaid ad men have finally joined my party...just hope they have brought enough champers for me!

Cymdeithas yr Iaith and Jeremy Hunt - potential bedfellows?

Cymdeithas yr Iaith a Jeremy Hunt - Briodas o'r nefoedd?

(English translation below)

Rhybydd: Dyma'r brawddeg mor anghrediniol dwi wedi ysgrifennu erioed. Ond mae'n wir!

Mae'n anodd i gredu, ond mae Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg a Jeremy Hunt yn rhannu yr un breuddwyd. Hefyd, mae'r waith DCMS yn wneud ar hyn o bryd yn agor y drws tuag dyfodol disglair Cymdeithas yr Iaith.

Gadewch i mi egluro. Mae'r cyfan yn digwydd yn y byd cyfryngau lleol. Mae gan Mr Hunt breuddwyd, fel Martin Luther King. Breuddwyd Mr Hunt yw gweld sianeli teledu lleol yn lawnsio ac i rhoi llais newydd i gymunedau; llais mae llawer wedi colli ar ol doriadau mewn cynnwys rhanbarthol gan ITV a'r BBC.

Mae'n gwybod fod rhaid consortiwm o cwmniau lleol ddod at ei gilydd neu fod rhaid i amrywiaeth o leisiau lleol yn ymddangos ar yr sianel er fod yn llwydianus. Roedd Mr Hunt hefyd yn gwbl glir fod 'na siawns i bobl creu rhaglenni Saesneg a Cymraeg. Mae e'n gweld hyn fel cyfle i rywun yn creu cystadleuaeth yn erbyn S4C.

Felly, dwedwch croeso wrth Cymdeithas yr Iaith. Hefyd yn anhapus efo'r 'hen' S4C ac yn galw am S4C newydd, mae nhw wedi sefydlu wasanaeth teledu ar-lein eu hunain. Mae 'na ymateb da ymhlith y 'twittersphere'.

Mae'n teledu difr ac yn perthnasol - y cerddoriaeth yn arbennig. Dim lot yn bod efo'r darllediad o gwbl a 'dyn nhw ddim yn wario filoedd o bunnau ar y peth. Mae'n dod o gymunedau Cymru ar gyfer pobl Cymru. Wrth gwrs, mae Cymdeithas yn defnyddio'r amser i rhoi eu barn ar bethau, ond 'dyn nhw ddimn yn wneud lot of 'tubthumping'. Ewch i www.sianel62.com i weld y sianel.

Felly, dyma grŵp o bobl leol yn ceisio creu teledu lleol a gweinidog y Llywodraeth sydd yn hapus dros ben i gefnogi grwpiau o'r fath. Mae'n ymddangos yn naturiol felly bod y cam nesaf ar gyfer 62 Sianel yw gwneud yn ymddangos mewn rhyw ffurf neu'i gilydd ar y trwyddedau teledu lleol ar gyfer Abertawe a Chaerdydd.

Trwy ysgrifennu hyn, dwi'n awgrymu fod Bedfellows yw Cymdeithas a Jeremy Hunt. Rhywbeth a dylai rhoi gwallt llwyd ar ben Bethan Williams, Jeremy Hunt a llawer o bobl eraill, siwr a fod!

Ond, dwi ddim yn gallu gweld unrhyw problem efo synaid i rhoi amser ar yr awyr i Gymdeithas. Bydda'n creu amrywiaeth yn y cyfryngau Cymraeg ac mae'n rhoi llais i gymunedau lleol. Sibrwd, gallai hyn fod yn briodas a wnaed yn y nefoedd!

==
It is the most unlikely partnership I’ve ever written about. It’s hard to believe, but the Welsh Language Society and the Tory culture secretary share a common vision – and it seems he is helping open the door for them to have a louder voice in Welsh society.

Before you faint in disbelief, or tell me I am talking out of my backside, let me explain. It all takes place in the heady world of local media. Mr Hunt, like Martin Luther King, has a dream. His dream is to see the launch of local TV channels; allowing communities to have a voice which many have seen as being eroded by the cutting back of regional programming on ITV and BBC.

He knows that to get his vision, a consortium of local groups must come together or that a variety of local voices must appear on the output for it to be considered credible.

Mr Hunt has also made it very clear in the meetings he has attended on this in Wales, that the airwaves should be open to English language AND Welsh Language content and he sees this as an opportunity for someone to give S4C a run for its money.

Now, step forward Cymdeithas yr Iaith. Also disenfranchised with the S4C of old, it has decided to set up its own online TV service. It has been well received amongst the twittersphere and the only complaint has been the lack of streaming capacity to deal with demand. It is watchable TV and it nshould be cheered as a bold move, coming from the communities of Wales for the people of Wales. For those worried about it being too ‘tubthumping’ for the Cymdeithas cause, I never really got that perception when I watched it…but you can make your own mind up by going to www.sianel62.com

So, here we have a group of locals trying to create television and a Government minister who wants to encourage such groups. It seems natural then that the next step for Sianel 62 is to make an appearance in some shape or form on the forthcoming local TV licences for Swansea and Cardiff when they are awarded.

By writing this, I am probably aiding the premature ageing of Mr Hunt, Bethan Williams and many others by suggesting they are potential bedfellows. But, as long as Cymdeithas abided by OFCOM rules on impartiality, I can’t see anything wrong with this idea. It creates diversity in Welsh language media and it gives a voice to local communities. Whisper it, this could be a marriage made in heaven!