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I am very pleased to introduce the Â鶹Éç Audience Council Northern Ireland’s Review for 2012/13 – my first such publication as Â鶹Éç National Trustee for Northern Ireland.

The Â鶹Éç Audience Councils advise the Trust on how well the Â鶹Éç is delivering its Public Purposes and serving licence fee payers across the United Kingdom. The four Councils – serving Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales – provide the Trust with an independent assessment of audience expectations and issues.

This has undoubtedly been a difficult year for the Â鶹Éç. There have also been many examples of the Â鶹Éç at its best, delivering programmes and services of the highest quality. In May 2012 the Trust agreed the Â鶹Éç’s new strategy, Delivering Quality First, which requires substantial savings to be made, in line with the licence fee settlement agreed with the government. The Audience Council continues to work to understand the impact of the new strategy on local audiences, and to advise the Trust on how well the Â鶹Éç is performing here in Northern Ireland.

The Audience Council’s Review for 2012/13 gives a real sense of the value that local audiences place on their Â鶹Éç, and the high expectations that they have of it as a public service broadcaster. It highlights the Â鶹Éç’s many achievements across the year, as well as a number of areas where the Audience Council sees room for improvement.

I would like to thank the volunteer Council members for their hard work and relentless dedication to the needs and interests of local audiences. I would also like to pay particular tribute to my predecessor, Rotha Johnston, whose term as Trustee ended in October, following six years of committed service to the Â鶹Éç on behalf of licence fee payers.

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Our role and membership

Our activities have revolved around the Audience Council's core responsibilities as an adviser to the Trust: to provide the Trust with an assessment of Â鶹Éç performance in Northern Ireland, to input into Trust decision-making and to raise emerging issues for local audiences.

We were delighted to welcome Aideen McGinley as the new National Trustee for Northern Ireland in November 2012. Aideen is also Chair of the Audience Council, and an important link between the audience in Northern Ireland and the Â鶹Éç’s governing body, the Â鶹Éç Trust.

We regularly recruit for new volunteers to join the Audience Council, and this year welcomed four new members. Membership is open to anyone over the age of sixteen. To make sure we capture the views of all sections of the audience, applications are welcome from people from diverse backgrounds and experiences and from different parts of Northern Ireland. You can read more about the role here and see our current membership here.

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Our meetings

The Audience Council met formally eight times during the year, including one meeting in Enniskillen. We considered a wide range of audience based information as well as briefings from Â鶹Éç management and the Trust’s independent advisers. We discussed audience issues and perspectives to understand how well the Â鶹Éç was performing for licence fee payers in Northern Ireland. We agreed advice to inform a number of the Trust’s key decisions and identified some emerging issues for the Trust to consider. In addition to our scheduled meetings, members met as small subcommittees to take forward particular aspects of our work.

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Reviews of Â鶹Éç services

This year, the Trust carried out major reviews of Â鶹Éç Online and Red Button, as well as CÂ鶹Éç and CBeebies, the Â鶹Éç’s TV and online services for children. This is part of the Trust’s commitment to review all of the Â鶹Éç services at least once every five years. We advised the Trust on how well these services were performing for local audiences and, in particular, where they could be improved and developed in the future. The Trust published its conclusions on Â鶹Éç Online and Red Button in May 2013, and we were pleased to see many of the issues we raised on behalf of the local audience reflected in its recommendations. The Trust’s conclusions and supporting evidence, including our own submission, can be viewed here.

Our interest in service reviews continues as the Trust’s recommendations are implemented, and we can see whether the intended benefits for audiences are fully delivered. For example, this year we contributed to the Trust’s follow-up review of the Â鶹Éç’s nations’ radio services, where our focus was on Â鶹Éç Radio Ulster/Foyle. You can read more about our assessment of this key service .

In 2013/14, the Trust will review Network News as well as Â鶹Éç television services, including local programmes. We are always keen to hear views from the audience and publish details of audience events, and other opportunities to get involved, on our website and in our electronic newsletter.

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Engaging with audiences

Our advice to the Trust is rooted in the views of local audiences – and indeed, this is what gives it authority and insight. We have a programme of direct engagement with audiences to understand what they expect from the Â鶹Éç, and how well they think it is delivering. For the review of CÂ鶹Éç and CBeebies, we met with a wide variety of community based groups, ranging from a fathers’ parenting course in Portadown to parent and toddler groups in West Belfast and Fivemiletown. We heard the views of educationalists, parents, children’s organisations and the voluntary/charitable sector – all complementing the Trust’s work to hear directly from children as well as adults. The Trust’s conclusions will be published in the autumn and our advice is published .

Our work on the review of Â鶹Éç Online took us from open discussion events in Antrim and Enniskillen, to an event with users at the Â鶹Éç in Belfast. We also dropped in on a range of community activities – involving young people, senior citizens and parents – as well as gleaning feedback at a number of workplaces, a major visitors’ attraction and at the computer suites of two libraries. Sixth form students, young people outside the worlds of work and training, media trainees and students at a regional college provided us with a diversity of views from the younger age group. Feedback from audiences was invaluable for a workshop with representatives from the four Audience Councils, which informed the depth and range of the debate about Â鶹Éç Online and helped to prioritise key issues for audiences across the UK.

We hosted 20 engagement activities in total in 2012/13, involving a real diversity of groups and individuals from across Northern Ireland, each with their own interests and views about the Â鶹Éç. We are enormously grateful to everyone who took the time to share their opinions with us and to help shape Â鶹Éç services for the future.

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Impartiality and independence of the Â鶹Éç

The Trust has a particular role to protect the independence of the Â鶹Éç, and one of the ways it does this is through a series of impartiality reviews focusing on different aspects of output. This year, we provided some local insights into the Trust’s review of how well the Â鶹Éç reflects a range of voices and viewpoints in its news and factual output, within UK-wide and local services. The Trust has published its conclusions on its Breadth of Opinion Impartiality Review here.

This year we shared the audience’s shock and dismay at the revelations about Jimmy Savile. The subsequent issues with Newsnight fell well below the standards expected of the Â鶹Éç and appear to have dented audience confidence in the impartiality and accuracy of Â鶹Éç news and current affairs. We have asked the Trust to ensure that, as a matter of priority, everything is in place to restore the audience’s trust in the Â鶹Éç’s standards and values.

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Audience priorities and emerging issues

We also help to identify emerging issues of importance to audiences, which may then be reflected in the Trust’s plan of work. Our engagement activities provide opportunities for audiences to raise issues and concerns about any aspects of the Â鶹Éç’s services and public service remit. Conversations have encompassed the quality, range and distinctiveness of programmes and online content; the Â鶹Éç’s strategy and how it spends licence fee funds; access to Â鶹Éç services and developing technology; editorial standards; the needs of particular audience groups and wider societal interests.

Each year, representatives of the four Audience Councils meet directly with the Trust to discuss future priorities for audiences around the UK. In January 2013, the Trust met with representatives of all four Audience Councils to discuss the issues that are most important to audiences. The Councils also contributed to the Trust’s discussions on how well the Â鶹Éç was delivering its strategic objectives from the perspectives of audiences around the UK.

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Each year, the Audience Council reports to the Trust on how well the Â鶹Éç is performing for audiences in Northern Ireland. Our assessment has drawn on a wide range of audience information, our knowledge of Â鶹Éç strategy and services and, in particular, our understanding of the views of local audiences.

We considered the range of Â鶹Éç services relevant to the audience in Northern Ireland – UK-wide and local services across television, radio and online platforms. We also looked at how well the Â鶹Éç had performed against its Public Purposes and the Audience Priorities that the Council had identified for the year. Our assessment of the Â鶹Éç’s performance, on behalf of local audiences, is outlined below.

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Â鶹Éç Television

Overall, audiences in Northern Ireland derive considerable value from Â鶹Éç television. 83% of the audience in Northern Ireland tuned into Â鶹Éç television at some point during the week, and they rated the programmes they watched highly.

Network television - that is, programmes broadcast for audiences right across the UK - accounts for the vast majority of hours of output and television spend. On the whole, these programmes performed somewhat less well in Northern Ireland than other parts of the UK. Local audiences watched fewer hours of Â鶹Éç television, and Â鶹Éç One and Two achieved a smaller share of the viewing audience in Northern Ireland, compared with other parts of the UK.

The reasons for this are undoubtedly complex, being informed by diverse audience tastes and market contexts. Nonetheless, we believe that audiences in Northern Ireland could get even more value from the Â鶹Éç’s network television services. We have asked for more network programmes on Â鶹Éç One that would have strong appeal to viewers here, as well as to other sections of the audience.

In contrast, this has been a strong year for Â鶹Éç Northern Ireland’s local television programmes. These programmes aim to meet the specific interests and needs of audiences in Northern Ireland, and encompass many genres and interests, ranging from news to entertainment, and from sport to arts and culture. Overall, Â鶹Éç Northern Ireland television programmes achieved a good share of the local audience, making a positive impact on the performance of Â鶹Éç One and Â鶹Éç Two here. There was no shortage of distinctive and high quality programmes, some of which achieved very high audience appreciation scores as well as critical acclaim.

Â鶹Éç Newsline continued to perform well, reaching a large audience across the week and performing especially well in the late evening slot. We have welcomed progress in developing the mix of local news to reflect changes in society and audience needs, particularly in enhancements to reporting of business and the economy. We want to see continued development of the news agenda – and the allocation of resources which supports this – to reflect areas of growing interest and importance to audiences, such as the environment, science, health, and arts and culture.

We are especially mindful this year of the impact of Delivering Quality First efficiencies as they are increasingly felt across staffing and programme budgets. This is particularly the case in a local context where budgets are smaller and economies of scale are limited. Local television programmes are a valued part of the mix for viewers in Northern Ireland, and it is important that the service continues to be able to adapt to changing audience needs and to invest in fresh editorial initiatives and new talent. We have asked the Trust to ensure that it takes account of the needs of different audiences around the UK in monitoring the impact of Delivering Quality First. This will continue to be an area of focus for us in the coming year.

2012/13 has been an important year for coverage of events, including the Titanic commemorations (at network as well as local level), the Olympics, the Ulster Covenant commemorations and, most recently, the UK City of Culture 2013. This output has been very well received by audiences and has made a significant contribution to the Â鶹Éç’s Public Purposes, particularly in respect of creativity, education and citizenship. Special event-led programming will continue to be important in 2013/14 to reflect the UK City of Culture, G8 summit, and World Police and Fire Games.

We were also pleased to see how the Â鶹Éç has promoted its Public Purposes in Northern Ireland through a wide range of partnerships and collaborations with other organisations. Ranging from programme-led initiatives like School Report and Stargazing LIVE to more formal arrangements such as the Community Archive, these collaborations deliver additional benefits for audiences.

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Â鶹Éç Radio

Â鶹Éç Radio Ulster/Foyle continued to perform very well for local audiences, remaining the most listened to radio station in Northern Ireland. Audiences often tell us how much they value the service for news and debate as well as information, entertainment and companionship. There have been relatively modest scope changes to meet efficiency targets, such as closing the station at midnight. These appear to have been accepted by listeners, providing the benefits of the late night slot - particularly in developing new talent - are not lost.

For some listeners, Radio Ulster/Foyle could provide even more ‘space to go deeper’ on key areas of news and current affairs output, such as business, health, arts and education. We are particularly interested to understand, in coming months, work to refresh the schedule so that Radio Ulster/Foyle can continue to build on its undoubted strengths and respond to changing audience needs.

Radio 1 and 5 Live continue to perform well in Northern Ireland. However, audiences for Radio 2 and Radio 4 are smaller here and this is, at least in part, due to the popularity of Radio Ulster/Foyle among that age group. We are content that there is something for all the main target groups across the Â鶹Éç’s portfolio of radio services. We would nonetheless like to see opportunities, from time to time, for local audiences to discover programmes on the UK-wide stations, for instance, through joint projects and special seasons.

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Â鶹Éç Online

The Trust has a rolling programme of reviews of all Â鶹Éç services to ensure they fulfil their remits, deliver for audiences and are fit for the future. This year, it carried out its second review of Â鶹Éç Online along with the Red Button interactive television service.

We provided specific advice on behalf of online users in Northern Ireland, which the Trust considered alongside a wide range of other audience-based evidence. Audiences here were generally very positive about the service, which they considered distinctive and wide-ranging. However, they also said that there could be better promotion of the service, more effective user journeys and increased personalisation, especially to enhance the website’s value for its lighter users. Users also pointed to a need for greater depth and more regular updates for local online news, particularly at weekends. This was a theme echoed in feedback from other parts of the UK, and clearly reflected in the Trust’s conclusions which were published in May. You can read the Trust’s report and the supporting evidence, including our advice, here.

We have taken a particular interest in Â鶹Éç Online’s Northern Ireland pages this year, which have undergone significant development as part of a wider exercise. We were pleased to see an increase in usage and strong appreciation scores as these changes became embedded.

In the coming year we will be interested to see how the service is enhanced for local users as the Trust’s recommendations are implemented.

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Children’s services

The Trust’s second service review this year focused on the Â鶹Éç’s TV and online services for the under 12s - CÂ鶹Éç and CBeebies. Our advice to the Trust drew on a wide range of discussions with parents, professionals and stakeholders, adding to the Trust’s work to understand the views of children as well as interested adults.

Feedback was broadly very appreciative of the services on both television and online, especially CBeebies, which is aimed at under sixes. Audiences thought that there could be more content for children transitioning from CBeebies to CÂ鶹Éç, as well as children at the upper end of the CÂ鶹Éç target age range. They noted potential downsides in the move of children’s content from Â鶹Éç One and Â鶹Éç Two to dedicated channels this year, such as children losing out on the benefits of watching a mainstream channel with other members of the family. Local audiences wanted to see a strategy to stimulate demand for, and deliver the benefits of, children’s audio content. They also asked for the online offer for mobile devices to be further developed, as a matter of priority.

We were particularly struck by the high value placed on children’s programmes that reflected people and places in Northern Ireland, often as part of a series which travelled to different parts of the UK. We have made it clear that we do not wish to see any diminution of this commitment to reflecting different communities around the UK, even under the pressure of efficiency savings.

The Trust has now consulted publicly on children’s services and will draw on a wide range of research and advice, including our own, when it publishes its conclusions in the autumn.

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Progress against Audience priorities for 2012/13

The four Audience Councils, for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, identified four common Audience Priorities for 2012/13. They related to the Â鶹Éç’s focus on serving all audiences, its commitment to the best journalism in the world, access to Â鶹Éç services and the authentic portrayal of diverse communities across the UK.

We also identified two additional areas of particular interest to audiences in Northern Ireland: a smooth digital television switchover in October 2012 and more programmes made in Northern Ireland for transmission across the UK.

Our assessment of the Â鶹Éç’s performance against these priorities is outlined below.

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Portrayal

A wide cross section of the local audience has told us that they want a more authentic portrayal of a modern and changing society in Northern Ireland on the Â鶹Éç’s networks. Â鶹Éç Trust research indicates that audiences in Northern Ireland have high expectations of the Â鶹Éç in this regard, and that these expectations are not yet fully met. The Council remains very alert to this issue and, whilst it is in no doubt that there is improved representation of Northern Ireland and its communities on television, radio and online, there is clearly still a considerable way to go.

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Programmes made in Northern Ireland for the networks

One of the ways of delivering a more authentic portrayal of Northern Ireland is to broadcast more programmes made here on the Â鶹Éç’s networks, for a UK-wide audience. In 2008 the Â鶹Éç Trust agreed Â鶹Éç management’s strategy to ensure that more network television output was produced outside London, including Northern Ireland. The Council strongly endorses the aims of this approach – to better reflect life across the UK, to contribute to economic sustainability in the nations, and to nurture creative talent wherever it is found.

The Audience Council is encouraged by the overall progress that has been made since 2008, with network television production from Northern Ireland tripling since then, albeit with some peaks and troughs. Local creativity and expertise has been demonstrated in programmes ranging from Panorama to the comedy series Blandings, whilst This World: Shame of the Catholic Church was recognised with a BAFTA for best current affairs programme. Business is growing - for example, two further factual strands - Wanted Down Under and Points of View - are now produced by Â鶹Éç Northern Ireland. Whilst these programmes do not specifically reflect life in Northern Ireland, they make an important contribution to the local economy and the sustainability of the production base, as well as developing local talent and skills.

A major focus of Â鶹Éç Northern Ireland’s drama department this year was The Fall, which showcased writing, acting and production talent in Northern Ireland and achieved large and appreciative audiences, as well as widespread critical acclaim. The Fall was filmed on location in and around Belfast, and offers a different – if somewhat dark – perspective from the Troubles-related themes that have tended to predominate.

There continue to be challenges, particularly in terms of contributing to the sustainability of the local independent sector. The Trust has asked Â鶹Éç management to look at this and we look forward to understanding, in the near future, how this aspect of the strategy can be further developed. We also want to see further progress in broadening and deepening the portrayal of Northern Ireland, in all its diversity, to a UK-wide audience. We will continue to monitor progress carefully in light of the network production targets agreed with the Trust for 2016, and the intended benefits for audiences and wider society.

We have taken a particular interest this year in an initiative to broadcast more local television programmes on the Â鶹Éç’s networks as well. For example, Farm Fixer and The Estate were broadcast firstly to a local audience and then on Â鶹Éç One network for audiences across the UK. As well as obvious value for money benefits, this initiative has the potential to provide audiences across the UK with a broader and richer representation of life in Northern Ireland. It is important, however, that it does not also mean that over time local programmes become less relevant to this place because there is a broader audience in mind.

In fact there were relatively few transfers of Â鶹Éç Northern Ireland programmes to the Â鶹Éç’s television networks in 2012/13. We have highlighted this to the Trust as a missed opportunity and will look to see improvements next year.

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The Â鶹Éç’s new strategy, Delivering Quality First, committed it to providing the best journalism in the world. This is an ambition that we fully endorse.

We have welcomed continued improvements in how the Â鶹Éç reports devolved matters in network news and current affairs. For example, there is much clearer and more accurate referencing to indicate whether policies apply to the whole of the UK or to particular nations. We believe that there is even more scope for comparing different policies and experiences around the UK, to enrich content and inform debate. The Scottish independence debate is an example of an issue which will deserve further exploration from the perspectives of audiences in different parts of the UK. We also think that there are opportunities for Â鶹Éç Northern Ireland news to do more to reflect local perspectives on major themes raised in other parts of the UK.

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Digital Television Switchover and access to Â鶹Éç services

We were pleased that digital television switchover was completed successfully in October 2012. The process was more complex in Northern Ireland because of the need to align with the switchover in the Republic of Ireland which took place at the same time. The Switchover Help Scheme, administered by the Â鶹Éç, provided a valuable service to members of the audience who required assistance to make the switch. It was helpful that the scheme offered high definition (HD)-enabled set top boxes to sections of the audience who wanted to receive RTE 1 and RTE 2 and TG4 as well as Â鶹Éç services. We were also pleased that Â鶹Éç One Northern Ireland HD was launched at switchover – the first nations’ version of Â鶹Éç One to be available in HD.

We have expressed concern, however, at the launch of Â鶹Éç Two HD without nations’ local ‘opt-out’ programmes, which are such an important part of the television mix for audiences here. Â鶹Éç Two Northern Ireland programmes continue to be available on standard definition, but we are conscious that audience take-up for HD is growing and will peak as the HD channel becomes more prominent on electronic programme guides.

We are very aware of the huge resourcing challenges that have informed this approach. Nonetheless, we have advised the Trust that we want to understand how the needs of local audiences currently met by local programmes on Â鶹Éç Two will be met in the HD environment. Last year the Trust asked Â鶹Éç management to look again at its plans for HD and nations’ opt-out programmes. We look forward to understanding more about the options in coming months.

There are still a number of issues for audiences in terms of access to the range of Â鶹Éç services. Over a quarter of households do not have access to Â鶹Éç Radio Ulster on Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) digital radio and Radio Foyle is not carried on DAB. There is a build-out plan to enhance coverage of the Â鶹Éç’s network services on DAB, but this is expected to impact unevenly across the UK, with Northern Ireland less well provided for than other parts of the UK. Audiences also tell us that they are confused about the benefits of DAB and how to access the Â鶹Éç’s digital radio stations.

We have asked the Trust to ensure that decisions on distribution take full account of audience needs around the UK. We would also like the Â鶹Éç to improve its communications with audiences so that they understand how they can best access the Â鶹Éç’s digital radio services and make informed buying choices.

On a positive note, we were encouraged to learn this year that Â鶹Éç management is looking at options for carriage of Radio Foyle on DAB.

Audiences in Northern Ireland, like those elsewhere in the UK, have been highly appreciative of the Â鶹Éç’s iPlayer service. Further value was added to the service this year when downloads became available for certain mobile devices, meaning that audiences can watch programmes on demand even when they are not connected to the internet.

One of the issues which we raised with the Trust last year was the absence of Radio Ulster/Foyle from the iPlayer app on mobile devices. Audiences welcomed the launch, in October 2012, of the Â鶹Éç Radio iPlayer which now carries all the nations’ radio services, including Radio Ulster/Foyle. We have highlighted to the Trust, the need for the Â鶹Éç to find the right place for local content on the Â鶹Éç’s digital services as they develop, and to ensure that this content is easily found and accessed.

We are also aware of the emerging issue of possible interference on Freeview from 4G signals. We will keep a close eye on issues for local audiences in the coming year.

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Each year, in response to audience feedback, the four Audience Councils identify areas where they would particularly like to see improvements in Â鶹Éç services. We have identified the priorities below for 2013/14:

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1. Services for local audiences

We want the quality and distinctiveness of services aimed specifically at audiences in Northern Ireland maintained, as Delivering Quality First efficiencies are increasingly felt.

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2. News

We have welcomed progress in reporting public policy from the devolved nations on network news. We believe that there is scope to enrich news programmes and inform debate through further comparisons and context from different parts of the UK.

The Council wishes to see continued development in the local news agenda – and the resource allocation which supports this – to reflect areas of growing interest to audiences, from the environment and science to arts and culture. There is a particular need for investment in local news and current affairs online, especially at weekends.

We are also aware that, for some sections of the audience, trust in the Â鶹Éç and its journalism has been seriously affected by the revelations about Jimmy Savile and issues with Newsnight. We want to see due scrutiny of, and investment in, journalism at UK and local levels to ensure that quality and standards are upheld.

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3. Portrayal and network supply

We would like to see further progress in portraying a diverse and rapidly changing society in Northern Ireland to audiences across the UK. We also want to see more programmes made in Northern Ireland for UK audiences, including those which contribute to a broader representation of life here.

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4. Access to Â鶹Éç services

Audiences we spoke to are concerned about access to DAB digital radio. We have asked the Trust to ensure that the needs of audiences around the UK are fully taken into account in delivery of the universal access commitment for digital radio. We also want to see improved communications with audiences to explain how they can access the full range of Â鶹Éç radio services and make informed buying choices.

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5. Local television programmes

We want to be assured that the audience needs currently met by Â鶹Éç Two Northern Ireland programmes continue to be met in an HD environment.

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April 2012 - March 2013*

Rotha Johnston, Chair (until October 2012)

Aideen McGinley, Chair (from November 2012)

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Doreen Bell

Amanda Faloon

Mark Glover

Elaine Hicks

Richard Hill

Matt Johnston

Aidan Langan

Steven Law

Niall McCaughan

Paul McMenemy

Alan Meban

Paul Mullan

Joan Shine

Beverley Todd

Mahendra Varma

*includes members whose term began or ended during the year

If you would like a copy of the Annual Review 2012/13 in an alternative format, please contact us at: audiencecouncil.ni@bbc.co.uk or telephone 028 9033 8856 or textphone 028 9033 8100.


Â鶹Éç Northern Ireland has also published its review of 2012/13. Read the review .