A Welsh television channel funded by public money showed nearly 200 programmes which were watched by nobody in the last month, according to official figures.
Audiences for many programmes on S4C, Channel 4 for Wales, were so low that they failed to register.
S4C, which gets more than £100m of subsidy from taxpayers, officially attracted zero viewers on 196 out of its 890 programmes.
BEFORE ACI Not even the voice of Hollywood star Ioan Gruffudd could lift the figures for children's cartoon Igam Ogam on the Welsh-language channel.
The viewing figures for three weeks in February and March were compiled by the Broadcasters Audience Research Board.
A zero rating means that the 196 shows were watched by fewer than 1,000 people.
Just 139 out of all the station's entire programmes for the period were watched by more than 10,000 viewers.
The zero viewer show include children's cartoon Sali Mali and Tocyn, where presenters visit Celtic countries and regions.
A soccer show called Sgorio, Welsh for score, scored a zero with viewers when it screened highlights of European football despite regularly pulling in tens of thousands of viewers on other nights.
It is a regular show featuring top matches from the German, Spanish and Italian leagues.
S4C was set-up by the Conservative Government in 1982 when Channel 4 launched in the rest of Britain.
It was launched after Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru leader Gwynfor Evans threatened to starve himself to death if the station was not set up.
Former Conservative Welsh Office Minister Rod Richards, a Welsh speaker and broadcaster, said: "I am disappointed and saddened by these figures.
"It is shocking that so many of S4C's programmes do not seem to resonate with the public. It is worrying from the point of view of anyone who is concerned about the Welsh language.
"S4C gets a huge amount of public money and it's time it was dragged into the 21st century, kicking and screaming if necessary."
He called for the BBC to be given back responsibility for Welsh-language TV in Wales - as it did before S4C was set up.
An S4C spokesman said: "We are considering the details and the information supplied."
Audiences for many programmes on S4C, Channel 4 for Wales, were so low that they failed to register.
S4C, which gets more than £100m of subsidy from taxpayers, officially attracted zero viewers on 196 out of its 890 programmes.
BEFORE ACI Not even the voice of Hollywood star Ioan Gruffudd could lift the figures for children's cartoon Igam Ogam on the Welsh-language channel.
The viewing figures for three weeks in February and March were compiled by the Broadcasters Audience Research Board.
A zero rating means that the 196 shows were watched by fewer than 1,000 people.
Just 139 out of all the station's entire programmes for the period were watched by more than 10,000 viewers.
The zero viewer show include children's cartoon Sali Mali and Tocyn, where presenters visit Celtic countries and regions.
A soccer show called Sgorio, Welsh for score, scored a zero with viewers when it screened highlights of European football despite regularly pulling in tens of thousands of viewers on other nights.
It is a regular show featuring top matches from the German, Spanish and Italian leagues.
S4C was set-up by the Conservative Government in 1982 when Channel 4 launched in the rest of Britain.
It was launched after Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru leader Gwynfor Evans threatened to starve himself to death if the station was not set up.
Former Conservative Welsh Office Minister Rod Richards, a Welsh speaker and broadcaster, said: "I am disappointed and saddened by these figures.
"It is shocking that so many of S4C's programmes do not seem to resonate with the public. It is worrying from the point of view of anyone who is concerned about the Welsh language.
"S4C gets a huge amount of public money and it's time it was dragged into the 21st century, kicking and screaming if necessary."
He called for the BBC to be given back responsibility for Welsh-language TV in Wales - as it did before S4C was set up.
An S4C spokesman said: "We are considering the details and the information supplied."
