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Tory says let Channel 4 make its own shows
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 8 January 2009
The Conservative’s culture spokesman has joined the Channel 4 funding debate. As previously reported, UK media regulator OfCom is currently reconsidering the ‘public service obligations’ of the terrestrial commercial broadcasters – ITV, C4 and Five – because said broadcasters claim it is increasingly difficult to fund public service programming through advertising and sponsorship.
ITV simply want to reduce their public service obligations, while Channel 4 want help finding new sources of income, to supplement revenue from advertising and sponsorship. C4 bosses would most like a cut of the licence fee income, though the BBC are very very against that, and it’s not a proposal favoured by OfCom either.
The Beeb have suggested ways it could use its licence-fee-funded resources to help commercial public service broadcasters reduce their costs, and has also reluctantly suggested C4 could, perhaps, have a stake in its commercial division BBC Worldwide.
Conservative culture man Jeremy Hunt, asked about the issue on Radio 4’s ‘The Media Show’, said he thought Channel 4 should be allowed to make its own programmes, or take a stake in the programme concepts it premieres, in order to bring in new revenues.
Unlike the BBC and ITV, Channel 4 doesn’t make any of its own programming, buying everything in from independent TV production firms. That means that it has never built up it’s own programme archive that it could now be using to generate new revenues, nor do Channel 4 automatically benefit from any brand extensions of TV shows it airs (eg the book, the song, the t-shirt, the ringtone).
Hunt admitted his proposals would be unpopular with the indie TV producers, for some of whom Channel 4 is an important client, but he said getting involved in the programme making business would help C4 find new income to fill the gap left by declining advertising and sponsorship revenues.
Hunt: “Channel 4 have a model whereby when they have a success, like ‘Secret Millionaire’, they get no benefit even if that programme is sold throughout the world and makes millions of pounds. Channel 4 needs to find a model whereby they can benefit financially when they have a success, I think we need to look at the terms of trade in as far as they effect Channel 4”.
