A report commissioned by media regulator OfCom reckons that Channel 4 will be a loss making concern by 2009, and will be very much eating into its cash reserves, which is good news for the publicly owned broadcaster, which has been saying that it will soon need new kinds of public funding as the value of its flagship analogue station declines in the multi-channel digital TV age.
This is what Channel 4 CEO Andy Duncan had to say about the OfCom report: "The report identifies the 'difficult trade-offs' Channel 4 faces between using cash reserves to cover future losses, investing to create new profit streams or cutting our programme budgets to reduce projected deficits but also our public service contribution. In our view, this report makes clear that it's no longer a question of 'if' Channel 4 needs new forms of public support to replace our gifted analogue spectrum, which is rapidly declining in value, but 'when'. We believe Ofcom should now progress to identifying appropriate new forms of support that will give Channel 4 a secure financial base from which to plan our future strategy and public service contribution".
Perhaps they should introduce more of those dodgy viewer phone in things that are so good at stripping the general public of their cash.