Privatisation of Channel 4 will 'cost jobs in Yorkshire' Shadow Culture Secretary says

The channel is currently owned by the Government and receives its funding from advertising, however, it is expected to open to sale bids from next year.

The network - who has its second base in Leeds - said it was “disappointed” with the decision but would “continue to engage” with the Government to make sure that it still plays its “unique part” in British life.

Lucy Powell, Shadow Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “Selling off Channel 4, which doesn’t cost the tax-payer a penny anyway, to what is likely to be a foreign company, is cultural vandalism.

“It will cost jobs and opportunities in the North and Yorkshire, and hit the wider British creative economy.”

She added: “This shows that the Conservatives have run out of ideas and run out of road. Of all the issues the public wants action on, the governance of Channel 4 isn’t one.”

Channel 4 said that they had presented the Government with “a real alternative to privatisation that would safeguard its future financial stability”.

A statement added: “This is particularly important given that the organisation is only two years into a significant commitment to drive up its impact in the UK’s nations and regions.”

“Channel 4 remains legally committed to its unique public-service remit. The focus for the organisation will be on how we can ensure we deliver the remit to both our viewers and the British creative economy across the whole of the UK.

“The proposal to privatise Channel 4 will require a lengthy legislative process and political debate. We will of course continue to engage with DCMS, Government and Parliament, and do everything we can to ensure that Channel 4 continues to play its unique part in Britain’s creative ecology and national life.”

However, Government sources said that state ownership is “holding” Channel 4 (C4) back, and that privatisation will “remove its straightjacket.”.

“Following a consultation, ministers have decided that, although C4 as a business is currently performing well, government ownership is holding it back in the face of a rapidly changing and competitive media landscape,” the source said.

“C4 is a great business with a strong brand built around it being creative, innovative and distinctive but a change of ownership will remove its straitjacket, giving C4 the freedom to innovate and grow so it can flourish and thrive long into the future and support the whole of the UK creative industries.

“Ministers will seek to reinvest the proceeds of the sale. They want to use the cash resulting from the sale to spend on a ‘creative dividend’ – putting money into independent production and levelling up wider creative skills in priority parts of the country.”

Channel 4 officially opened their Leeds base last September, with plans for around 200 staff to move, after the new office was first announced in 2019.

Leeds North West MP Alex Sobel said that the decision would mean that “thousands of jobs in the regions and nations will go, independent production companies will go under and British Films go unmade.”

In an internal email to staff last night, the broadcaster’s chief executive said her priority was to “look after all of you and the wonderful Channel 4 spirit”.

Alex Mahon went on: “Ultimately the ownership of C4 is for Government to propose and Parliament to decide.

“Our job is to deliver what Parliament tasks us to do, and if or when that changes, then I am confident that this incredible organisation will respond with the relentless energy it has always displayed in pursuit of its goals and the remit.”