Channel 4 fights on
December 18th, 2008 by Jon Clements
Just to add to the pre-Christmas jobs misery, Channel 4 is axing 200 jobs across commissioning, new media and marketing in light of the fragile advertising market for 2009.
Meanwhile, new funding options for the broadcaster reported today could involve a joint venture with the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.
At the end of the day, broadcasting is business, and business stinks right now. But it’s ironic that “Walter” - one of the defining programmes from Channel 4 broadcast on its launch night in 1982 - is being revisited as a radio play, featuring the eponymous actor, Sir Ian McKellen.
Described at the time by the London Evening Standard as “one of the most shocking films about mental illness ever shown on British TV”, it won a Royal Television Award and Bafta nomination for McKellen. As a teenage viewer accustomed to the blandness of much of public service television’s output, it was nothing short of brilliant and thrilling.
And it was also a “drawing a line in the sand” moment for television, where Channel 4 would show what daring TV could look like, as well as being intelligent and educational. It may have lost its way in the noughties, and it’s debatable what Big Brother has added to the culture. But for every bunch of screaming, narcissistic housemates, there’s a Cutting Edge, Unreported World and The Sopranos.
So, tough times ahead for Channel 4 and let’s hope it pulls through as there’s nothing else quite like it.
Tags: , BBC Worldwide, Channel 4, Cutting Edge, Sir Ian McKellen, television, Walter
January 16th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Interesting to read your comments this evening, do you have any more news with regards to the possible merge with Five? I heard the owners of Five, RTL, were at least open to discussion? However doesn’t Channel 4 have a different type of charter (or whatever it might be) to Five?
January 16th, 2009 at 9:52 am
From what I understand such a merger wouldn’t be approved on a competition basis. That aside, the head of Channel 4, Andy Duncan, pretty much dismissed the idea yesterday:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/15/andy-duncan-dismisses-channel-4-merger-with-five