Channel 4 celebrates sell-off victory but Pact expresses new concern over rights

Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon has expressed her delight that the Conservative government has ditched its controversial plan to privatise the UK public broadcaster, but producers association Pact has sounded a note of caution on plans to relax rules around the channel owning programme rights.

Alex Mahon

News leaked yesterday that Michelle Donelan, the UK’s 10th culture secretary in the last 11 years, had written to prime minister Rishi Sunak saying the proposed sale of C4 should be dropped. Today she confirmed the move saying the move came “after reviewing the business case and engaging with the relevant sectors”.

Originally proposed by Oliver Dowden during his stint in the job, privatising the network had become a flagship policy for Donelan’s immediate predecessor Nadine Dorries. She wasted no time in expressing her anger at the U-turn, Tweeting that the move was one of a number of “progressive” policies being “washed down the drain” by Sunak’s government.

Channel 4 and the UK production industry had fought the proposed sale – more than 90% of responses to last year’s government consultation on the topic were opposed to it. And today the channel welcomed the about-turn, saying the decision “provides a firm basis on which to establish the sustainable direction of Channel 4, safely in the hands of the British people.”

Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon added: “The principle of public ownership for Channel 4 is now set for the foreseeable future, a decision which allows us to be even more of a power in the digital world.

“I am personally delighted that we will be able to do more, making positive change for the people that others don’t fight for. We will move faster, invest more, take more risks, break down barriers and push boundaries; getting up to do that every day is an utter privilege for those of us lucky enough to work at Channel 4.”

However, despite the positivity, there is potential for a new battle line to be drawn over the issue of rights ownership.

Michelle Donelan

Donelan’s new proposals to help C4 expand its revenues beyond purely advertising include a relaxation of its current publisher-broadcaster remit, allowing it to potentially produce shows in-house and retain rights for international distribution.

While producers association Pact welcomed the ditching of the sell-off plans, it said it was disappointed by the relaxing of the publisher-broadcaster remit, adding that this could be every bit as damaging to a UK indie sector already facing increasing production and business costs.

Pact chair Jane Muirhead said: “Whilst it is clearly the right decision by the government to reverse the privatisation of Channel 4, the decision to allow Channel 4 to produce its own in-house programming has the potential to achieve the same damaging outcome if there are not effective protections put in place. Pact will be meeting with government and working closely with them to ensure that the right safeguards are established to protect the UK’s successful world-class indie sector.”

A Channel 4 representative added: “The government has declared its intention to legislate to remove the publisher-broadcaster requirement that currently applies to Channel 4. We welcome the government’s commitment to engage closely with the independent production sector about the potential impact of this proposal, and we await further detail. We will contribute constructively to these discussions.”