Unveiling of Channel 4’s 2025 results overshadowed by MAFS UK rape allegations
Channel 4’s headquarters in London
UK public broadcaster Channel 4 has revealed its annual results for 2025 – but the media briefing to discuss them was almost completely dominated by the scandal surrounding reality series Married at First Sight UK.
The commercially funded broadcaster revealed its annual report this afternoon, posting “stable revenues, financial discipline and continued investment in British content in a challenging market.”
However, the media briefing to discuss the results saw recently installed CEO Priya Dogra fielding questions about the broadcaster’s response to the BBC Panorama exposé The Dark Side of Married at First Sight, which aired on Monday night.
During the briefing, it emerged that a group of MPs in the UK government have written to C4 and media regulator Ofcom raising “serious concerns” about the welfare of participants in the reality show.
C4 has removed all seasons of MAFS UK from its streaming platforms after two former participants said they were raped by their partners while on the show and a third alleged sexual assault and coercive and controlling behaviour.
The company has also ordered an external review, conducted by law firm Clyde & Co, that will examine the welfare protocols in place on the show at the time claims were raised, as well as the handling of those claims by C4 and the show’s producer, CPL.
Alongside that, former BBC One controller Lorraine Heggessey has been brought in to examine if any changes should be made to current protocols for MAFS UK to further strengthen contributor welfare.
Dogra said: “I have heard the women’s accounts, which are very troubling. Their distress is clear and for that I am, of course, deeply sorry.”
Meanwhile, Dogra said C4 was pushing ahead with the root-and-branch review she ordered when installed in the role, which “will require sharper, often harder choices about where we focus, how we compete and how we operate.”
This comes as C4 contends with what it called a “challenging” TV advertising market, which saw an overall 4% drop in revenue across the sector in 2025.
Against this backdrop, Channel 4 Corporation revenues were £1.03bn (US$1.38bn), down 1% year on year, while total advertising revenues declined by 2% as C4 said it outperformed the wider TV market.
It said it closed 2025 with a £10m pre-tax deficit, broadly consistent with the £12m deficit, post exceptional items, reported in its 2024 annual report.
C4 added it closed 2025 with £49m of net cash reserves (2024: £111m), reflecting expected and planned cash outflows, most notably investment in content commissioned for future delivery, which would sustain its pipeline of original UK content.
Some 62% of its revenues, around £640m, were reinvested in content, C4 said, with original commissions across genres performing “particularly strongly” with younger audiences.
Streaming viewing minutes in 2025 increased by 15% to 72.8bn. Among 16- to 34-year-olds, more than half of all C4 viewing (53%) came from streaming, which the broadcaster said is the highest level among UK commercial broadcaster-backed VoDs.
Meanwhile, digital ad revenue grew by 13% to £346m and accounted for 34% of total revenue, ahead of C4’s 2025 target of 30% and the 18% average for comparable UK and international broadcasters.
Non-advertising revenue grew to £105m, contributing 10% of total revenue. Together, 44% of C4’s revenues now come from non-linear and diversified sources, up from 39% in 2024.
Dogra said: “In 2025, Channel 4 delivered a resilient financial performance against the backdrop of a challenging TV advertising market. We reinvested more than 60% of revenues into the creative sector, while maintaining cost discipline.
“Our bold, distinctive British content continued to drive linear and digital viewing, while we made further progress in diversifying revenues. We are now focused on accelerating our transformation as we reshape Channel 4 for the future.”
Geoff Cooper, chair of C4, said: “This annual report shows Channel 4 responding to the market challenges with clear discipline and creative ambition – staying true to its remit and accelerating its ongoing diversification. The board and I now look forward to supporting Priya and her team as they lead the next phase of Channel 4’s transformation.”
