MPs to quiz C4 chiefs
November 27, 2023
By Colin Mann
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the UK House of Commons is to hold an Evidence Session on the work of Channel 4. The meeting on November 28th is a regular scrutiny session of the broadcaster’s annual performance.
The Committee will quiz the Chair (Sir Ian Cheshire), and Chief Executive of Channel 4 (Alex Mahon) and is likely to examine C4’s overall financial performance in 2022, which was down on 2021’s, and the broadcaster’s long-term strategy beyond 2025. Questions may scrutinise C4’s dependence on the advertising market – in 2022, 89 per cent of C4’s income came from advertising – and its non-advertising revenue. MPs could discuss C4’s cut in commissioning, its streaming strategy and dependence on younger audiences.
The amended Media Bill, introduced to the House earlier in November 2023, creates a ‘sustainability duty’ on the Channel 4 TV Corporation (C4C) following concerns about the future sustainability of the broadcaster. It also removes C4C’s publisher-broadcaster model, currently preventing C4 from producing programmes in-house. The Committee are likely to explore the views and implications of these changes, and C4’s position on producing its own content.
MPs are also likely to examine C4’s safeguarding processes for production sets following various reports of ‘toxic’ culture in the broadcasting industry, and its work to improve equality and diversity within the organisation. Questions may be asked about Film4, C4 Television’s film feature division and the largest funder of independent film in the UK and potential ways to support the UK film industry.