Channel 4 warns of job cuts
January 8, 2024
Channel 4 is planning a round of job cuts as the UK broadcaster shifts its focus to streaming. Up to 200 job cuts are expected, with an official announcement due later this quarter.
In an internal email sent to staff, CEO Alex Mahon said: “What we are doing now is accelerating our existing plans to weather the sharp and protracted advertising slowdown that has hit the whole industry. We have been working carefully to minimise the impacts on individuals… I am sorry that some job cuts will inevitably be involved.”
A Channel4 spoesperson added: “Channel 4 is a wholly commercially funded and self-reliant broadcaster known for producing iconoclastic programmes and generating enormous value for the UK creative economy. Like every organisation, we are having to deal with an extremely uncertain economy in the short term and the need to accelerate our transformation to become a genuinely digital public service broadcaster in the long term. As a result, we need to continue to divest from our linear channels business and simplify our operations to become a leaner organisation. This will enable us to invest more in our digital future and in our remit to make distinctive and disruptive British content, increasingly focused on streaming and social channels.”
Channel 4 wants digital content to form 30 per cent of its total revenues by 2025 as it seeks to grow its online audience.