The Federation of Entertainment Unions (FEU) has written to the UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Nadine Dorries, to urge her to reconsider the Government’s plans to privatise Channel 4. The FEU, who together represent over 120,000 UK creative workers, is dismayed at the Government’s plans to sell the publicly owned […]
Julia Lopez, Minister of State for Media, Data, and Digital Infrastructure, has suggested that the UK government is ‘genuinely open-minded’ about the future of the BBC funding model. Appearing before the Communications and Digital Committee of the House of Lords – the UK’s upper legislative chamber – as part of its inquiry into funding the […]
The funding of TV of all kinds is under the microscope just now. For example; can public broadcasters justify collecting a tax from whole populations? Or, dare SVoDs run ads, or cut-off password sharers? Tricky. The BBC is the most-high profile of PSBs and, therefore, the alternative that does (or does not) emerge to the […]
The Motion Picture Association (MPA), the global voice of the producers and distributors of film, television and streaming content, is celebrating the century of creativity, growth and innovation since its inception in 1922. Since its founding in the age of the silent film, the MPA has championed storytellers, developed tools to protect their content against […]
UK DCMS Secretary Nadine Dorries says it is “laughable” that she is spearheading the sale of Channel 4 out of vengeance, though adding in the same evidence to MPs that it ‘hadn’t done itself any favours’ in a reference to an old story about Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow abusing Tory MPs. In the […]
The UK House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee is to question Nadine Dorries, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, on online safety and public service broadcasters as part of an evidence session on the work of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). In a wide-ranging session, […]
Alex Mahon, Chief Executive as Channel 4, has shared the broadcaster’s future plan proposal, 4:The Next Episode, which sets out its vision of what more Channel 4 can be and can do, while continuing to be owned by the British people. Mahon, said: “The last two years have transformed the profile of Channel 4’s audience […]
The UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport says that TV and radio audiences will enjoy a new golden age of programming as the government updates decades-old broadcasting regulations. The government plans to pursue a change of ownership of Channel 4 to give it the tools it needs to succeed in the future as […]
It has emerged that the UK government intends to proceed with the privatisation of publicly-owned commercial PSB Channel 4, having suggested in May 2021 that such a move was “on the table”. The news comes as Sir Ian Cheshire has been named as incoming Chair of the broadcaster. With the UK parliament in recess for […]
The UK government is pressing ahead with privatising Channel 4, though it is by no means guaranteed success as opposition is widespread, not least on its own benches. The case for, as put forward by the DCMS, is that the broadcaster needs to be private to compete better with Netflix, Prime etc. For example, a […]