Edie Lush

Channel 4 heads closer to the edge

Edie Lush says competition from digital channels and the internet imperils the financial viability of Britain’s most provocative television broadcaster

issue 31 March 2007

How much do you hate Big Brother? A lot perhaps; but enough to welcome the demise of Channel 4? This is a real possibility: an Ofcom report due in a few days time will detail just how precarious Channel 4’s finances are becoming. While the report’s contents are still unknown, the challenges C4 faces are not.

C4 has produced some of the nation’s favourite programming, including Channel 4 News and Film4 hits such as Four Weddings and a Funeral and Trainspotting. It has also produced programmes such as Celebrity Big Brother, which have grabbed headlines but horrified the chattering classes. In a bid to avoid more of the same, C4 recently cancelled a series celebrating ‘wank week’ and featuring last year’s ‘London Masturbate-a-thon’.

C4 defends itself by pointing to its public service remit. It was created in 1981 as a public corporation subsidised by the provision of free ‘analogue spectrum’ — free wavelength over which to broadcast — in order to provide an alternative to the BBC and the ITV network.

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