Channel 4 to Cut U.S. Acquisitions Budget

LONDON, May 1: As Channel 4 issued its annual report today,
with its 2006 profit down to £14.5 million from 2005’s £48.5 million, Kevin
Lygo, the director of television, announced that the broadcaster would be
cutting its spending on U.S. acquisitions.

Lygo revealed that a combination of costs associated with
hiring top talent, high prices for U.S. network fare and pressure on ad
revenues were the reasons behind the planned cuts, according to the Guardian. "The
last thing we are going to interfere with is part of the remit, news or current
affairs,” Lygo explained. "Our preference and priority will be to cut on
acquired programming, absolutely first. But most of it is spent in advance,
years ahead, and it's quite hard to cut quickly. That will be where we cut
before we cut the domestic commissions."

According to Channel 4's annual report, its spending on
acquisitions increased from £112.9 million in 2005 to £127.2 million last year,
but the number of acquired hours was down from 3,382 to 3,278.

Channel 4 reported total revenues of £936.9 million, up from
2005’s £894.3 million.