Channel 4 Unveils Vision for the Future

LONDON, March 13: Channel
4 today presented its “Next on 4” vision for the future of the broadcasting
group, with plans to invest in kids’ and teen content, ramp up its documentary
offerings, lower its acquisitions budget for American shows, and create a fund
for public-service digital-media creation.

“Our remit has served us
well over 25 years,” said Andy Duncan, Channel 4’s chief executive. “In the
digital world we now need to be even clearer about the end benefits of Channel
4. We have therefore framed four core purposes to describe the positive public
impact we aim to have on the lives of viewers and society at large. Above all,
our viewers want to be entertained, but they also appreciate the social value
of Channel 4 programs that question, challenge and inform.”

The purposes as outlined
by Duncan are to nurture new talent and original ideas, champion alternative
voices and fresh perspectives, challenge people to see the world differently
and inspire change in people's lives.

Duncan continued: “Some
will argue Channel 4's public role is less relevant and deliverable as mass
media gives way to my media. It is getting harder to connect large audiences
with unfamiliar, more challenging material.

“In this emerging
landscape, however, Channel 4's scale and cross-platform structure increasingly
distinguish us from our competitors. Audiences considered small in analogue
television become very large in on-demand digital media. Channel 4 becomes one
of only a handful of places where you can even encounter the mainstream, let
alone shape it through innovation. We believe digital media offers us the
potential to deliver our remit more effectively than ever. The technology
transforms our audience's ability to create, access and engage with content in
imaginative and compelling ways.”

As such, Channel 4 has
redirected the £6 million previously invested into schools programming into
digital media. “This is adding a new dimension to our educational impact with
younger audiences, by making our content more engaging and accessible.

“Digital media lets us
reach out to creative talent that is geographically, socially and regionally
diverse. This should cement our appeal to audiences outside the mainstream,
particularly younger viewers.

Kevin Lygo,
the director of television and content, went into greater detail about the broadcaster’s
plans. These include New Talent Month in August, “with someone getting their
first break on television every day. A script by a new writer, a first
performance by a new comedian or indeed a new reporter on Channel 4’s news.
Later in the year we move into digital radio and here too, it will be our
mission to experiment.”

Lygo also noted plans to
show more new programs in peak time, particularly documentaries, with less
reliance on returning shows. “Across our channels we will air at least one new
documentary every weekday—that's 260 hours in peak each year. I want us
to be the home of the British documentary. This aspect of Channel 4's
public-service delivery is under appreciated. We are the only mainstream
commercial network consistently serving a significant audience with serious
journalism and factual narratives. These programs help society understand
itself. They are disappearing from network television.”

Also announced today were
plans to spend an initial £10 million on British multimedia content for 10- to
15-year-olds. “Thirdly, we want to go back to our original remit and
reinvigorate our connection with minority audiences,” Lygo said. This includes
naming a new head of diversity to the senior executive team and the appointment
of a commissioning editor for multicultural programs.

Channel 4 is also
committing to invest £10 million a year in external training and development
schemes through 4 Talent.

U.S. fare will be less of
a priority for C4 going forward, Lygo explained. “To help us achieve our
creative ambitions we plan to reduce our spend on American programs to allow
greater investment in original U.K. content. In five years time our annual
acquisitions budget will be around £35-million lower than it is now, a
20-percent reduction. I hope we will continue to source the best U.S.
television for our discerning audience. But we will reduce both the volume we
acquire and the amount we will spend.”

Duncan outlined a
£50-million fund for “publicly valuable digital media,” called Four Innovation
for the Public (4IP). The broadcaster will invest up to £20 million of its own
funds, with additional commitments from Advantage West Midlands, Invest
Northern Ireland, NESTA, Scottish Enterprise and Yorkshire Forward.

—By Mansha Daswani