Credit:Jude Edginton /Channel 4 TelevisonWhy do we care so much about Channel Four? After all, as a supplier (I’ve worked for Channel Four on and off since 1984, that’s, scarily, more than three decades) it can be truly infuriating. And, every few years, there’ll be an article in the broadsheets, or a session at Edinburgh, about how Channel Four ‘isn’t what it used to be’. But, isn’t that the point? It keeps changing and it’s always the same. It’s as much part of Britain and its media landscape as the BBC – and that’s saying something. It is the place where most of the new stuff happens - formats, styles of documentary, new shapes of different types of content. It’s one of the reasons networks all around the world see Britain as a player.
So, why is it important that - in spite of the absence of any reference to Channel 4 in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, rumours persist around Whitehall and beyond that the broadcaster is still being looked at for privatisation?
Because its pattern of ownership allows it to be a consistent and serial risk-taker. I don’t believe that Channel 4’s public service remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive, is compatible with the concept of private ownership. That’s why privatisation would not make any sense for the UK - economically, creatively or culturally. At Pulse Films, I am just one part of a multi-billion pound sector that would truly be decimated over time, if Channel Four became another network in private hands.
