Call to privatise Channel 4

Published on Wednesday 23 April 2008 00:34

CHANNEL 4 should be privatised, the former chief creative officer of the Big Brother production company, Endemol, said last night.

Andy Duncan, Channel 4's chief executive, has previously estimated that the broadcaster faces a funding shortfall of 100 million because of the digital switchover. Industry figures have advocated that Channel 4 receives a slice of the BBC's licence fee to plug the shortfall.

But Peter Bazalgette told the Royal Television Society in a speech last night that handing the broadcaster direct public money could compromise Channel 4. He said: "One of the things many of us cherish most about Channel 4 is its bloody-minded independence. And we fear for it if it takes public money directly.

"What we should investigate, while examining long-term solutions for Channel 4, is a privatisation which preserves its character".

He also called for Radio 1 and Radio 2 to be privatised, and for ITV and Five to lose their public service broadcasting obligations after digital switchover.

Mr Bazalgette is advocating a new public service search engine, Boggle, which would feature arts and drama programming from organisations ranging from the Tate Gallery to the National Theatre.

Mr Bazalgette is not the first to call for Channel 4 to be privatised.

Earlier this month, the right-wing think-tank the Adam Smith Institute published a report stating that it should be among a number of institutions that could taken out of the public purse.

When he was chancellor, Gordon Brown also considered privatisation as a viable option for raising revenue.