Culture secretary reportedly advises against C4 privatisation

UK – Michelle Donelan, secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, has recommended that the UK government does not privatise Channel 4, according to a letter leaked online.

Channel 4 office_crop

The plan to sell Channel 4 was initially drawn up by previous prime minister Boris Johnson’s government, but faced opposition from many in the UK television industry.

On taking up her role in September, Donelan said she would “re-examine the business case” for privatisation.

In a letter addressed to the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, obtained and tweeted by the News Agents podcast on Wednesday ( 4th January), Donelan said: “After reviewing the business case, I have concluded that pursuing a sale at this point is not the right decision and there are better ways to secure C4C’s sustainability and that of the UK independent production sector.”

The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has not confirmed a change of plan. A DCMS spokesperson said: “We do not comment on speculation. The DCMS Secretary of State has been clear that we are looking again at the business case for the sale of Channel 4. We will announce more on our plans in due course.” 

Advertising industry body the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) welcomed the reports.

Paul Bainsfair, director general, IPA, said: “We very much welcome the culture secretary’s recommendation to drop Channel 4 privatisation. Her letter to the prime minister emphasises support and sustainability of the independent production sector which is absolutely correct.

“It is also worth highlighting that this symbiotic relationship of public service broadcaster (PSB) and independent production ecosystem is underpinned by advertising. Channel 4 is a hugely successful advertising business delivering a large, unique audience profile through its PSB remit. It is well led, an innovator and with a market leading broadcaster video on-demand platform, it is well positioned for continued success.”

We hope you enjoyed this article.
Research Live is published by MRS.

The Market Research Society (MRS) exists to promote and protect the research sector, showcasing how research delivers impact for businesses and government.

Members of MRS enjoy many benefits including tailoured policy guidance, discounts on training and conferences, and access to member-only content.

For example, there's an archive of winning case studies from over a decade of MRS Awards.

Find out more about the benefits of joining MRS here.

0 Comments

Display name

Email

Join the discussion

Newsletter
Stay connected with the latest insights and trends...
Sign Up
Latest From MRS

Our latest training courses

Our new 2025 training programme is now launched as part of the development offered within the MRS Global Insight Academy

See all training

Specialist conferences

Our one-day conferences cover topics including CX and UX, Semiotics, B2B, Finance, AI and Leaders' Forums.

See all conferences

MRS reports on AI

MRS has published a three-part series on how generative AI is impacting the research sector, including synthetic respondents and challenges to adoption.

See the reports

Progress faster...
with MRS 
membership

Mentoring

CPD/recognition

Webinars

Codeline

Discounts