Channel 4 has increased its programming budget for the coming year by an additional £9 million to £439 million, the highest annual budget in the channel’s history.
The increased investment follows a turbulent time at Channel 4, with 200 job losses made last year due to dwindling ad revenues and falling profits. The channel also axed 45 jobs from its commercial arm, 4 Ventures, as part of a major restructure of the company’s senior management team.
These cost cutting measures returned the station to profit in 2002, following the biggest restructure in its 20 year history (see Channel 4 Returns To Profit After Heavy Losses).
The IPA’s first quarter Trends In Television report shows that Channel 4 has seen its share of viewing drop to 9.2%, down from 10.1% in the same period the previous year (see Non-Terrestrial Viewing Hits Record 22.8% In Q1, Finds IPA). Many analysts have attributed this drop to the increasing popularity of multi-channel television.