Brookside’s Departure Leaves Hole At Channel 4
Mark Thompson, chief executive of Channel 4, has admitted the departure of Brookside from peak time schedules will leave a “big gap” at the channel, but pledged not to fill it with another soap.
Speaking at yesterday’s Regional TV Conference in Salford, Thompson commented: “The move of Brookside means that we’ve now got quite an urgent need for strong new peak time ideas from the nations and regions. Brookside represented 75 hours of peak time origination and we have to match or better that. Not with like-for-like replacement, but with great new regional ideas across drama, entertainment, leisure and lifestyle.”
Thompson announced the decision to move Brookside last month, when he said that peak time was “no longer an environment in which Brookside can thrive” (see Channel 4 Shuns Brookside For More Hollyoaks). At the same time, the channel announced its decision to extend teen soap Hollyoaks to five nights a week.
Thompson has also highlighted the channel’s commitment to regional programming, but questioned the potential impact of the ITV merger on regional production, commenting: “In theory, the potential consolidation of ITV needn’t impact adversely on network production outside London, but history to be honest suggests otherwise. Strong ITV regional production, and strong BBC regional production is essential to help maintain the pool of production and technical talent on which regional indies depend too.”
Channel 4 has suffered from the advertising recession and recently announced a radical restructuring programme, including plans for 200 job losses and a major shake-up of its senior management team (see Channel 4 Announces Most Radical Restructure In 20 Years).
Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com
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