Channel 4 Boosts Programming Budget To Record High
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.
Commenting on the increased investment, Mark Thompson, chief executive of Channel 4, said: “At a time when the advertising market remains uncertain, it is vitally important that we continue to invest money on screen in order to further increase our share of net advertising revenue in 2003.”
Channel 4’s director of television, Tim Gardam, claims the increase will allow for an “even richer” autumn schedule. Drama output in particular is set to increase and the channel will remain open to additional programme commissions across all genres for the coming year.
The increased investment follows a turbulent time at Channel 4, which last year cut 200 jobs due to dwindling ad revenues and falling profits (see Channel 4 Announces Most Radical Restructure In 20 Years). 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 (see Channel 4 Cuts 45 Jobs From Commercial Arm).
The cost cutting measures appeared to have paid off and earlier this year the channel confirmed that it returned to profit in 2002 following what was the biggest restructure in its 20 year history (see Channel 4 To Return To Profit In 2002).
The latest IPA Trends In Television report for the first quarter of 2003 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 Multi-Channel TV Gains Ground In Battle For Viewers). Many analysts have attributed this drop to the increasing popularity of multi-channel TV.
However, Channel 4 has experienced a solid year on year increase in advertising revenues, which rose by 7.4% year on year during April to £57.7 million, up from £53.7 million in the same period in 2002.
Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com
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