Channel 4’s annual report for 2013, published today, reveals that the not-for-profit broadcaster delivered revenue of £908 million last year, enabling the second-highest spend on original content in the broadcaster’s history. However, as part of an ongoing “planned deficit” the the channel made an overall £15 million loss.
Total content spend was just short of £600 million and, for the first time, Channel 4 sourced more than 50% of first-run commissions from outside London. Original content spend stood at £429 million.
Last month, Channel 4 announced that it will be investing in international drama co-productions as it looks to complement its home-grown drama offering, bringing in international talent and giving British writers, directors and producers an international platform.
It was later announced that the broadcaster had teamed up with Microsoft to produce a new original series based on the Swedish sci-fi drama, Real Humans, set to premiere on Channel 4 in the UK and the Xbox platform in North America in 2015.
For the third consecutive year, the Channel 4 sales house exceeded its target of £1 billion, with advertising and sponsorship revenues up marginally from £844 million in 2012 to £846 million in 2013, and non-linear revenues up 15% to £61 million.
Channel 4’s online database of unique registered users surpassed the 10 million mark, including half of all 16-24 year olds, which the broadcaster said has had huge implications for its viewer engagement strategy, enabling the introduction of new targeted advertising for video on-demand, helping to drive digital revenue growth.
The broadcaster’s total share of the TV audience across all its channels was down slightly to 11% from 11.5% in 2011, with the main Channel 4 network down to 6.1%, from 6.6%.
Channel 4’s chief executive, David Abraham, said that as well as providing “invaluable audience insight,” its data strategy is enabling “comprehensive demographic targeting on 4oD.”
Overall, VOD viewing grew 6% to 476 million views in 2013 and almost 30% of all VOD views came from logged-in registered users.
Commenting on the results, Channel 4 chairman, Lord Burns, said: “Channel 4 must consistently balance creative and commercial objectives; delivering to its remit whilst ensuring financial sustainability.
“I am encouraged that the performance outlined in this report demonstrates an organisation able to produce award-winning programming that has a significant impact on viewers and can stand on its own two feet. Along with Ofcom’s ten year public service licence from 2015, this provides long-term stability for the organisation.”
Abraham added: “Reflecting the corporation’s track record for digital innovation, today we are announcing the biggest overhaul of our digital services since the launch of 4oD in 2006.
“Following the release of download functionality, 3G and 4G connectivity, and the full integration of short-form content, we are now working on a significant overhaul of our digital estate to enable a much broader and increasingly personalised user experience.
“The refreshed service will roll-out across multiple platforms from late 2014 and across 2015.”
