E4 Shake-Up Paves Way For £20 Million Budget Boost
Channel 4 has this morning unveiled a restructuring of its commissioning structure, with new programming heads appointed to its digital channels, E4 and More4, and a new head of documentaries installed at flagship Channel 4.
The management shake-up also paves the way for Channel 4 to boost the programming budget of E4 by a massive £20 million. The restructuring sees Julian Bellamy become head of E4, in addition to his existing role as head of factual entertainment for Channel 4, reporting to director of television, Kevin Lygo, in both roles. E4 was previously headed by Murray Boland, who announced earlier this week that he is leaving Channel 4 to join Celador Productions.
Elsewhere, Peter Dale, currently head of documentaries for Channel 4, has been appointed as the first head of Channel 4’s soon-to-be-launched digital channel, More4. Dale will also report to Lygo and, with More4 scheduled to launch in the second half of this year, assume responsibility for commissioning and acquiring programming for the channel through a variety of Channel 4’s commissioning teams and its acquisitions department. In addition to his new role with More4, Dale will retain a brief for documentary events on the broadcaster’s main channel.
Danny Cohen, who is currently Channel 4’s commissioning editor for documentaries, will replace Dale as head of documentaries for Channel 4, reporting to Lygo, while Simon Dickson, Channel 4’s commissioning editor for science and education, will report to Cohen, alongside commissioning editor for documentaries, Meredith Chambers.
In addition to the management restructuring, Channel 4 has announced its intention to invest an extra £20 million each year in programming for E4, hoping to build on the channel’s popularity with younger viewers and expanding its programme budget by 50% to £60 million.
The announcement will be made this evening in a speech by Channel 4’s chief executive, Andy Duncan, to the Royal Television Society. Duncan will confirm the new investment in E4 and sister service E4+1, which will increase the channels’ impact amongst multi-channel viewers and help cement its position as must-watch TV for young audiences.
Explaining the increased investment, Duncan said: “E4 has enjoyed fantastic creative and commercial success in its first four years on air and has reached operating profit a year ahead of forecast thanks to its must-have status amongst young and upmarket multi-channel viewers. Now is the right time to be boosting our investment in the channel in line with our strategic objective of strengthening our channels’ impact in multi-channel homes.”
E4’s additional funding will be spent on a combination of original commissions, US acquisitions, spin-offs of Channel 4 programmes and young, feel-good and comedy films. Channel 4 states that the newly increased budget will allow E4 to “build on its strong brand positioning, and provide a greater breadth of programming”.
Kevin Lygo added: “E4 remains one of the most distinctive entertainment brands on TV today, with a reputation for being first to bring the strongest US acquisitions and cutting edge entertainment to UK audiences. The new money ensures we can continue to build on our success in an increasingly competitive environment.”
The funding boost follows an identical increase in Channel 4’s programming budget last year, which led to more high-quality drama and entertainment series being shown in 2004, rather than in 2005 as had originally been planned. The increased investment raised Channel 4’s annual programme budget to a record £469 million (see Channel 4 Boosts Programme Budget By £20 Million).
Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com
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