ITC Revises C4 Licence

The ITC has today published the revised Channel 4 licence which extends and clarifies the channel’s remit and its public service commitments.

Many of the changes arise from the decision by the Government to phase out the C4 Funding Formula (subscribers see C4 Funding Formula To End) which allows increased resources to be deployed in programming and other key areas. The changes also reflect a variety of points raised in the public consultation on the licence revisions.

The main points of change in the new licence are:

• a further commitment to innovation and experiment;
• a revised and strengthened statement on education;
• a commitment to provide at least three hours on average per week of multicultural programmes, and also to schedule at least some of these in peak time;
• a new commitment to programmes for and about people with disabilities;
• increased requirement of 60% of programmes specially commissioned for the channel by 1999;
• new maximum for repeats;
• a new requirement for diversity in the peak-time schedule, including news, current affairs, educational, religious and multicultural programmes;
• revised commitments to subtitling and other provisions for those with hearing and sight impairments.

ITC: 0171 255 3000