Sky/Channel 4 Film Row

A row broke out yesterday between Sky Television and Channel 4 over funding of the British Film Industry. Speaking at the launch of a season of British films on the Movie Channel and Sky Movies, David Elstein, director of programming at Sky accused Michael Grade of an ‘abuse of public position’ after he said Channel 4 would not allow films in which it had invested to be shown on pay television.

He said Michael Grade showed ‘very long-term hostility to Rupert Murdoch’s position in the British Media’; Channel 4’s policy should not be set by ‘his personal political preferences’. By investing in films aimed at C4 audiences, Grade was taking the British film industry up a dead end, he said.

Grade responded that ‘All he wants is Four Weddings and a Funeral and he can’t have it. ‘He said he would not license Film on Four movies to Sky because it is a brand belonging to Channel 4. ‘Channel 4 has got four Oscar nominations in Los Angeles next week. How many has Sky got?’.