Channel 4 boss Ian Katz denies Government focus is impacting commissioning

Channel 4 chief content officer Ian Katz has denied a suggestion it is being more careful with commissioning spending due to Government focus on the broadcaster following their privatisation battle.

Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, he said he feels the channel has been “perhaps more honest” about the effects the cost-of-living crisis has had on the company than other broadcasters and feels it is an issue that has hit all outlets.

“The commissioning slowdown has been something that has hit the whole industry. Every commercial broadcaster has been affected by the advertising revenue slump,” he said.

“We’ve seen the impacts of the strike, we’ve seen the streamers pulling billions out of their budgets and numbers that dwarf the cuts that have been made in this country and we’ve seen the BBC struggling with a frozen licence fee.”

He added: “We’ve perhaps been more honest about the impact on our commissioning and other broadcasters have chosen to communicate with their suppliers however they choose to, but I think that’s led to a slight perception that the picture at Channel 4 has been much more dramatic than elsewhere.”

Earlier this year, former culture secretary Michelle Donelan confirmed plans to sell off the broadcaster have been scrapped and said Channel 4 will now be able to make and own some of its own content.

Asked if the channel is considering politics over content following the Government scrutiny on the channel, Mr Katz said: “Absolutely not…

“We have a revolving credit facility which is essentially a loan facility set up for the channel and that is our absolute ‘break glass in case of emergency’ reserve.

“And we have got through really major market shocks over the years – the 2008 recession, Covid – – by managing our spending.

“And it would be inappropriate for us to really pull the parachute cord like that, in what is essentially – painful for many people – but a cyclical market squeeze.”

During the panel discussion, the channel also teased a clip of its upcoming series dramatising the partygate scandal.

The short video showed scenes of actors representing former prime minister Boris Johnson and civil servants dramatically partying before cutting to a real archive clip of Mr Johnson delivering a Covid address to the public.

Channel 4’s head of documentaries Alisa Pomeroy said the series has been “meticulously researched” and it will walk the line between a drama and documentary by intercutting dramatised scenes with real documentary interviews with members of the public who experienced difficult personal situations on those same days of the parties.

Asked why the channel is releasing it around the Conservative Party conference, Mr Katz said it “seemed like a gap in the schedule”.

The broadcaster has also announced that comedian Joe Lycett’s programme exploring Birmingham and diversity will return for a second series in 2024.

The first series of the live entertainment show, titled Late Night Lycett, saw the comedian bring famous faces to Digbeth and featured guests including Dame Joan Collins, Jonathan Ross and Alan Carr.

Reflecting on Louis Theroux’s MacTaggart lecture on Wednesday, when the documentarian said he feels it is still important to create programming on fringe groups within society, Mr Katz said he “resonated” with the point he raised.

He said: “There is undoubtedly a tension between the healthy and laudable greater awareness that we all have about how our programming will affect different groups in society.

“And the equally important duty, that I think we all have, we especially have at Channel 4, to keep TV the most open and pluralistic and free-wheeling place that is genuinely representing the whole gamut of society.

“And that is a tension that I do feel and it’s a line that we as commissioners tread and and it is often very difficult to tread.”