C4 combines TV and Online into single content division under new CCO

21 June 2010

David Abraham, Chief Executive

• CEO David Abraham cuts senior management by 25% in restructure
• Anne Bulford appointed as Chief Operating Officer
• Director of Audience Technologies and Insight to make culture more ‘audience-focused'
• New senior executive to oversee Marketing, Corporate Affairs and Press

Channel 4's new Chief Executive, David Abraham, has unveiled his promised restructure of the broadcaster, which combines all its commissioning and creative activities into a single cross platform content division for the first time.

Staff in the Future Media team involved in commissioning and production of content for channel4.com and other digital initiatives, such as 4iP, will move across to join their counterparts in TV commissioning in the enlarged division.

Channel 4 will advertise for a Chief Creative Officer to lead the new division. The role combines Kevin Lygo's former role as Director of TV and Content and Julian Bellamy's current role as Head of Channel 4. Bellamy will act as Chief Creative Officer while the recruitment process is undertaken and has been invited to apply for the role.

David Abraham said: "We are going further than any other broadcaster has yet gone to fully integrate our commissioning and content teams as we anticipate the tipping point in the convergence of television with other media. We need to fundamentally evolve the way we work in response to this convergence, becoming leaner, more efficient and blending a multi-platform approach into the centre of the organisation, rather than leaving ‘new' media in its own isolated silo.

"Combining our two most senior creative roles also takes out a layer of management and is intended to offer our commissioning heads a clear and direct route to the creative centre of the organisation, delegating more responsibility to them and empowering them to pursue creative innovation across all platforms. We will also look at a further restructuring of our commissioning teams to again reduce layers of management and overlap and offer our independent suppliers that same direct route into our senior creative decision makers.

"I think it is very important for Channel 4 to hold an open and formal recruitment process to identify its new creative leader, but my decision to advertise the post is in no way a reflection on Julian's capabilities and my confidence in his potential to do this role. He will be a strong candidate for this position."

The restructure will halve the number of direct reports to Abraham, from 13 currently to just six, including the Chief Creative Officer. In the process, it is intended that the Senior Management Group will be reduced by 25% or 12 posts, before the end of the year. This will be achieved by not replacing current vacancies and by a small number of redundancies.

Anne Bulford, who is currently Group Finance Director and was Acting Chief Executive between October 2009 and May 2010, has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer. In addition to existing responsibilities for Finance, Legal and Compliance and Commercial Affairs, Bulford will have oversight of the Strategy department, Commercial and Business Development and technology operations.

The restructure will create two new senior executive posts: a Director of Audience Technologies and Insight and an external communications role (title tbc) combining responsibility for Corporate Relations, Marketing, Press & Publicity and Policy and Regulation. The Director of Audience Technologies and  Insight introduces a technology based customer relations focus to the executive team for the first time and will oversee all activities relating to research, data capture and database management analysis and its commercial use throughout the organisation.

Abraham said: "Channel 4's great strength is its ability to inspire loyalty amongst certain audiences who feel great affinity with our programmes and brands, but we have hardly scratched the surface when it comes to understanding and managing these relationships for mutual benefit. The aim is to fundamentally change our culture to become much more audience focused and create an even greater sense of connection with our brand in the highly competitive and converged world of fully digital media."

Andy Barnes will continue to head Channel 4's advertising sales team as Director of Sales. The department is currently working with the Boston Consulting Group on a performance review, which is scheduled to finish in early July.

Diane Herbert will remain responsible for Human Resources and Facilities Management.

Abraham concluded: "The principles guiding this restructure are a desire to encourage increased collaboration and team working and to unite our creative teams behind a shared vision across all platforms. By stripping out layers of management throughout the organisation, we aim to ensure Channel 4 is structured most effectively to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that arise from the increasing convergence of digital media."