Channel 4 commits to invest £5bn in British content

20 January 2009

• Increased spend of up to £1.5bn outside M25 over next decade
• Channel 4 won't seek transfer of value from indies if new funding agreed

Channel 4 has committed to investing up to £5 billion in the next decade commissioning creative content from TV and digital production companies across the UK, subject to securing fresh investment to support its public service activities.

Speaking today at the Television from the Nations and Regions conference in Salford, Director of Television and Content, Kevin Lygo, said the £5 billion investment would include up to £1.5 billion spent in the UK's nations and regions, a significant increase at a time when other commercially funded broadcasters are reducing investment levels.

Lygo said Channel 4's ongoing ambition was to invest in the region of £500m a year in domestic content, including in excess of £100 million annually on television commissions from production companies outside London.

As part of that commitment, Channel 4 is intending to continue increasing investment in its digital media innovation fund, 4iP, which is budgeting to invest up to £50 million across an initial three year period, much of it outside the M25. 4iP combines funding from Channel 4 with financial contributions from a range of partner organisations, including key regional development agencies, and has set up commissioning hubs in Scotland, Yorkshire and the West Midlands.

Lygo said Channel 4's ability to deliver these levels of creative investment depended heavily on the outcome of the current policy debates about the future of public service broadcasting, which are coming to a head with the publication of the conclusions of Ofcom's second Public Service Broadcasting review tomorrow (21st January). Subject to a favourable outcome, Lygo said Channel 4 had no intention of making fundamental changes to its current terms of trade or developing an in-house production capacity.

He added: "Some are pushing short term solutions that will not address the underlying problems commercially-funded PSB faces and that are premised on a transfer of value from the indies back to Channel 4. These are not options favoured by us. In our vision of our future we favour a bold structural solution to the problem. One that can grow the total size of the pot for investment in content - right across the UK.  Transferring rights would not solve the funding issue.  The current system can work for us, for you, and more importantly for the wider economic growth of the creative industries."

Lygo described Channel 4's partnership with independents as "a cornerstone of Channel 4's excellence... what has made us so successful and interesting over 26 years". He continued: "We see out-of-London production as a crucial element of our wider creative commitment to developing a strong Digital Britain, in both cultural and economic terms. The ability to commission programmes from all over the UK has provided us with some of our most compelling content, and contributed to our cultural heritage by enabling us to offer a more authentic representation of life in all parts of Britain."

Lygo repeated Channel 4's commitment to increasing the proportion of its overall commissioning budget spent in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Starting from 2010, all of Channel 4's key programming strands - including Dispatches, Cutting Edge, a new religion strand, Comedy Lab and Comedy Showcase - will ring fence a number of slots for companies based in the UK nations. It is anticipated that this move will increase Channel 4's investment in the nations by several million pounds and build independent production capacity in those countries. Channel 4 is also introducing a new £1m development fund to pilot returning series from the nations. 

Channel 4 is also planning to move some commissioning power to Scotland by appointing a commissioning editor to its Glasgow office. Channel 4 plans to announce further details of this post and its responsibilities in April.

Stuart Cosgrove, Channel 4's Director of Nations and Regions, added: "We recognise there is still more we can do to strengthen nations and regions production.  I believe these two new measures announced today will provide companies based out of London with even greater access to commissioners, as well as providing those commissioners with further incentives to take risks on regional companies. The new Glasgow-based commissioner clearly demonstrates the importance of regional production companies to Channel 4 and I believe this is an important step in continuing to identify and nurture the UK's strongest regional talent."

Looking forward to publication of the Government's Digital Britain report, which will determine the future broadcast industry framework and Channel 4's role within it, Lygo concluded: "There is a huge opportunity for the creative industries to be a key driver of the UK's economy in the next decade, and we must ensure that we do everything we can to maximise this opportunity to build a strong and vibrant Digital Britain."

• Increased spend of up to £1.5bn outside M25 over next decade
• Channel 4 won't seek transfer of value from indies if new funding agreed

Channel 4 has committed to investing up to £5 billion in the next decade commissioning creative content from TV and digital production companies across the UK, subject to securing fresh investment to support its public service activities.

Speaking today at the Television from the Nations and Regions conference in Salford, Director of Television and Content, Kevin Lygo, said the £5 billion investment would include up to £1.5 billion spent in the UK's nations and regions, a significant increase at a time when other commercially funded broadcasters are reducing investment levels.

Lygo said Channel 4's ongoing ambition was to invest in the region of £500m a year in domestic content, including in excess of £100 million annually on television commissions from production companies outside London.

As part of that commitment, Channel 4 is intending to continue increasing investment in its digital media innovation fund, 4iP, which is budgeting to invest up to £50 million across an initial three year period, much of it outside the M25. 4iP combines funding from Channel 4 with financial contributions from a range of partner organisations, including key regional development agencies, and has set up commissioning hubs in Scotland, Yorkshire and the West Midlands.

Lygo said Channel 4's ability to deliver these levels of creative investment depended heavily on the outcome of the current policy debates about the future of public service broadcasting, which are coming to a head with the publication of the conclusions of Ofcom's second Public Service Broadcasting review tomorrow (21st January). Subject to a favourable outcome, Lygo said Channel 4 had no intention of making fundamental changes to its current terms of trade or developing an in-house production capacity.

He added: "Some are pushing short term solutions that will not address the underlying problems commercially-funded PSB faces and that are premised on a transfer of value from the indies back to Channel 4. These are not options favoured by us. In our vision of our future we favour a bold structural solution to the problem. One that can grow the total size of the pot for investment in content - right across the UK.  Transferring rights would not solve the funding issue.  The current system can work for us, for you, and more importantly for the wider economic growth of the creative industries."

Lygo described Channel 4's partnership with independents as "a cornerstone of Channel 4's excellence... what has made us so successful and interesting over 26 years". He continued: "We see out-of-London production as a crucial element of our wider creative commitment to developing a strong Digital Britain, in both cultural and economic terms. The ability to commission programmes from all over the UK has provided us with some of our most compelling content, and contributed to our cultural heritage by enabling us to offer a more authentic representation of life in all parts of Britain."

Lygo repeated Channel 4's commitment to increasing the proportion of its overall commissioning budget spent in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Starting from 2010, all of Channel 4's key programming strands - including Dispatches, Cutting Edge, a new religion strand, Comedy Lab and Comedy Showcase - will ring fence a number of slots for companies based in the UK nations. It is anticipated that this move will increase Channel 4's investment in the nations by several million pounds and build independent production capacity in those countries. Channel 4 is also introducing a new £1m development fund to pilot returning series from the nations. 

Channel 4 is also planning to move some commissioning power to Scotland by appointing a commissioning editor to its Glasgow office. Channel 4 plans to announce further details of this post and its responsibilities in April.

Stuart Cosgrove, Channel 4's Director of Nations and Regions, added: "We recognise there is still more we can do to strengthen nations and regions production.  I believe these two new measures announced today will provide companies based out of London with even greater access to commissioners, as well as providing those commissioners with further incentives to take risks on regional companies. The new Glasgow-based commissioner clearly demonstrates the importance of regional production companies to Channel 4 and I believe this is an important step in continuing to identify and nurture the UK's strongest regional talent."

Looking forward to publication of the Government's Digital Britain report, which will determine the future broadcast industry framework and Channel 4's role within it, Lygo concluded: "There is a huge opportunity for the creative industries to be a key driver of the UK's economy in the next decade, and we must ensure that we do everything we can to maximise this opportunity to build a strong and vibrant Digital Britain."

• Increased spend of up to £1.5bn outside M25 over next decade
• Channel 4 won't seek transfer of value from indies if new funding agreed

Channel 4 has committed to investing up to £5 billion in the next decade commissioning creative content from TV and digital production companies across the UK, subject to securing fresh investment to support its public service activities.

Speaking today at the Television from the Nations and Regions conference in Salford, Director of Television and Content, Kevin Lygo, said the £5 billion investment would include up to £1.5 billion spent in the UK's nations and regions, a significant increase at a time when other commercially funded broadcasters are reducing investment levels.

Lygo said Channel 4's ongoing ambition was to invest in the region of £500m a year in domestic content, including in excess of £100 million annually on television commissions from production companies outside London.

As part of that commitment, Channel 4 is intending to continue increasing investment in its digital media innovation fund, 4iP, which is budgeting to invest up to £50 million across an initial three year period, much of it outside the M25. 4iP combines funding from Channel 4 with financial contributions from a range of partner organisations, including key regional development agencies, and has set up commissioning hubs in Scotland, Yorkshire and the West Midlands.

Lygo said Channel 4's ability to deliver these levels of creative investment depended heavily on the outcome of the current policy debates about the future of public service broadcasting, which are coming to a head with the publication of the conclusions of Ofcom's second Public Service Broadcasting review tomorrow (21st January). Subject to a favourable outcome, Lygo said Channel 4 had no intention of making fundamental changes to its current terms of trade or developing an in-house production capacity.

He added: "Some are pushing short term solutions that will not address the underlying problems commercially-funded PSB faces and that are premised on a transfer of value from the indies back to Channel 4. These are not options favoured by us. In our vision of our future we favour a bold structural solution to the problem. One that can grow the total size of the pot for investment in content - right across the UK.  Transferring rights would not solve the funding issue.  The current system can work for us, for you, and more importantly for the wider economic growth of the creative industries."

Lygo described Channel 4's partnership with independents as "a cornerstone of Channel 4's excellence... what has made us so successful and interesting over 26 years". He continued: "We see out-of-London production as a crucial element of our wider creative commitment to developing a strong Digital Britain, in both cultural and economic terms. The ability to commission programmes from all over the UK has provided us with some of our most compelling content, and contributed to our cultural heritage by enabling us to offer a more authentic representation of life in all parts of Britain."

Lygo repeated Channel 4's commitment to increasing the proportion of its overall commissioning budget spent in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Starting from 2010, all of Channel 4's key programming strands - including Dispatches, Cutting Edge, a new religion strand, Comedy Lab and Comedy Showcase - will ring fence a number of slots for companies based in the UK nations. It is anticipated that this move will increase Channel 4's investment in the nations by several million pounds and build independent production capacity in those countries. Channel 4 is also introducing a new £1m development fund to pilot returning series from the nations. 

Channel 4 is also planning to move some commissioning power to Scotland by appointing a commissioning editor to its Glasgow office. Channel 4 plans to announce further details of this post and its responsibilities in April.

Stuart Cosgrove, Channel 4's Director of Nations and Regions, added: "We recognise there is still more we can do to strengthen nations and regions production.  I believe these two new measures announced today will provide companies based out of London with even greater access to commissioners, as well as providing those commissioners with further incentives to take risks on regional companies. The new Glasgow-based commissioner clearly demonstrates the importance of regional production companies to Channel 4 and I believe this is an important step in continuing to identify and nurture the UK's strongest regional talent."

Looking forward to publication of the Government's Digital Britain report, which will determine the future broadcast industry framework and Channel 4's role within it, Lygo concluded: "There is a huge opportunity for the creative industries to be a key driver of the UK's economy in the next decade, and we must ensure that we do everything we can to maximise this opportunity to build a strong and vibrant Digital Britain."