UK’s Channel 4 eyes deepest cuts for 15 years amid ‘acceleration’ into streaming

Alex Mahon (Source: RTS/Richard Kendal)

Gogglebox broadcaster Channel 4 in the UK is poised to cut around 16% of its workforce as it looks to “accelerate” its move to streaming, marking the deepest job cuts for almost 15 years.

The embattled broadcaster has been hit by a major TV advertising slump over the past year and CEO Alex Mahon confirmed to staff today that a round of job losses would be coming.

“Given all the market change and complexity that we need to adapt to, there will be an impact on jobs at Channel 4,” Mahon said in a note to staff.

Animal Control (Source: Fox)

Details of the departments set to be affected by the restructure have not been revealed but The Guardian reported over the weekend that around 200 of the broadcaster’s 1,200 roles would be slashed.

Mahon, who late last year described the industry as being in “market shock territory”, told staff on Monday that the broadcaster “is accelerating our existing plans to weather the sharp and protracted advertising slowdown that has hit the whole industry.”

In a note seen by the newspaper, she added that the organisation has “been working carefully to minimise the impact on individuals.”

Cuts, the size of which have not been since at C4 since the 2008 economic crisis, will likely affect London-based staff most because the organisation recently committed to expanding its employee numbers outside of the UK capital from 500 to 600 by next year.

C4 had earlier confirmed that the pubcaster was “having to deal with an extremely uncertain economy in the short term and the need to accelerate our transformation to become a wholly digital public service broadcaster in the long term.”

“As a result, we need to continue to divest from our linear channels business and simplify our operations to become a leaner organisation.”

Channel 4’s spending

C4 is a public broadcaster but entirely funded by advertising, with a spend of just over £700m ($890m) on programming in 2022.

Its output ranges from dramas such as Somewhere Boy to The Great British Bake Off, while international acquisitions have included Fox’s single-camera comedy Animal Control, which airs on C4’s E4 network.

Mahon, who has been attempting to ramp up C4’s streaming presence ever since taking over as CEO in 2017, admitted in November that the broadcaster would likely need to use its £75m credit facility this year amid tough market conditions.

The Great British Bake-Off

The broadcaster has been in the spotlight in the UK for months, having all but stopped commissioning as it plots a path through its budget squeeze.

At present it commissions all its programming through indies, meaning its commissioning freeze has had a deep impact on many UK producers.

However, the new UK media bill is likely to enable it to produce in-house as well as owning content, opening up greater revenue raising opportunities.

The broadcaster has already moved into running its own FAST channels in the US and last year joined the BBC, ITV and Channel 5 to create Freely, a free TV service set to launch in 2024 that will allow viewers to watch live TV over broadband.