Channel 4 is to be sold off and privatised by the Government after 40 years of public ownership.
A government source confirmed ministers are expected to pursue a sale of the channel to private owners - its biggest shake-up since it was founded in 1982, MirrorOnline reports. The move is set to provoke a furious backlash, with opponents as senior as Sir David Attenborough.
The news was confirmed to staff in an e-mail by chief executive Alex Mahon. He said the channel's "vision" for the next 40 years had been "rooted in continued public ownership", but "ultimately the ownership of C4 is for Government to propose and Parliament to decide."
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Last summer Sir David backed a letter warning ministers "to stop short-sighted political and financial attacks" on public service broadcasters. Sir David's letter came hours before the government launched a review of Channel 4 - the home of Great British Bake Off, Gogglebox and SAS: Who Dares Wins.
That review warned "this is 2021, not 1982 - and the broadcasting landscape has changed beyond recognition. Increased global competition and changing audience habits pose challenges to linear TV broadcasters, including Channel 4 ".
Channel 4 is publicly owned and non-profit but receives no taxpayer cash, instead being funded entirely through its commercial activity. Yet Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who is set to push through the sale, wrongly claimed in November that it was "in receipt of public money".
When the privatisation was floated last year, Labour insiders accused the Tory government of a "culture war" against the channel after one of its senior figures branded Boris Johnson a "known liar".
