The Government’s decision to go ahead with the privatisation of Channel 4 has been branded “short-sighted, unnecessary and frankly bizarre” by a Newcastle MP.
Catherine McKinnell has joined the condemnation of the move, which was confirmed on Monday night. Channel 4, founded in 1982 to deliver programmes for under-served audiences, is publicly-owned but is funded by adverts and not taxpayer money.
Culture secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted on Monday that Government ownership was “holding Channel 4 back from competing against streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon”. But it has sparked criticism from some of the channel’s stars and MPs, with concerns that public service broadcasting will suffer.
