The teetering in tray that faces the government after its long, hot summer offers opportunities as well as challenges, not least for the new culture secretary, Michelle Donelan. The proposed privatisation of Channel 4 is one of them: here is the perfect opportunity to quietly drop plans that, even according to the government’s own consultation paper, hardly anyone wants. Nadine Dorries led the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) up to the top of the ideological hill, like the grand old Duke of York, without checking that her muskets were primed. So the government’s tactics, such as meddling with the wording of the channel’s annual report to bring it to heel, looked petty and ridiculous because its field commander appeared not to understand what exactly it would be privatising.
The set-up of Channel 4 is admittedly complicated. Established by Margaret Thatcher’s government in 1982 to produce “innovative, alternative content that challenges the status quo”, it is publicly owned but commercially funded. Unlike the BBC – which is financed through the licence fee – it makes no call on taxpayers, who would therefore have no financial gain from its privatisation. The advertising market on which it relies is tough, but there are better ways to support it than to flog it off, such as taxing online advertising on commercial streaming platforms, as suggested by the Media Reform Coalition.
