[Brekkie]

On the commissioning note reports this week C4 is set to lift it's commissioning freeze in the weeks ahead.

BECTU though believe industry wide issues mean 75% of freelancers are out of work whilst the rush to build studios when production was booming now sees vast complexes struggling to fill their space - and the US strikes aren't helping either with many US studios bankrolling the ventures.

Whether it's a post-pandemic correction remains to be seen - I think the hope is that is the case rather than a terminal decline.

Does seem though perhaps C4's own woes have been exaggerated somewhat and they were possibly just a bit more honest about the industry wide issues following a bit of stock piling post-covid and the subsequent advertising downturn.

www.theguardian.com 

‘Studios are like ghost towns’: how Britain’s TV and film industry fell into a h…
Excitement about Netflix and Amazon’s investment has evaporated as strike…
  Source: www.theguardian.com

[Stooky Bill]

Let's hope so. The big problem Channel 4 has is that it's almost entirety reliant on ad revenue, unlike the other big broadcasters who make and can build up and sell formats and programmes.

One of the ideas for Channel 4 from one of the recent governments/Culture secretaries was to let it make stuff, i don't know what happened to that

[Spencer]

Let's hope so. The big problem Channel 4 has is  that it's almost entirety reliant on ad revenue, unlike the other big broadcasters who make and can build up and sell formats and programmes.

One of the ideas for Channel 4 from one of the recent governments/Culture secretaries was to let it make stuff, i don't know what happened to that

Wasn’t that part of Nadine Dorries’ plan to privatise it?

[Stooky Bill]

Wasn’t that part of Nadine Dorries’ plan to privatise it?

There's been so many culture secretaries and so many ideas I've lost track. Managed to find it though, it was under Michelle Donehan in Jan 2023. Decision was not to privatise but allow it to make programmes. It'll be part of the Media Bill whenever that happens. 
www.gov.uk 

Channel 4 to remain publicly owned with reforms to boost its sustainability and …
DCMS Secretary of State Michelle Donelan has concluded her business case review …
  Source: www.gov.uk