The Channel 4 Revolution Begins?

 Will the UK Government allow Channel 4 to become privatized? If their current plan is anything to go by, it appears so. The home of iconic British hits like It’s a Sin and The Great British Bake Off, it seems an arbitrary way to treat a treasured piece of the UK TV industry, yet ambiguous mutterings from Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden about ‘alternative ownership models’ are ominous indeed. BLAKE & WANG P.A entertainment law firms Los Angeles investigates.

The UK has a firmly established culture of government-owned TV stations, and Channel 4 has been the iconic face of this since 1982. Yet it’s also a self-sufficient entity, taking no public funds and instead of plowing profit back to the UK independent production sector to help facilitate public service content with actual innovation. Would privatization further that, or, as many fear, drag it down instead?

Why is the government even keen on this notion? The official explanation is fears around sustainability, given it relies on ad funding and the streaming boom. However, most speculate it’s part of the ‘culture wars’ from government sources keen to crack down on ‘woke values’. In other words, sour grapes. This isn’t the first time a Conservative government has looked at privatizing the network, as we were here in 2016. Then, the biggest potential buyers were ViacomCBS and Discovery- both notably American. It doesn’t say much for the legitimacy of the notion the sale could protect a uniquely successful British entity, that.

Even the CEO for the channel itself- typically tight-lipped- has finally gone on record warning that a sale could irreversibly damage the UK broadcasting landscape as a whole. At this point, it’s hardly a surprise that massive backlash from the British creative community is afoot. Yet, in the end, it will likely be economies that talk. Luckily for the channel, there’s a convenient argument that any deviation from its current trajectory could well have terrible knock-on effects on the small business market, at a time where it cannot be afforded. 

On top of some worrying side effects from Brexit, there’s a state of flux in play for the UK TV industry. BLAKE & WANG P.A one of the top entertainment law firms Los Angeles will be watching with interest.

Brandon Blake- Managing Partner at Blake & Wang P.A.