This promises to be a big year for Channel 4. Over the next 12 months a new management team will make its mark, while the debate about whether the broadcaster moves outside London should also finally be resolved.
As a result, Channel 4 could look a substantially different organisation at the end of 2018 compared to today.
Alex Mahon began work as chief executive in the autumn, after joining from the special effects company behind the films Gravity and Guardians of the Galaxy. This month her team is being bolstered by the arrival of Ian Katz, the former editor of Newsnight and deputy editor of the Guardian, as director of programmes.
So far Mahon and Katz, who left Newsnight in October, have revealed little about their ideas and plans. Mahon made comments last month that suggested she wanted Channel 4 to do more entertainment and comedy, and broadcast more original content in the late-night 11pm slot.
Because Katz has never commissioned programmes for a broadcaster before it is difficult to predict what direction he could take. However, he became renowned at the Guardian and the BBC for generating ideas; when his appointment was announced, Channel 4 sources praised his “history of risk-taking” and “promoting new talent”. So expect some bold and original new shows to appear.
Channel 4 starts 2018 in confident mood after the critical and commercial success of The Great British Bake Off, for which it paid £75m. The strong viewing figures for Bake Off have given Mahon and Katz a show that they can anchor their schedule around, and funds from advertising revenue they can spend elsewhere.
The broadcaster already has a string of potential hits airing in January, commissioned by the previous management team. This includes the drama Kiri, starring Sarah Lancashire and written by Jack Thorne, who won a Bafta for his work on This Is England ’90.
However, the most pressing issue facing Channel 4 and Mahon is the potential relocation of the organisation’s headquarters from central London. As 2017 wore on, it seemed that Channel 4 could reach a compromise agreement with the government about leaving the capital. The Conservatives pledged to move the broadcaster in their manifesto for last year’s general election, but by September, Karen Bradley, the culture secretary, was suggesting that “relocation may not mean the whole business”. Her preference was to “agree a way forward in concert with Channel 4”.
Bradley and Mahon are understood to have held talks, and an announcement could arrive early in the year. All parties must be keen to end the uncertainty – it cannot be helpful for recruitment at Channel 4, while the government is under pressure to make a decision from those cities that have pitched to become the new home of the broadcaster.
Some sort of compromise seems likely. Mahon has so far been less outspoken about the dangers of relocation than her predecessor, David Abraham. But she will have to offer something significant to appease MPs from across the House of Commons who have made it clear that they want Channel 4 to do more outside London.
One potential outcome could be the relocation of all or some of the programme commissioning team – who decide what shows will be broadcast – while the sales department remains in London.
By the end of the year the direction of travel for Channel 4’s headquarters – and Mahon and Katz’s strategy – should be clear.
