Channel 4 is to be privatised by the Tory government after 40 years of public ownership.
Ministers are expected to pursue a sale of the channel to private owners, a government source confirmed - its biggest shake-up since it was founded in 1982.
The move is set to provoke a furious backlash from the channel's management, opposition MPs, TV stars - and even national treasure Sir David Attenborough.
Last summer Sir David backed a letter warning ministers "to stop short-sighted political and financial attacks" on public service broadcasters.
The 95-year-old intervened hours before ministers launched a review of the future of Channel 4 - home to Great British Bake Off, Gogglebox and Countdown.
That review warned "this is 2021, not 1982 - and the broadcasting landscape has changed beyond recognition," with increased competition from services like Netflix.
Now after the review, ministers have decided government ownership is "holding back" Channel 4 and it will be sold to a private bidder - despite the business performing well.
The move will be contained in a Media Bill in the Queen's Speech on May 10, alongside other yet-to-be-announced reforms to public service broadcasting.
The news was confirmed to staff in an e-mail by chief executive Alex Mahon.
He said the channel's "vision" for the next 40 years had been "rooted in continued public ownership", but it was "for Government to propose and Parliament to decide."
He threatened the fight may not be over - saying the channel would only change its model "if or when" it is ordered to do so by Parliament.
When the privatisation was floated last year, Labour insiders accused the Tory government of a "culture war" against the channel after one of its senior figures branded Boris Johnson a "known liar" in 2019.
Channel 4 is publicly owned and non-profit but receives no taxpayer cash, instead being funded entirely through its commercial activity.
Yet Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who is set to push through the sale, wrongly claimed in November that it was "in receipt of public money".
The announcement on Channel 4 came hours after the Treasury asked Royal Mint to create a "non-fungible token" (NFT), while families battle the worst drop in incomes since the 1950s.
Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell fumed: "Nothing screams of a rudderless and out of touch government like announcements on Channel 4 and NFTs while people's energy bills are through the roof and the cost of living is soaring.
"Selling off Channel 4, which doesn’t cost the taxpayer a penny anyway, to what is likely to be a foreign company, makes absolutely no sense.
"It will cost jobs and opportunities in the North and Yorkshire, and hit the wider British creative economy.
"Coming hot on the heels of the Government shelving many of its plans for new laws, this shows that the Conservatives have run out of ideas, run out of road, and have no interest in levelling up."
A government source said the change of ownership would remove the channel's "straightjacket" and give it the "freedom to innovate and grow so it can flourish".
It's understood the channel could be given the green light to set up its own production house, sell its work to global broadcasters, and borrow money on its own terms.
But a spokesperson for Channel 4 said it was "disappointing” the decision had been made “without formally recognising the significant public interest concerns which have been raised.”
The statement added: “Channel 4 remains legally committed to its unique public-service remit. The focus for the organisation will be on how we can ensure we deliver the remit to both our viewers and the British creative economy across the whole of the UK.
"The proposal to privatise Channel 4 will require a lengthy legislative process and political debate.
“We will of course continue to engage with DCMS, Government and Parliament, and do everything we can to ensure that Channel 4 continues to play its unique part in Britain's creative ecology and national life."
