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Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon stated the broadcaster’s high executives declined a pay rise and deferred their bonuses to remain “in line” with employees who’re battling the cost-of-living disaster amid a “powerful downturn” within the promoting marketplace for the channel.
The broadcaster’s annual report revealed on Wednesday stated it needed to “considerably” tighten the reins for the second half of 2022 following a decline within the TV promoting market which it depends on to generate cash to fee reveals.
Chief working officer Jonathan Allan stated: “As many different companies are having to do that yr, we’ve sadly needed to pull a couple of levers.”
At a press briefing on Wednesday, Channel 4 chief government Ms Mahon confirmed the highest executives on the channel had additionally “declined to take a pay rise this yr” and had “deferred indefinitely taking a retention bonus”.
She later stated: “I don’t doubt that it’s troublesome for individuals, particularly now with price of dwelling and inflation pressures, which is why we’ve tried to err on the facet of constructing choices for the bottom paid employees within the organisation by way of pay rises the place the majority of employees goes there, as a result of I don’t assume it’s simple to stay within the UK this yr in the event you’re on the decrease paid finish.”
The report stated following the yr finish government employees declined a 50% fee, as a substitute choosing a deferred fee of 25%.
Ms Mahon stated: “We declined the 50% that was awarded as a result of we felt we ought to be extra consistent with remainder of employees, and when that fee was as a consequence of be made we have been in trickier promoting waters…so deferred taking it and we haven’t set a date for whether or not we do or don’t take it.”
The broadcaster’s annual report confirmed income was down 2% in 2022 however a “report quantity” was spent on content material at £713 million, with Married At First Sight Australia one of many greatest hits of the yr on any platform, chief content material officer Ian Katz stated.
Ms Mahon additionally addressed the reshuffling of the channel’s schedule following the downturn within the advert market, confirming the channel did should “cancel a handful of reveals” with earlier studies that Rescue: Excessive Medics and SAS: Who Dares Wins have been among the many programmes that weren’t recommissioned.
She stated: “We noticed that there have been clouds on the horizon with the advert market, we took fairly decisive motion. We did cancel a handful of reveals, which is clearly troublesome for the businesses concerned.”
“Of all of the reveals we do in a yr, about half of them return,” she added.
The briefing heard the advert downturn, which the channel forecasts will probably be down round 6% on the finish of the yr, was as a result of inflation was “extra persistent than forecasted” compounding the cost-of-living disaster for the UK viewer.
Channel 4 is anticipating 2024 to be “extra steady” with promoting demand buoyed by a US presidential election, Paralympic and Olympic Video games in Paris, the soccer European Championships and a forthcoming UK normal election.
The report stated: “Channel 4 stays on the hunt for sensible artistic concepts and new content material alternatives.”
Chairman Sir Ian Cheshire additionally referred to as on the Authorities to go the “crucial” draft media invoice with “nice haste”.
He stated: “Prominence merely can’t come rapidly sufficient, if we worth Britain’s unmatched public service media, there isn’t any time to lose.”
In the meantime, Ms Mahon warned that if the regulation isn’t handed the long-term sustainability of all public service broadcasting within the UK is “unavoidably endangered”.
She stated: “We do imagine the media regulation is urgently wanted, we’d like that to turn into regulation so as to make it possible for Britain’s public service media is findable, significantly for younger individuals, and it’s outstanding of their lives.
“Finally it’s the media who mirrors who we’re as a inhabitants and determines our nationwide sense of cohesion and unity.”
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