C4 Cuts bite into Next on 4 plans

C4's Dispatches

• Increase image
• View all images

Channel 4 has been forced to scale back its ambitions for kids programming and online public service content as a result of its plan to save £100m over the next two years.

Both have been undermined by the swingeing cuts announced by C4 this week, despite being key parts of the channel's Next on 4 strategy.

The broadcaster is also axing up to 150 jobs - around 15% of Channel 4's 965 staff - and will lose staff from all departments, including commissioning. It has kicked off a 90-day consultation with staff and implemented a temporary recruitment freeze, but has ruled out a radical restructure or the merger of departments.

The £100m savings, introduced because of the downturn in the ad market, include trimming £25m from C4's 2008 programming budget, which now stands at £575m - down from £615m in 2007. C4 also plans a further £25m in savings from areas such as marketing, new business investment, new media and general overheads.

The programming cuts come almost entirely from UK-originated shows and will affect all C4 channels.

The broadcaster has admitted that a flagship children's drama, originally due to air next autumn, will not appear until at least 2010 unless there is a radical upswing in the advertising market.

C4 was close to commissioning a drama project, but now plans to defer transmission to keep it out of next year's reduced budget. Firefly's documentary series Big School was announced last week, but no further commissions from its £10m fund for programming aimed at 10 to 16 year olds will be made in the medium term.

C4 has also reduced its planned investment of up to £20m in the 4iP fund, which will support PSB content for digital platforms, much of it from the regions.

In TV, weekend off-peak and low-rating but costly genres such as single drama will bear the brunt of cuts. Core PSB programming such as Channel 4 News, Dispatches and Cutting Edge will be protected.

"Everything between Big Brother and Dispatches will be looked at and all parts of the schedule will be affected to a degree," a C4 spokesman said. "The emphasis is on protecting share and maintaining commercially effective programming."

C4 is yet to reveal how much of the £50m it plans to save next year will come from its programming budget.