New C4 chair has ‘open mind’

Gurassa has a balanced background of business success and public service roles as well as media experience, overseeing the sale of distributor Parthenon, Virgin Mobile and LoveFilm during his tenures as chairman at each company (see boxes). It means it is hard to draw obvious conclusions from his appointment this week.

One source said: “You can see what you want to see: a businessman with experience of some major transactions, or you can see nine years at the National Trust. Take your pick.

“Part of the brilliance of the appointment is that he hasn’t obviously made up his mind [about the future of C4] and isn’t intimidated or perturbed by the discussions that are going on.”

Privately, C4 seems reassured that Gurassa’s appointment means no backroom deal has been done and that the new chair could be influential in shaping government thinking.

C4 deliberations
Although the chair of C4 is appointed by Ofcom – and he was the media regulator’s first recommendation – the appointment is ratified by the government, suggesting the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) believes it will be able to interact with him constructively.

It remains unclear when a significant update on C4’s future will be delivered. The broadcaster concluded its interactions with DCMS shortly after the new year and culture secretary John Whittingdale is now understood to be deliberating on the issue.

There are two schools of thought. First, that a decision will be reached in February or early March, and put forward to be rubberstamped by Downing Street around Easter; or second, that other priorities emerge for the government and that the C4 issue drifts into a longer time frame. Gurassa is expected to familiarise himself with the various options and their pros and cons very quickly, in order to play his part.

Channel 4 may be reassured by his experience of English Heritage and the National Trust. Both are hybrid charity organisations that have asserted their independence from government.

The latter, for example, says it is funded by “membership fees, donations and legacies, plus revenue raised from our commercial operations”.

That description is not too far removed from some of C4’s proposals for its future, and the broadcaster is likely to be keen to hear of Gurassa’s experiences of self-sufficiency within that model.