Peter Langenberg raises concerns about impact of privatisation on remit

Peter Langenberg pic

Peter Langenberg

Channel 4 risks become a “bland commercial channel with purely financial targets” if it is privatised, according to Banijay’s Peter Langenberg.

The super-indie’s chief operating officer voiced fears that the government will “change the remit” to enact a sale and put a stop to it being “supportive of the creative industry in the UK”.

“Channel 4 has been a launching pad for new talent and shows that you wouldn’t have been able to see without it,” Langenberg said.

“It has been an incubator for talent in the UK industry. If it’s privatised, the remit will change and it will no longer be that launching pad. It will play safe as another bland commercial channel, with purely financial targets.”

C4 has launched some of Banijay’s biggest shows and was the commissioning broadcaster of global phenomenon Big Brother in 2000 – which changed the reality TV landscape.

Langenberg said he also has a “selfish” reason for wanting C4 to continue as an innovator, because its tastes align with Banijay’s goal as a producer.

“We would like a channel that’s able to take risks on our journey with shows that we might not be able to sell to others,” he added.

His comments echoed those of Banijay UK chief Lucinda Hicks who spoke out as the super-indie lent its support to Broadcast’s Not 4 Sale campaign. Hicks praised “the unique and key role C4 plays in the UK creative economy” and a change in the broadcaster’s remit would “threaten jobs, creative innovation and investment, and the creative ecosystem”.