Alex Mahon understood to want to simplify structure

Whoever lands the job of Channel 4 director of programmes is likely to end up leading a markedly smaller commissioning team, Broadcast understands.

Senior industry figures believe part of new chief executive Alex Mahon’s vision for the broadcaster is that C4 can operate with fewer but more autonomous commissioners.

She is thought to have drawn the board’s attention to the relatively flat creative structure at ITV and to have extolled the virtue of empowered heads of department.

Once source said that the former Shine Group chief executive is keen to empower a group of ‘super-heads’, while another called them ‘barons’. It could be that some genres are merged to help create this new arrangement.

The volume of indies C4 traditionally deals with would be a potential barrier to the new structure – the broadcaster worked with 317 suppliers in 2016 compared to 295 in 2015.

However, Mahon’s idea is that commissioners at all levels should rejig how they spend their time.

If they become less hands-on with programmes, they would have more time to meet indies, filter ideas and manage their slate.

C4 insiders are keen to stress that Mahon has not taken a final decision about the size and structure of the commissioning team.

A C4 spokesman said: “Decisions about the structure of the commissioning team will be made by Alex Mahon and the new director of programmes after that role has been appointed.”

Speaking privately, a senior C4 commissioner acknowledged that redundancies within the content team “feel like an inevitability”.

The exec pointed out that natural wastage would be a factor, with departing commissioners not automatically being replaced on a like-for-like basis, and said that the ad market downturn is also likely to play into Mahon’s thinking. “If we are making less, we need fewer commissioners,” the source said.

Mahon will start work at C4 on Monday 30 October. The first big date in her diary will be the 1 November board meeting. Plans for relocating a tranche of C4’s staff and operations will be high on the agenda, as will the appointment of the director of programmes if it has not been formalised before then.

Topics