Channel 4 relocation plans emerge

Channel 4 is set to relocate a significant number of staff outside of London – including a meaningful amount of creative decision-makers – after the government finally offered some clarity over its long-term future.

The broadcaster now seems certain to go through a partial relocation after culture secretary Karen Bradley told the RTS Cambridge Convention it needs to establish a “major presence outside of London”.

She also stressed that “decisions about its programming should not all be made in the bubble of Westminster”.

The size, shape and location of C4’s new presence has quickly become the subject of speculation. The broadcaster has spent the summer drawing up what it believes are innovative proposals, which will be interrogated by incoming chief executive Alex Mahon before they are formally submitted to the government.

Broadcast understands the number of relocated roles included in these plans runs to three figures, and informed estimates from other top-level industry execs at Cambridge suggested 150-200 staff may be sufficient to satisfy the government.

C4 has 820 staff in total, around 130 of whom (15%) work in the commissioning and content team. It is not known if these proportions would be maintained in an office outside of London, or if C4 favours a single hub or multimode approach with smaller bases in different locations.

“The government is more concerned with what C4 does with its regional commitments than where it does it”
Industry source

C4’s sales team of around 250 is highly unlikely to move away from the London network of advertising agencies. Two senior policy sources indicated that the government is openminded on the issue of location.

The suggestion is that if C4 can reassure the government of the substance of its commitments, it will be given freedom to make its own choice on where it is based.

One source said: “The government is very concerned with what C4 does in terms of increasing its regional commitments, but less worried about where it does it.”

This tallies with Bradley’s comments. Birmingham was once considered the government’s preferred location, but the culture secretary said: “I have no preference whatsoever. It’s very exciting to see some of the suggestions and I encourage cities and small towns to come forward with what they could offer. There’s no formal process, but they can write to me or the C4 board to put forward their proposal.”