C4’s political future secure as David Abraham departs

Senior figures at Channel 4 believe the battle over full privatisation has been won, paving the way for chief executive David Abraham to call time on his seven-year tenure.

Safeguarding the broadcaster’s programming remit and not-for-profit status has been top of Abraham’s agenda for the last eighteen months. While the government has still not confirmed its plans, the broadcaster is confident about the future.

A source said: “The gears changed markedly when John Whittingdale left his role as culture secretary. There is more support for C4 in Parliament than there was – the Paralympics has played a big role in that – and there is no appetite in government to return to the debates of a year ago.”

That means that whoever succeeds Abraham, and there have been rumours in recent months linking chief creative officer Jay Hunt with the top job, should inherit an organisation on a stable political footing.

Where there could be changes, as a result of the government’s review, is around increased regional investment and production quotas.

It is likely that C4 will be tasked with playing a significant role in building the creative industries outside of London, but a possible relocation to Birmingham is considered unlikely, if not totally inconceivable.

Abraham intends to spend his remaining time in the post working with the government to deliver a long term resolution to the debate about C4’s status.

C4’s annual report, published each spring, is expected to detail record revenues for 2016 and after performing well at the Broadcast Awards in February, where it picked up seven awards including Channel of the Year, the broadcaster will be hoping for multiple wins at the RTS and Bafta awards.

The controversial decision to spend big on The Great British Bake Off, which will inevitably shed a significant number of viewers when it debuts on C4 later this year, could represent a short-term problem.

Next move

Abraham, who is in his early 50s and has significant appetite for another major role, intends to “launch a media enterprise in 2018”.

He has not released any more details about his plans and is expected to remain in situ at C4 for many months to help ensure a smooth transition to his successor.

Charles Gurassa, named C4 chairman just over a year ago, will lead the search for a new chief executive, assisted by the Board Nominations Committee. The latter includes the likes of ex-ITN chief executive Stewart Purvis and former BBC2 controller Roly Keating.