Who owns Channel 4?

[Kizzy]

Just being nosy really, saw something and wondered if it was true?

'' Additionally, Channel 4, which had previously been an independent subsidiary of the IBA, was now to become a Government-owned corporation, patterned after the BBC.''

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ITV

[Omah]

Just being nosy really, saw something and wondered if it was true?

'' Additionally, Channel 4, which had previously been an independent subsidiary of the IBA, was now to become a Government-owned corporation, patterned after the BBC.''

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ITV

That quote is NOT on that page ..... :conf:

[Kizzy]

HERE..
The Broadcasting Act of 1990
ITV Logo (1989 - 1998)

Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government spent much of the 1980s privatizing and deregulating British industry, and commercial broadcasting was no exception. The Broadcasting Act 1990 paved the way for the deregulation of the British commercial broadcasting industry, which was to have many consequences for the ITV system.

As a result of this Act, the Independent Broadcasting Authority was abolished, and replaced by two new 'light-touch' regulators: the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the Radio Authority. The small Cable Authority was also abolished, its powers transferred to the ITC. The act also changed the system of licence allocation for the, now legally called, Channel 3 franchises: the previous system where applicants needed to show good programming ideas and fine financial controls was replaced by highest-bidder auctions to determine the winner of each ITV regional franchise. This element of the ITV franchising process was very controversial; the press and the existing ITV companies lobbied to have it changed and the ITC agreed to introduce a 'quality threshold' to prevent high bidders with poor programme plans from joining the system. Another safeguard was the 'business plan' which determined if a bidder could maintain the payments due and still retain money for programme making.

Other changes were also made as part of the act: ITN, the news provider for ITV, was no longer to be exclusively owned by ITV companies. Additionally, Channel 4, which had previously been an independent subsidiary of the IBA, was now to become a Government-owned corporation, patterned after the BBC. It would also begin to sell its own advertisement space — a function previously provided by each ITV company as a return for subsidising the channel.

[Omah]

HERE..
The Broadcasting Act of 1990
ITV Logo (1989 - 1998)

Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government spent much of the 1980s privatizing and deregulating British industry, and commercial broadcasting was no exception. The Broadcasting Act 1990 paved the way for the deregulation of the British commercial broadcasting industry, which was to have many consequences for the ITV system.

As a result of this Act, the Independent Broadcasting Authority was abolished, and replaced by two new 'light-touch' regulators: the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the Radio Authority. The small Cable Authority was also abolished, its powers transferred to the ITC. The act also changed the system of licence allocation for the, now legally called, Channel 3 franchises: the previous system where applicants needed to show good programming ideas and fine financial controls was replaced by highest-bidder auctions to determine the winner of each ITV regional franchise. This element of the ITV franchising process was very controversial; the press and the existing ITV companies lobbied to have it changed and the ITC agreed to introduce a 'quality threshold' to prevent high bidders with poor programme plans from joining the system. Another safeguard was the 'business plan' which determined if a bidder could maintain the payments due and still retain money for programme making.

Other changes were also made as part of the act: ITN, the news provider for ITV, was no longer to be exclusively owned by ITV companies. Additionally, Channel 4, which had previously been an independent subsidiary of the IBA, was now to become a Government-owned corporation, patterned after the BBC. It would also begin to sell its own advertisement space — a function previously provided by each ITV company as a return for subsidising the channel.

That's from 1990 and nothing's changed, AFAIK, except that C4 programming quality has gone rapidly downhill since ..... :shrug:

[Kizzy]

But how did it pass from independent to government hands?...

[Omah]

But how did it pass from independent to government hands?...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_4#History

Towards the end of the 1980s, the government began a radical process of re-organisation of the commercial broadcasting industry, which was written onto the statute books by means of the Broadcasting Act 1990. Significantly, this meant the abolition of the IBA, and hence the Channel Four Television Company. The result led to the creation of a corporation to own and operate the channel, which would have a greater deal of autonomy and would eventually go on to establish its other operations. The new corporation, which became operational in 1993, was the Channel Four Television Corporation, and was created to replace the former broadcasting operations of the Channel Four Television Company. It remained publicly owned and was regulated by the new Independent Television Commission (ITC), created under the same act. The ITC and its duties were later replaced by Ofcom, which like its predecessor is responsible for appointing the Corporation's board, in agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.

Down to Thatcher, then ..... :shrug:

She probably didn't like Paul Coia, The Tube and The Comic Strip ..... :evilgrin:

[billy123]

If i recall correctly C4 asked for a cut of the tv license money a few years back and in return offered to become regulated by license paying rules about providing certain amounts of news bulletins etc.
I will have a look around but im pretty sure they took a cut of tv licensing money in return for having their balls cut off because they were struggling as a channel.

[Omah]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_4#Channel_Four_Television_Corporation

During the station's formative years, funding came from the ITV companies in return for their right to sell advertisements in their region on the fourth channel.

Nowadays it pays for itself in much the same way as most privately run commercial stations, i.e. through the sale of on-air advertising, programme sponsorship, and the sale of any programme content and merchandising rights it owns, such as overseas sales and video sales. It also has the ability to subsidise the main network through any profits made on the corporation's other endeavours, which have in the past included subscription fees from stations such as E4 and Film4 (now no longer subscription services) and its 'video-on-demand' sales. In practice, however, these other activities are loss-making, and are subsidised by the main network. According to Channel 4's last published accounts, for 2005, the extent of this cross-subsidy was some £30 million.

The change in funding came about under the Broadcasting Act 1990 when the new corporation was afforded the ability to fund itself. Originally this arrangement left a 'safety net' guaranteed minimum income should the revenue fall too low, funded by large insurance payments made to the ITV companies. Such a subsidy was never required, however, and these premiums were phased out by government in 1998. After the link with ITV was cut, the cross-promotion which had existed between ITV and Channel 4 also ended.

In 2007 due to severe funding difficulties, the channel sought government help and was granted a payment of £14 million over a six-year period. The money would have come from the television licence fee and would have been the first time that money from the licence fee had been given to any broadcaster other than the BBC. The plan was scrapped by The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Andy Burnham, ahead of "broader decisions about the future framework of public service broadcasting". The broadcasting regulator Ofcom released their review in January 2009 in which they suggested that Channel 4 would preferably be funded by "partnerships, joint ventures or mergers".

:idc: