It’s official: the controversial plan to privatize U.K. network Channel 4 has been canceled.
The news was announced by the British culture secretary Michelle Donelan on Thursday, just a day after a letter of hers to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in which she recommended against going ahead with the sale, was leaked.
The decision represents a dramatic U-turn by Sunak’s Conservative government to that of Boris Johnson, which was forging ahead with privatization proposals last year under then culture secretary Nadine Dorries.
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“Channel 4 is a British success story and a linchpin of our booming creative industries” said Donelan, who has been in the post since September. “After reviewing the business case and engaging with the relevant sectors I have decided that Channel 4 should not be sold.”
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said the broadcaster will remain in public ownership “but with greater commercial flexibility, increased investment in skills and jobs across the U.K.,” as well as “new production arrangements to support its long-term sustainability and growth.”
The news represents a major victory for Channel 4, which had battled against the plans — alongside much of the U.K.’s creative industries — for the last 18 months.
“We welcome the Government’s decision that Channel 4 will remain in public ownership. This decision provides a firm basis on which to establish the sustainable direction of Channel 4, safely in the hands of the British people,” said CEO Alex Mahon in a statement, adding that the decision “allows us to do even more to support creative jobs and skills across the U.K., to inspire and develop the U.K.’s world-leading creative industries, and to continue opening up the sector for those aspiring to a career in TV and film.”
Mahon said Channel 4 was “grateful to all those who have contributed to the debate about how best not just to preserve, but also to magnify our contribution to the industry, to local communities and to wider culture in Britain and abroad.”
However, the move does come with a sting in the tail for the U.K.’s independent production sector, with part of the “sustainability package” for Channel 4 put forward by Donelan giving the network the ability to produce shows in-house for the first time.
In a statement, U.K. TV trade association Pact said that while it welcomes the decision not to go ahead with the sale, it was “disappointed” about the relaxing of Channel 4’s publisher-broadcaster status.
“Our main opposition to privatization was the proposals around in-house production,” it said, adding that the move would be a “blow” to a sector already facing increased production and business related costs. “We have made clear the impact in-house production will have on indies across the U.K. and the wider creative economy. However, Pact is encouraged that the Government is committed to working with the indie sector to ensure the changes to the publisher-broadcaster status do not adversely impact the sector.”
