Why the north is not the answer for Channel 4

meaning it. And there is good reason to mean it.

This is all about getting a television sector which reflects the country that pays for it.

The fact of the matter is it has to be here in Birmingham.

Channel 4 is not the BBC. It can’t just lift and shift to Salford and wish people all the best.

It is a public-service broadcaster which is funded by advertising – so its commercial offer cannot be weakened.

Meanwhile, 95 per cent of the advertising industry is based in a small corner of the capital.

While it is laudable the Government is seeking to address Londoncentricity, it can’t ignore it.

Channel 4 needs to be in a place where it can access the advertising agencies of the capital and in Birmingham it is an hour away, soon to be less. Nobody else can offer that.

There is another reason. As I have pointed out before, less than two per cent of the BBC’s television output is made in the West Midlands – but the people of the West Midlands pay for a quarter of it.

The truth is the country has made a small step towards correcting a historic wrong of London bias – but it is nowhere near there.

The north has MediaCity and there has been a perceivable benefit to coverage and engagement with the north on television.

This simply has not happened in the West Midlands – the secondlargest conurbation in the country. If the Channel 4 process does not correct this, then Karen Bradley still has a problem on her hands.

Investing in Birmingham also gives Channel 4 the opportunity to invest in modern Britain – the youngest and most diverse part of the country.

And the future is digital.

What better place to come than the home of BBC Three?

Our national broadcaster finally identified Birmingham’s strength in this area – it makes sense they should follow.

“What about the independents?” will come the calls from our friends up north – pointing out that far more small programme-makers are based around Greater Manchester than Birmingham.

That is true, but it is an aspect of the broadcasting sector problems this shake-up aims to correct.

When Pebble Mill was in Birmingham, there was a flourishing sector of sound experts, post-production technicians and so on.

Birmingham and the Midlands has lost much of that since.

So yes, since the Government intervened to make the BBC fairer there has been a positive impact on the broadcasting sector in the north.

Next stop... Birmingham.