Channel 4 to announce its deepest ever employee cuts
CHANNEL 4 is poised to announce almost 250 job cuts this week after a slump in spending by advertisers.
The broadcaster is understood to be holding a company-wide meeting today in which it is expected to lay out plans for what would be its biggest ever round of cutbacks.
The reduction would be equal to around 15pc of all staff, and a step up from initial plans. Channel 4 was previously understood to be looking at axing 200 jobs, which would have been equal to the same amount in the wake of the financial crisis.
Details of the deeper than expected job cuts were first reported by Sky News. The planned overhaul comes amid a sharp slump in spending on traditional television adverts, with Alex Mahon, the chief executive, saying that revenues for 2023 will be between 8pc and 9pc below the previous year’s.
The broadcaster, which is publicly owned but commercially funded, is expected to post a deficit and is considering using its emergency £75m overdraft to shore up its finances. Cuts are expected to centre on the traditional broadcast TV division, which has been hardest hit by advertisers reining in spending in the face of high interest rates and a slowing economy.
Channel 4 has already been forced to cut back its programming budget, which was at an all-time-high of £713m in 2022. The advertising slump comes less than a year after Channel 4 avoided a government attempt at privatisation.
Ms Mahon recently said the industry is in “market shock” territory, with the downturn the worst since the financial crisis.
A spokesman for Channel 4 said the company was “having to deal with an extremely uncertain economy in the short term” and needed to accelerate the shift to become “a genuinely digital public service broadcaster”.
He added: “As a result, we need to continue to divest from our linear channels business and simplify our operations to become a leaner organisation.”
The spokesman said Channel 4 would share further details with its staff, partners and stakeholders soon.