Threat to Paralympics on C4 if channel is privatised

CHANNEL 4 could drop its Paralympics coverage if it is privatised, its former chairman has warned.

The Government is in the process of a public consultation regarding the sale of the channel, publicly owned but commercially funded. John Whittingdale, the media minister, has said “increasing pressure” from streaming had been a factor in the decision.

Now a former chairman and chief executive of Channel 4 have said the channel’s successful mission to make the Paralympics a fixture on prime-time TV could be axed by a new owner.

“The way Channel 4 was set up gives it the ability to do things unlikely to be achieved by any other broadcaster,” said Lord Burns, who chaired Channel 4 at the time the broadcaster poached the Paralympic TV rights from the BBC.

In 2012 Channel 4 made a £30 million loss, followed by a £15 million deficit in 2016, both of which were attributed to costs associated with broadcasting the London and Rio Olympics.

“The Government expects Channel 4 to keep investing in unprofitable remit delivering initiatives like the Paralympics but hopes these can all be delivered for another 40 years by a profit-maximising entity that either is, or can be, foreign-owned and controlled,” said David Abraham, chief executive of Channel 4 from 2010 to 2017.

Channel 4 plans to record 1,300 hours of coverage of the Tokyo Games, almost three times the amount the BBC managed with its Olympic coverage.