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EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4‘s drama boss and head of youth channel E4 are both expected to leave the British broadcaster as it cuts up to 250 jobs.
Deadline is told that Couple Next Door commissioner Caroline Hollick and Married at First Sight‘s Karl Warner are likely to leave under the cost savings plan.
Their departure has not been finalized and Channel 4 remains in discussion with both commissioners under its 45-day consultation period.
Hollick’s TV drama department is set to merge with Film4, which is run by newly-promoted Ollie Madden, who is expected to take over the combined entity.
E4, which Warner has overseen since 2018, is also restructuring, with commissions for the youth channel now going through relevant genres and digital commissioning reporting straight to content boss Ian Katz.
Both Hollick and Warner joined Channel 4 in the summer of 2018, soon after Katz was appointed.
Hollick, who was previously Creative Director at It’s a Sin producer Red, has since commissioned the likes of BAFTA-winning Kate Winslet single I Am Ruth, Deadwater Fell featuring David Tennant, and Steve Coogan and Sarah Solemani’s Chivalry.
More recently, the Leeds-based exec has taken a ‘fewer, bigger, better’ approach by greenlighting less but choosing shows with star power such as Andrea Riseborough vehicle Alice & Jack and The Couple Next Door featuring Outlander’s Sam Heughan, both of which were made with U.S. co-pro money. The latter was Channel 4’s largest-ever drama debut on streaming.
London-based Warner’s big success has been Married at First Sight, for which he struck a multi-year deal in 2022 that revamped the hit show and has since seen it achieve record E4 ratings. He most recently commissioned a version of Made in Chelsea set in Sydney with Australia’s Channel 7, while other greenlights include a reboot of Embarrassing Bodies and Celeb Cooking School. He was promoted to Head of Youth & Digital in 2021.
The pair are set to depart alongside fact-ent boss Alf Lawrie, who is also understood to be exiting.
Channel 4’s layoffs plan is hitting the commissioning team hard and a number are having to re-interview as departments are merged. Film4 is coming together with TV drama, fact-ent is being combined with documentaries, and entertainment is being joined with reality.
With Lawrie’s departure, Deadline is told that head of documentaries Alisa Pomeroy is the frontrunner for the combined fact-ent and documentaries division, while Celebrity Call Centre commissioner Lee McMurray is being touted for the entertainment-reality role.
Interviews for the new head of department roles are understood to be taking place in a couple of weeks’ time.
The 45-day redundancy consultation is into its third week and comes off the back of a difficult year for Channel 4, during which it has been hit hard by the ad downturn. Its relations with producers have been strained as Channel 4 has canceled shows at short notice and asked suppliers to finance series.
A Channel 4 spokesperson declined to comment on individuals, but said: “Channel 4 has begun a collective consultation process. Our focus is supporting employees through this time of change and keeping communication channels open with our suppliers and partners. It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
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