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Channel 4 is merging several commissioning departments including TV drama and film and leaving its Horseferry Road premises as the network sets out its layoffs plan and five-year strategy.
The network has unveiled a Fast Forward strategy to suppliers, staff and press in the past few minutes.. There will be a “substantial” number of layoffs in commissioning, according to content boss Ian Katz, with several mergers incoming.
Caroline Hollick’s TV drama department is coming together with new Film4 boss Ollie Madden’s team. Meanwhile, documentaries and factual entertainment, which make the likes of 24 Hours in Custody and Gogglebox, are coming together, as are entertainment and reality, commissioners of Married at First Sight and The Last Leg. Portfolio channel E4 is also restructuring, with commissions at E4 going through relevant genres and digital reporting straight to Katz.
Commissioning layoffs had been anticipated as part of the restructure, which is seeing around 200 laid off and the closure of around 40 unfilled roles – an overall reduction of around 18% to 2021 levels.
Channel 4 also announced it will be leaving its 40-year-old Horseferry Road premises in the next few years. “With 600 roles based outside of London by the end of 2025, lower headcount in London overall, and a shift to flexible working, Channel 4 will find a new fit-for-purpose office space in central London,” its note said.
The move represents Channel 4’s biggest round of layoffs in 15 years and has been anticipated since The Guardian first reported on the plans earlier this month.
Channel 4 is making the cuts – the deepest since the 2008 global financial meltdown – in response to a floundering ad market that shows little sign of improving.
Over the past few months, producers have criticized Channel 4 for passing pain on to them, cutting commissioning across the board and asking suppliers to finance productions. They also questioned certain spending decisions such as big entertainment bets on the Traitors-esque Rise and Fall, and splashy football rights. Yesterday, it was revealed that Rise and Fall has been canceled after months of industry speculation.
Speaking to Deadline recently, producers cautiously welcomed the plan as proof that the network was taking its financial strife seriously and may now return to some semblance of commissioning normality. Mahon has also said the network will likely draw down on its £75M ($95M) revolving credit facility in 2024 as it enters “market shock territory.”
Channel 4 revenues were down 2% to £1.14B in 2022, with a surplus of £20M, but 2023 looks set to be a much tougher 12 months and the company is expected to post a deficit when these results report.
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