RTS DIGITAL CONVENTION 2020
Channel 4
Channel 4 rises to the challenge
T
hey say that times of crisis often bring out the best in people and organisations. For an example of this, look no further than how Channel 4 has adapted to postponed productions and an alarming fall in advertising over the past six months. “In a crisis, when you have to change really fast, Channel 4 is actually amazing,” the broadcaster’s CEO, Alex Mahon, told Tim Hincks, co-CEO of Expectation, at the RTS’s Digital Convention. As lockdown took hold in March, almost overnight around 1,000 members of staff began working remotely. “We were prepared with the technology. We had a debt facility in place for a market shock. That helped,” she recalled. “We had to make a plan to cut costs fast. “We had a clear, strategic conversation about what the editorial response should be, led by Ian [director of programmes Ian Katz] and the commissioning team. What did we want to say to the nation and what did we think our position was?
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Alex Mahon, the broadcaster’s CEO, praises the UK’s indie sector for riding to the rescue in lockdown “It was clear to us that we should say something back to Britain about what was happening. It was the exact opposite of what the SVoDs would be doing. If you were watching Netflix, it would be Tiger King, which was not saying anything about Britain or the pandemic. Tiger King didn’t bring people together to face an unseen enemy.” With adverting revenue falling dramatically, Hincks asked if the beginning of lockdown was a scary moment? “Yes, it was pretty bad.… In the worst months, advertising dropped 50%. To have 50% of your revenue ripped away and not know how long that would last was bad.” Fortunately, despite a hefty cut to
the content budget and furloughing around 100 staff, Channel 4’s commissioners and the UK’s indies rose to the occasion. Innovative, fast-turnaround shows, such as Grayson’s Art Club and Jamie: Keep Cooking and Carry On, soon found an audience as people, unable to leave their homes, needed diversions. “Indies did incredible things and produced things cheaply,” said Mahon, who claimed that Channel 4 was more in tune with the nation’s mood than its rivals were. Viewers, particularly the under-35s, flocked to Channel 4, including to the highly regarded Channel 4 News. The number of young people watching Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Cathy Newman and Jon Snow increased by 79%, according to Mahon. It also helped that, back in the early spring, Channel 4 had planned for the worst possible financial scenario, which, in the event, didn’t happen – “so we are up compared with where we thought we’d be”. Further lateral thinking was required to film its flagship show, The Great
