The Government has tried to intervene to change the wording of Channel 4’s annual report to suit its privatization plans, according to the broadcaster’s chief executive.
Alex Mahon also told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that the broadcaster’s investigation into claims by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries that the 2010 Channel 4 reality show she starred in used paid actors had found no evidence for forgery.
The government is seeking to privatize Channel 4, saying it will struggle to survive in a media landscape increasingly dominated by major streaming companies such as Netflix and is over-relying on declining TV advertising to support its business model.
The controversial policy has run afoul of Channel 4’s management and board of directors. They and the broadcaster’s independent auditors signed off on the annual report on May 23, but it has not yet been released.
Asked about the delay in publishing the report, Mahon said it had been held up by officials at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
“It’s fair to say that DCMS made some comments that they would have preferred to see in the report, particularly about our future financial sustainability,” Mahon said in response to questions from the DCMS select committee of MPs. “The questions were really about whether our wording was consistent with government policy. This is the first time, as far as I know, in [Channel 4’s] 40 years since there were inquiries about the annual report.
The government is pushing ahead with plans to privatize Channel 4 that were signed off by former prime minister Boris Johnson, although those plans may be scrapped by his successor.
“Management and the board’s view is that Channel 4 is in a strong and sustainable position, it is [our] perspective of an independent auditor,” Mahon said. “There was some concern from DCMS, [which] would prefer to change some wording. [They] it was already agreed that it could be tabled in Parliament in the usual way without any changes. The report that will arrive is the one approved by the board.”
Channel 4 reported a 25% increase in total revenue to a record £1.2 billion last year, an 18% increase on its pre-pandemic financial results in 2019.
The broadcaster, which is publicly owned but wholly commercially funded with a not-for-profit remit to deliver distinctive and challenging programming, reported a record ‘surplus’ of £101m last year.
Channel 4 has £273m in cash reserves and £566m in net assets on its books and aims to make 30% of its total revenue from digital operations by 2025.
DCMS has been approached for comment.
Mahon was also asked about an internal investigation Channel 4 had launched into the 2010 reality show Tower Block of Commons, in which Dorris was one of a number of MPs who went to live in poor communities.
In May, Dorris told the same select committee that the reality show used paid actors to play supposedly real people.
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“An allegation of falsehood was made against the actors in the program,” Mahon said. “We are just completing the proper investigation. From what I’ve seen, I don’t see any indication of this being fake.
Mahon was asked if she had received any evidence from Dorris supporting the allegation of forgery as part of the Channel 4 investigation. “From what I have seen so far, there is no evidence to suggest any indication of forgery,” she said.
Asked if she had heard from DCMS about the inquiry, Mahon said she had heard “directly” from the culture secretary and expected his findings to be published alongside a DCMS statement later this week.
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