International Insider: Channel 4 Sale Off; TV Spending Splurge Slowdown; Prince Harry & Wills Beef; Césars Tackle Sexual Violence; NATPE Rescued
deadline.comWelcome back Insiders. Hope you’re feeling sufficiently rested and re-energized as the world of TV and film kicks back into gear.
Jesse Whittock with you for the first edition of 2023, and we have plenty for you. Channel (Not) 4 Sale “Better ways to secure sustainability”: Max Goldbart here reporting on a phenomenal week for the UK’s Channel 4, which is officially remaining in public hands after the government u-turned on a sale plan.
Although we all knew it was coming, Channel 4 execs were simply delighted following first a leaked letter from Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan indicating she would prefer the Gogglebox network to remain public and then the official confirmation from 10 Downing Street the following day, in which Donelan said “there are better ways to secure sustainability.” The abrupt u-turn ends a difficult 18 months for Britain’s alternative broadcaster and puts to bed for the second time in six years an issue that not that many people seem to support or even understand (96% of respondents to a government consultation on the proposed sale opposed it and many didn’t know how the Channel 4 model operates).
Free-market-thinking Conservatives who despise the notion of a left-wing, irreverent broadcaster supported the move publicly but were very much in the minority.
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