Channel 4 to be privatised by the Tory government after 40 years in public ownership

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Naman Ramachandran Two of the most respected practitioners working in the entertainment industry have slammed the U.K. government’s ongoing plans for broadcasters Channel 4 and BBC. Earlier this month, U.K.

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Naman Ramachandran U.K. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has sharply criticized detractors of her plan to sell broadcaster Channel 4. The plan was decried by several leading media industry unions and filmmakers.

Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis has urged the government to “fix the UK’s visa process for Ukrainians” amid the ongoing Russian invasion of the country, revealing that she has pledged to host a family at Worthy Farm.As BBC News reports, the government launched its ‘Homes For Ukraine’ scheme last month in a bid to house refugees who are caught up in the current humanitarian crisis, which is now in its sixth week.Each participating household is being offered £350 (tax-free), and is not expected to cover food and living costs but can do so if they wish. Over 100,000 UK citizens and organisations signed up within the first day – with Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling the level of support “fantastic”.However, numerous glitches and delays in the application process have since been reported.

plans to sell Channel 4 don’t “make any business sense” and undermine the channel’s “tremendous economic and cultural achievement”.The Scottish filmmaker criticised the government’s proposals to privatise the publicly owned channel, which he clarified does not cost the taxpayer any money as Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries wrongfully claimed last year, because it’s paid for by ad revenue.Iannucci, known for TV shows including The Thick Of It and I’m Alan Partridge as well as feature films such as The Death Of Stalin (2017), wrote in a The Guardian op-ed that the move has been ill-thought-out as he questioned why a broadcaster that “puts billions into the economy and promotes British culture and values internationally” should be sold off.“It doesn’t make any business sense, and it’s certainly not patriotic,” he wrote. “I regularly get asked by international broadcasters why the UK government has such a destructive agenda against the country’s main television networks.“Dorries tweeted yesterday that ‘government ownership is holding Channel 4 back’, which perhaps explains part of the problem, that she sees the network as some manifestation of the Big State.

stop the privatisation of Channel 4 has reached over 50,000 signatures.On Monday (April 4), Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries tweeted her intentions to privatise the broadcaster under the belief that government ownership is “holding Channel 4 back” from competing against streaming platforms.She said selling the channel to a private owner would give it “the tools and freedom to flourish and thrive as a public service broadcaster long into the future”.The government is hoping to raise close to £1billion by selling the channel, with the money potentially being used to boost creative training and independent production companies.A Change.org petition has been launched in response by E.L McNally to stop the plans, which has received over 50,000 signatures at the time of writing.https://t.co/7WAxfcwBBn pic.twitter.com/WOpVXzjiYk— Matt Lucas (@RealMattLucas) April 4, 2022The petition, which has been shared by Matt Lucas, Edgar Wright and Neil Gaiman, reads: “I am appalled at the Government’s intention to privatise Channel 4.”It adds: “To privatise Channel 4 would seriously undermine programming aimed at all the communities, across generations, that make up this country.

Channel 4, which would result in the broadcaster being sold off after 40 years in public ownership.As reported by The Guardian, the government is hoping to raise close to £1billion, with the money potentially being used for creative training and for independent production companies.Last year, former Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said that the privatisation of Channel 4 was “needed” in order for it to “compete with the streaming giants”.“Without [more money], Channel 4 won’t have the money to invest in technology and programming, and it won’t be able to compete with the streaming giants,” he said, according to Sky News.Earlier in the year Ricky Gervais spoke out against the potential sale of Channel 4, calling it “a real shame”.“For almost 40 years, Channel 4 has been a launch pad for new ideas and new talent,” he wrote on Twitter. “It’s been able to do that because of its remit and not-for-profit structure and it would be a real shame if that was destroyed by selling off the channel.”Channel 4’s chief executive, Alex Mahon, revealed the news to staff on Monday (April 4): “We have been informed in the last hour that the government will shortly announce that the secretary of state has decided to proceed with the proposal to privatise Channel 4,” she wrote in an email.“In our engagement with the government during its extended period of reflection, we have proposed a vision for the next 40 years which we are confident would allow us to build on the successes of the first 40.

The UK government is pushing ahead with plans to privatize Channel 4.