Channel 4 reaches a ‘tipping point’

Channel 4 is in urgent need of a new funding model and has reached a “tipping point” beyond which it will move into annual losses, its chairman, Luke Johnson, said. Announcing an annual pre-tax surplus of £1.6m ($3.2m), compared with £21.3m last year, Mr Johnson said results for the broadcaster, which is state-owned but funded commercially, were proof of difficulties he had been warning of for more than a year. “2007 will be the last year in which Channel 4, under its current funding model, manages the difficult balance between increased creative investment and financial breakeven.” Channel 4’s board has warned Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, that it will need up to £150m in public subsidy after the switchover from analogue to digital television signals in 2012.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f35ff05c-1188-11dd-a93b-0000779fd2ac.html
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