Channel 4 privatisation plans formally abandoned

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Plans to privatise Channel 4 have been formally abandoned, ending years of threats to the broadcaster that cost the government millions of pounds and were opposed by the vast majority of the media industry.

The culture secretary, Michelle Donelan, said Channel 4 was a “British success story and a linchpin of our booming creative industries” and therefore should not be sold.

Her decision reverses proposals set out at length by her predecessor Nadine Dorries, under Boris Johnson’s government, which would have seen Channel 4 sold to a private owner.

Rather than sell the broadcaster the government will allow it to borrow more money and enable it to make more programmes in-house. In return, Channel 4 has pledged to move about two-thirds of its staff outside London and invest in regional bases such as Leeds, Bristol and Glasgow.

The official confirmation that Channel 4 privatisation is dead mirrored a leaked document published on Wednesday.

However, there are concerns about the proposals to allow Channel 4 to make its own programmes, which could hit smaller independent production companies across the UK.

The industry trade body Pact said: “Any relaxation of Channel 4’s publisher-broadcaster status will be a blow to the sector, who are already facing increased production and business related costs.”

Channel 4 is owned by the state but funded commercially, largely through advertising. Unlike other broadcasters such as ITV, Channel 4 is required to reinvest its profits into making distinctive programmes.

Channel 4 said: “We welcome the government’s decision that Channel 4 will remain in public ownership. This decision provides a firm basis on which to establish the sustainable direction of Channel 4, safely in the hands of the British people.”