Channel 4 posts record revenues as investment in original content climbs
Channel 4 has pushed revenues to record levels, as the public service broadcaster grows market share.
Revenues climbed 4.4 per cent to £979m over last year – a £26m surplus – on the back of a record £455m investment in original content. In total Channel 4 ploughed £629m on content.
Channel 4’s current target is to generate £1bn of revenue, which will be used to further bolster the content budget.
It also revealed record highs in its public service remit metrics, during a year in which it won 323 industry awards – including Broadcast magazine's Channel of the Year.
Successful new series included Humans, No Offence, Hunted, SAS: Who Dares Wins and Caitlin Moran's Raised By Wolves.
The broadcaster has also won critical acclaim for shows including RTS Awards-nominated sitcom Catastrophe, Bafta-winning documentary series Murder Detectives and My Son The Jihadi.
Channel 4 – which is at the centre of speculation about possible privatisation – grew its market share, with the main channel stealing an extra one per cent of available eyeballs across all-time and eight per cent across peak hours between 7pm and 11pm.
Channel 4's chief executive David Abraham said: “Channel 4 had a record impact on audiences and the UK’s creative sector in 2015 with our investment in original content, our commercial revenues and, critically, the delivery of our public service remit, all at their highest ever levels.
"We expect this impact and growth to continue in 2016 and, as a wide range of independent experts have concluded, our focus on both creative and commercial innovation has positioned us very strongly for the future.”