Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham is standing down after seven years at the broadcaster
Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham is stepping down from the broadcaster after seven years in the job.
The publicly owned, privately funded channel accidentally broke the news on Twitter this afternoon before a formal announcement was made.
Channel 4 press tweets, then quickly deletes, this press release in a tweet suggesting that their CEO David Abraham has just stepped down. pic.twitter.com/9fp9kIjydF
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) March 14, 2017
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Abraham is leaving at a time when the government is considering privatisation options for the broadcaster. The chief executive has expressed strong opposition to such a move.
Channel 4 has not yet decided on a replacement for Abraham, who is moving on to “launch a media enterprise in 2018”.
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Abraham said: “I had three priorities when I joined Channel 4 in 2010: to build an independently sustainable business while still delivering strongly to our public remit; to assemble a team capable of delivering creative renewal post Big Brother; and to become world leaders in digital and data innovation.
“After several successive years of positive momentum and with revenues now of c£1bn, investment in content of £700m and sustained creative performance, I have decided that 2017 is the right year for me to hand over this important public job to my successor.”
Channel 4 chair Charles Gurassa said:
David Abraham has been an outstanding chief executive of Channel 4 over the last seven years. Under his leadership the channel has delivered record revenues, record programme investment, award-winning creative renewal and industry-leading digital innovation. He leaves the organisation in excellent creative and financial health and with a strong and highly experienced team in place. We wish him well in his future new enterprise. My colleagues on the board and I will be undertaking a comprehensive recruitment process over the next months to ensure that Channel 4 continues to have outstanding leadership into the future.