Channel 4 is planning its largest round of job cuts since the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis.
In an internal email sent to staff on Monday, chief executive Alex Mahon said the commercially funded PSB needed to “accelerate” its plans to become a “genuinely digital-first public service broadcaster”.
Up to 200 jobs are likely to go as Channel 4 moves away from linear broadcasting with an announcement due in the next few weeks.
A Channel 4 spokesperson told Broadband TV News, organisational change was needed for it to remain a relevant and rebellious force in British creative and cultural life.
“Channel 4 is a wholly commercially funded and self-reliant broadcaster known for producing iconoclastic programmes and generating enormous value for the UK creative economy. Like every organisation, we are having to deal with an extremely uncertain economy in the short term and the need to accelerate our transformation to become a genuinely digital public service broadcaster in the long term.
“As a result, we need to continue to divest from our linear channels business and simplify our operations to become a leaner organisation. This will enable us to invest more in our digital future and in our remit to make distinctive and disruptive British content, increasingly focused on streaming and social channels.”
Branding on Channel 4’s streaming service is now simply Channel 4 and the app is now present on Sky and Freesat platforms.
In October, the broadcaster recorded its biggest-ever month in streaming.
