"What many look forward to hearing .. is what ministers think C4 would become if sold and the 'potential' was 'unleashed'? Why would being swallowed by Paramount/Comcast/Warner/ITV be better for UK viewers and our TV industry?" 

Krishnan Guru-Murthy 

'Ministers will formally start the process of privatising Channel 4 .. despite widespread opposition from the British media industry, the broadcaster’s current management, and a large number of Conservative MPs.

The government insists that the publicly owned channel needs to be sold off, but there are doubts over whether they have the political support required to pass the necessary legislation. Ministers will also finally publish the conclusions of a 60,000-strong public consultation on the sale, with most comments expected to be against privatisation.'

...

Sir Peter Bottomley, the father of the house, told the House of Commons on Wednesday: “Channel 4 is in the best state it’s been creatively and financially for decades.”

The Tory MP suggested that ministers may have been offended by some of its news coverage – such as replacing Boris Johnson with a melting ice sculpture in a climate breakdown debate – and added that the “government could do best by leaving it alone”.

Damian Green, another former Tory minister, expressed “profound scepticism” about the government’s privatisation plans and said the media industry was united in “saying Channel 4 isn’t broke and doesn’t need fixing in this way”.

via The Guardian Wed 27 April

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