UK TV's Channel 4 Starts $100 Million '4IP' Digital Production Fund
This story was written by Robert Andrews.
Channel 4 and UK regional media development agencies will start a 50 million ($100 million) digital commissioning fund as the broadcaster looks to retain its publicly-funded status whilst enduring tough economic times. The "Next On 4" blueprint it unveiled this week was largely a restating of existing goals, but the "4 Innovation for the Public" (4IP) fund will see a new senior executive report to new media director Jon Gisby to work on digital multimedia productions. Just 20 million comes from C4, the rest from partnerships with regional media funds. C4 also said it wanted to syndicate content to sites like Bebo and MySpace.
C4 has warned for a couple of years it's facing a 100 million shortfall thanks to its digital investments and falling ad sales, so is desperately looking for support, including a slice of the BBC licence fee. Partnering with existing media development agencies seems to be a way to offset costs and could be a good opportunity for regional independent producers not already making content for C4.
By Robert Andrews