Treasury 'mulling £1bn sale of Channel 4'
Links:
Also in DTG News ...
The Treasury is reportedly considering a plan to raise £1bn by selling Channel 4. According to The Times, advisers to Gordon Brown are looking at both the political and economic arguments for a privatisation of the broadcaster, even though the Labour Party had a manifesto commitment to keep Channel 4 in public ownership.
The Times said prime minister-designate Brown would remove culture secretary Tessa Jowell within his first 100 days. Jowell has been an advocate of keeping Channel 4 in public ownership.
According to The Times, Five parent RTL Group and BSkyB are likely to be interested in bidding for Channel 4.
Earlier this month Channel 4 unveiled a 5% increase in turnover to a record £937m in 2006, but the group's cash surplus fell by 70% to £14.5m as Channel 4 invested in new programming and on-demand distribution.
Last month a report for Ofcom produced by consulting group LEK warned that Channel 4 was likely to be loss making after 2010.
Links open in a new window. The DTG is not responsible for the content of other web sites.