Rupert Murdoch attacked by Channel 4 boss

“Our independent sector, built up and nurtured over decades, is being snapped up almost wholesale and acquired by global networks and sold by private equity investors at a faster rate than tickets to a public flogging of Jeremy Clarkson.”

The strong appetite for consolidation is driven by the threat major media and telecoms groups perceive from a move into television by cash-rich Silicon Valley technology giants such as Apple and Google, according to analysts. Mr Abraham said their arrival, potentially via massive takeovers of their own, such as a bid for Disney by Apple, should also be viewed with suspicion by the British television industry and its viewers.

He said: “How could we expect people whose idea of a good time is a 24-hour code-athon to relate to the needs of the UK television audience?”

Mr Abraham’s warning was delivered on Thursday as part of his MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival. He staunchly defended Channel 4’s role in nurturing independent television production and its government-owned, not-for-profit but commercially funded, structure.

The broadcaster, which relies on third parties for all its programming, announced it would for the first invest £4m from its £200m cash reserve to take minority stakes in four small independent producers.

Mr Abraham called for more support from the Government, however, in the form of new regulations to force BSkyB and other pay-TV platforms to pay so-called retransmission fees to carry the main public service channels. Currently pay-TV services pay nothing to carry the main BBC, ITV and Channel 4 channels, although they dominate viewing.

A coordinated lobbying campaign by the broadcasters is underway to bring Britain into line with other markets and it is understood Channel 4 believes a settlement would bring deliver it tens of millions of pounds per year in new revenues.

He said: “The UK is now of very few major markets in the world where public service broadcasters receive no payment for the immense value their channels bring to pay platforms.

“We need regulation at a minimum to act as a backstop if the parties cannot reach an independent agreement.”

Channel 4 has been criticised in recent years for its declining share of traditional television audiences, prompting the regulator Ofcom to express concerns last year that it was struggling to meet its public service remit. Mr Abraham said a forthcoming review of public service broadcasting should take into account digital channels such as E4 and the way viewers, particularly young people, are increasingly watching programmes online, in judging Channel 4’s performance.

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