MPs’ warning about C4 expansion

As the government’s digital economy bill slips through parliament with little or no resistance, a group of MPs on the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee have voiced some concerns on the plans for Channel Four.

It seems that under the bill Channel Four is likely to become more like the BBC with E4, Film Four, More4 as well as its large online presence coming under the public service broadcasting (PSB) remit, the only difference being that as well as the possibility of receiving TV Licence fee money, the channels will also generate a large amount of revenue from advertisers.

The main issue is about PSB, and Channel Four does produce a lot of PSB content, which puts it into a situation where PSB content is funded by advertisers and in some cases sponsors too.