Channel 4 privatisation to go ahead

The government is to go ahead with plans to privatise Channel 4, the BBC has been told.

A source said ministers believed public ownership of the broadcaster was holding it back "in the face of a rapidly changing and competitive media landscape".

Plans for the sale will be included in next month's Queen's Speech.

Money made from the sale will be reinvested in a "creative dividend" to be shared among the TV industry.

Some of this cash will be earmarked for independent production companies.

Channel 4, founded in 1982, is funded by advertising but is publicly owned.

Set up to deliver content to underserved audiences, it uses the money it receives from commercials to commission independent programme makers.

A source told the BBC: "Ministers have decided that, although Channel 4 as a business is currently performing well, government ownership is holding it back in the face of a rapidly changing and competitive media landscape.

"Channel 4 is a great business with a strong brand built around it being creative, innovative and distinctive, but a change of ownership will remove its straitjacket, giving Channel 4 the freedom to innovate and grow so it can flourish and thrive long into the future and support the whole of the UK creative industries."

The source said the channel would remain a public service broadcaster, with an ongoing commitment to primetime news.

When it was announced last year that the government was considering privatising the broadcaster, its bosses warned of "a real risk" to some of its programmes.

Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon said: "We need to make sure that the media landscape is strengthened, not worsened, by any changes to the channel."