Budget doubts raised over Channel 4’s radio plans

Published Wednesday 11 July 2007 at 15:10 by Matthew Hemley

Channel 4’s plans to take on BBC radio with a slate of new dramas on its forthcoming digital stations have been met with scepticism from independent producers, who fear the organisation may not have the budget to fund quality productions.

The broadcaster last week won a licence from regulator Ofcom to launch three branded radio stations, including Channel 4 Radio and E4 Radio, which are expected to include new dramas and comedies.

While independent radio producers have welcomed the broadcaster’s move into radio as one that will increase opportunities outside of the BBC, some have expressed concern about Channel 4’s budget for commissioning more expensive productions, such as drama.

One producer, who did not want to be named, claimed Channel 4 had been “careful to limit” how much it had said about the amount and nature of content it would commission.

He said: “After news, drama is the next most expensive type of content to make, so we don’t expect an avalanche of opportunities, but we do expect some. At what budget level is certainly not known.

“They have made noises about developing community radio and student radio sources as production partners. I hope they appreciate broadcast drama is no place for amateurs and the inexperienced.”

Judith Kampfner, director of the Corporation for Independent Media, said Channel 4’s move would give independent producers opportunity to “make programmes that don’t conform to known BBC slots”, but added: “I would hope that Channel 4 endorses long-form feature making and radio drama. These are aspects of radio which take time and craft. Whereas podcasting and other audio outlets allow more people to make audio, we as experienced professionals can offer a kind of radio that only comes from years of hard graft.”

Chris Wallis, joint managing director of production company The Watershed Partnership, said any new outlet for independent productions was a “fantastic opportunity”, but added: “Radio drama is expensive. Whether they have the money to fund it the way it needs to be funded in order to do it well remains to be seen.”

Channel 4 director of radio Nathalie Schwarz said her aim was to help independent production companies thrive.

She said: “To date, most independent commissioning comes from the BBC, and commercial radio does very little for the independent companies. Just as Channel 4 television has helped flourish the independent sector in the last 25 years, we would hope to play the same role in radio.”

She said the E4-branded station could see dramas similar to the digital TV channel’s output, and named Shameless and Skins as two that could be formatted for radio.