MAGnet #45 8/04/2022

Magnet #45

Welcome to this week’s edition of Magnet. This week we’re featuring Channel 4’s privatisation,  and  a clever campaign stunt to raise awareness.

Enjoy.

Channel 4 privatisation

     The controversial  decision was made this week to privatise Channel 4. It originally was established by the government in 1982 in order to provide a culturally challenging alternative to BBC One, Two and ITV, and has always been publicly owned but commercially funded. Unlike the BBC,  Channel 4 has no financial support from the taxpayer.

Channel 4 has never been out to make a profit as the money it makes is reinvested in commissioning and buying programmes from mostly British TV production companies, which supports a key national industry.

Analysts  predict that a privatised Channel 4 would face 40% to 50% cuts to its usual programming budget to force its model into a more commercially-focused broadcaster.

Delving deeper into these consequences- it is likely to mean cuts to content that  doesn’t bring in much income from advertising, which Channel 4 relies on for more than 90% of its £1bn annual revenues, such as news. Analysts also believe that as many 60 TV production companies around the UK could be forced to shut if Channel 4 moved to private ownership.

Right now, it’s slated that the industry player most likely to buy Channel 4, is Discovery; a US pay-TV company, which is merging with WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN, HBO and the Hollywood studio behind the Batman and Harry Potter franchises.

However, ITV has been lobbying for a “national champion” takeover, designed to take the political fallout of another buyout of a UK “crown jewel” by a foreign owner.

 The issue for ITV, which said in the 00s that it would bid for Channel 4 if it was combined with another broadcaster as was mooted with Channel 5, is that it would create what amounts to a TV advertising monopoly resulting in significant competition issues.

Campaigns:

The England team played without names on their shirts during the entire second half of the England v Switzerland international, to support Alzheimer’s Society. 

The squad came onto the pitch after half time, sporting nameless shirts to draw attention to how people with dementia lose precious memories, even the names of their favourite football players. 

The partnership between England and Alzheimer’s society  used this one simple gesture  in recognition of the 900,000 people living with dementia,(who could fill Wembley stadium ten times over.)  The shirts are also being auctioned to raise crucial funds for Alzheimer’s Society’s work. It was a perfect way to send the message to thousands of football fans in one clever move.

The powerful stunt drives home that football should be unforgettable- and by this campaign, it’s hoped that by making one simple alteration to the England shirt, for 45 minutes, people can place themselves in the shoes of people with dementia.

Data:

Thinkbox recently announced that the UK ad investment in TV grew by over £1b last year.

The new increase is due to a new interest and confidence in TV from the part of new advertisers, mostly e-commerce. The growth includes ad spend across both linear TV and CTV representing  a 24% year-on-year growth compared to 2020 and total TV investment by online-born businesses increased by 42%.

A big part of the growth is also  attributed to new entrants, Nielsen TV data shows in 2021, 1286 advertisers either spent on TV for the first time or they returned after 5 years.

Lastly, the fastest growing categories are food/delivery and subscription, online marketplaces, and finance.