Channel 4 has unveiled new leadership for its Commissioning team, built around three Director roles reporting to the Chief Executive. Louisa Compton and Kiran Nataraja, alongside a third Director yet to be recruited, will together lead the Commissioning team. The structure will come into effect when Ian Katz leaves the channel later this year.  The […]

Channel 4 has announced that Chief Content Officer Ian Katz will step down from his role this autumn, after almost nine years leading the UK public service broadcaster’s content strategy. Katz is the longest serving content chief in Channel 4’s history. During his tenure, he has presided over a period of creative and commercial success, […]

Channel 4 has appointed Art Sejdiu as Head of Commissioning Development. Sejdiu’s enhanced role will see him take on responsibility for overseeing the development of unscripted projects, working closely in collaboration with genre HoDs, commissioners and the indies pitching them. He will also be tasked with identifying new opportunities for development across the slate. ‌Sejdiu […]

BARB data for the year to date shows Channel 4 streaming passing a new record for young streamers, as well as Channel 4’s best ever streaming week as Married at First Sight UK and The Great British Bake Off led its peers on other platforms. Almost half (47 per cent) of all Channel 4 16-to-34 […]

Ian Katz, Chief Content Officer at UK PSB Channel 4, has said the channel is not planning to follow the lead of fellow PSB ITV in seeking to recruit a Head of Generative AI to help create ‘shows, films and digital-first content’. Addressing a meeting of the Broadcasting Press Guild in London, Katz said that […]

Channel 4 has unveiled what it calls its “biggest-ever intervention in the UK creative industries”, with a package of measures focused on three core areas – skills, content, and people – to serve and reflect the whole of the UK. This includes a £10 million (€11.9m) per annum, multi-year programme to support TV production roles, […]

Channel 4 Chief Creative Officer Ian Katz, speaking at the Wales Screen Summit, declared out-of-London producers “the most important voices in the privatisation debate” as he reminded the industry that the Government White Paper makes no commitment to the nations and regions under a private owner. In an interview following his keynote speech, Katz said there remains a “long legislative […]

Channel 4’s proportion of commissions and spend in the Nations and Regions hit an all-time record high last year. Two thirds of all original programming commissioned for the main channel was produced in the Nations and Regions – nearly double the broadcaster’s 35 per cent quota set by Ofcom. Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer, Ian […]

Channel 4 has appointed Naomi Sesay as Head of Creative Diversity, reporting into Emma Hardy, Director of Commissioning Operations,. Sesay was previously Interim Head of Creative Diversity for Channel 4 in 2019 “At Channel 4, we are committed to increasing diversity on and off screen, so it is great to welcome Naomi back to Channel […]