The Media Club · 11 September 2026 · 43 min

Channel 4 to become Channel ¾

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Matt Deegan hosts with Broadcast insights editor Rebecca Cooney and, making his Media Club debut, Bauer Media Advertising MD Simon Kilby. The main story is Channel 4's confirmation of the biggest job cuts in its 43-year history — around 340 roles, roughly a quarter of the workforce, to go by the end of the year under new chief executive Priya Dogra, with around half of commissioners at risk and unscripted departments being merged. Rebecca questions whether the nations and regions commitments will survive and whether programme budgets will be protected. The panel also covers Indie Lab analysis showing 40% of small indies could run out of cash within two years, Ofcom's consultation on relaxing advertising, product placement and sponsorship rules for public service broadcasters, and the BBC pay dispute. Simon Kilby discusses Bauer's Soundcheck Europe research showing advertisers plan to hold or grow audio spend, the relaunch of KISS, Zoe Ball's new Greatest Hits Radio afternoon show, and Bauer's new 'Own Every Moment' cross-platform proposition. The episode closes with the Audio Network Media Quiz, themed around a daytime antiques show, covering Monty Don leaving Gardeners' World, Sir Tom Jones leaving The Voice, and ITV's The Box being beaten in the ratings by an Antiques Roadshow repeat.

Key takeaways

Channel 4 confirmed around 340 job losses, roughly a quarter of its workforce, by the end of the year — the biggest cuts in its 43-year history.
Around half of Channel 4 commissioners are at risk, with unscripted departments being merged and scripted/comedy likely combined.
Indie Lab analysis found 40% of small UK indies could run out of cash within two years, with average reserves around £40,000.
Ofcom opened a consultation on relaxing advertising, product placement and sponsorship rules for public service broadcasters.
Bauer's Soundcheck Europe research found most advertisers plan to hold or grow audio spend, though audio's share of spend still lags time spent.
In the quiz: Monty Don is leaving Gardeners' World, Sir Tom Jones has been dropped from The Voice, and ITV's The Box was beaten by an Antiques Roadshow repeat.

In this episode

Intro and plus-ones0:00 · Matt welcomes Rebecca Cooney and debut guest Simon Kilby, who pick Tim Cook and Zoe Ball as their people of the week.
Channel 4 job cuts0:00 · Rebecca explains the scale of the cuts, the commissioner risk, and the impact on nations and regions.
Small indie cash reserves0:00 · Discussion of Indie Lab analysis showing 40% of small indies could run out of cash within two years.
Ofcom advertising consultation0:00 · Rebecca and Simon discuss relaxing ad, product placement and sponsorship rules for PSBs.
News round-up0:00 · BBC pay dispute, Trump administration intervention on prominence, Netflix price rises, Zoe Ball launch.
Simon Kilby interview0:00 · Bauer's audio advertising outlook, KISS relaunch, talent strategy, Soundcheck Europe and Own Every Moment.
Audio Network Media Quiz0:00 · Going, Going, Gone — Monty Don, Sir Tom Jones and ITV's The Box.
Outro and plugs0:00 · Rebecca plugs Broadcast and Talking TV; Simon plugs the Future of Media Conference.

Notable quotes

Channel 4 is going to cut 28% of their workforce before the end of the year. It's the biggest round of redundancies in the broadcaster's 43-year history.

Matt Deegan4:35

We're looking at about 340 job losses of sort of just over 1,270 jobs in total.

Rebecca Cooney4:17

There is a sense within the industry that the commissioning team was very, very chunky and perhaps that it could have been slimmed down.

Rebecca Cooney0:00

The question here is around the amount of money in our market that now is going to platforms that, in complete contrast to Channel 4, do not do societal good, but actually increasingly are doing societal harm.

Simon Kilby9:18