Channel 4 makes small profit, 4oD moves into the black

UK ad supported public service broadcaster Channel 4’s digital channels helped it make a small profit of £300,000 (€364,000), despite massive losses for its main channel.

The main network made a loss of £61.6m as a result of a 14% decline in advertising revenues compared to last year. However, its digital channels – E4, Film4 and More4 – recorded revenues of £181.3m and profits of £53.4m.

4oD, the broadcaster’s video-on-demand service, also saw £3m profits compared to a loss of £7.3m the previous year and helped its Future Media Division £32.8m revenues. 4Rights, its licensing and distribution arm, also performed strongly, increasing revenues by £10.2m this year to £44.8m, as a result of increased secondary sales of its show to broadcasters including Dave and Discovery.

Chief executive David Abraham said: “It’s credit to everyone working here that Channel 4 has come through a sharp downturn with our share of advertising revenues and ratings and our cash reserves intact and that we’ve continued to deliver creative excellence despite having significantly less money to spend on content.”