Channel 4 have released some dismal financial results for last year, and according to the Guardian newspaper:


  • ad revenues fell by almost a fifth
  • total revenues rose 6.2% year on year to £941.4m in 2011
  • pre-tax profits fell by almost a fifth from £54m to £44m
  • Channel 4 sales, (selling UKTV's airtime) achieved its revenue target of £1bn
  • Total operating profits at Channel 4 fell 18.6% from £49.3m to £40.1m
  • Reported a surplus of £34.5m after tax, and announced a further £5m boost to its 2012 budget for UK-originated content to £455m
  • Channel 4's main network had a tough year with revenues dipping by 19.5% year on year to £622m
  • Operating losses ballooned from £7.7m in 2010 to £42.3m
  • reported its lowest audience share in at least a decade in 2011 at 6.8%



"In our first year without Big Brother we grew portfolio share and stemmed decline on the main channel," said David Abraham, chief executive of Channel 4.

"We remain the commercial leader in video on demand and Film 4 is in rude health; delivering a home-grown creative and commercial hit in the form of The Inbetweeners film. Building on these strong foundations we will continue to engage our audiences with challenging and stimulating content in 2012, investing more money with a wider range of producers."

Abraham announced in January that Channel 4 was planning to report its first overall company loss in at least a decade in 2012, as part of a strategy that includes upping spend on UK-originated programming to a high of £455m.

"Across 2011 Channel 4 underwent the biggest diversification of its schedule in a decade," said Abraham. "I am proud of the range of content we delivered from Top Boy and Black Mirror to Educating Essex, Hugh's Fish Fight and Sri Lanka's Killing Fields."

Channel 4 spent £592m on programming in 2011 with 71% of that, £419m, on original productions. In 2010 original productions and programming accounted for 63% of the total content budget. The broadcaster said 252 new or one-off programmes were aired between 6pm and midnight on Channel 4 last year, a 10% increase on 2010.