A warning from television history
David Black
9 August 2023
Earlier this year, in yet another government U-turn, a plan to privatise Channel Four was quietly dropped. But considering how much the content has been dumbed down since its ‘golden age’, should anyone have cared? No and yes.
Channel 4 was launched in 1982. Its first chief executive was Sir Jeremy Isaacs, a ground-breaking maker of television documentaries, such as the award-winning World at War series. With a strong team of commissioning editors, Isaacs encouraged upcoming talent to produce documentaries, arts programmes, and dramas. And so they did.
If you could time-travel back 40 years to spend three evenings watching Channel Four from 25-27 July 1983, you could watch the following:
Communes and Windups. Self-sufficiency series visits communes in Wales and Scotland.
The Best of CLR James. Veteran Caribbean Marxist historian affirms the legacy of Marx and Lenin and argues –contrary to the practice of the Soviet Union – socialism means democracy.
A Veiled Revolution. On the regression of the status of women in Egypt under the rise of Political Islamism.
For What it’s Worth. Exposure of consumer rip-offs by Penny Junor and Which? magazine.
Brookside. Scouse, leftish, working class soap opera, which had 9 million viewers at its peak.
Eastern Eye. Asian-oriented magazine programme tackling the controversy over arranged marriages.
Ulster Landscape. Exploration of ruined castles and settlements in Northern Ireland.
Opinions. Jonathan Steinberg, banker turned Cambridge academic on the current economic crisis.
Letters Home. A 90-minute drama about the life, poetry and suicide of Sylvia Plath.
Mozart. Piano concerto number 24 in C minor at the Helmsley Festival.
Bake Off. Munchy hour.
Now compare with the output for 25-27 July 2023:
Sky Coppers. Police PR.
999: On the Frontline. Ditto.
First Dates. Cringe Porn.
George Clarke’s Old House. Renovating your way up the property ladder.
Britain’s Most Expensive Housing. Mansion porn.
The Girl from Plainville. Crime drama mini-series. US import.
Gogglebox. Celebrity couch-potatoes discussing bad TV programmes.
Dog Academy. Therapy/training for dogs and their owners.
Supervet. Tearjerker for animal lovers with ‘cutting edge’ surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick.
Sun, Sea and Selling Houses. Rain-soaked post-Brexit Brits expating to sunny Spain.
Get the picture? In 1983 C4 was a “public service broadcaster”. What is it now?
According to the Daily Mail’s Stephen Glover:
“I’m afraid the rot began with the appointment of Michael Grade as his successor. Jeremy Isaacs is said to have wept when he heard that Lord Grade (as he now is) was to replace him…. Michael Grade plunged Channel 4 downmarket, sanctioning tacky programmes such as The Word magazine show (featuring viewers eating worms or bathing in pig’s urine), Eurotrash (nudity and transvestism) and Dyke TV.”
Glover, in this screed written back in 2011, seemed to see the changes as stemming from moral degeneracy and “pornography” (a present-day Daily Mail hack would no doubt complain about “wokery”). However, Glover also noted, “Only a few months earlier, Isaacs had criticised him [Grade] for his obsession with ratings while he was BBC director of programmes.” So it was all about driving ratings-determined revenue. It still is; only more so.
Recently, Phil Redmond, creator and producer of Brookside, told the Daily Telegraph (28 October 2022) that in the 1980s,
“What we had then was this British ingenuity, creating something out of nothing … And it was good. It was great for a while. Then telly folk got involved. The ’90s became a time where people just wanted to be ‘in telly’.”
As regards Channel 4’s current bosses, Alex Mahon and Ian Katz, Redmond says, “I think they really don’t understand what Channel 4 is about any more.”
Have they lost sight of the original remit?
“Absolutely. It’s gone completely. I’d characterise it now as a privileged clique, making programmes for a particular audience but actually not contributing enough to the public service debate.”
Also, the ratings are down. Deadline (5 June2023) reports that for May this year Channel 4’s UK reach stood at 35.8M, down 3.5M on May last year; and its UK network audience share was down to 4.48% – the worst four-week period in its 40-year history. This isn’t just a problem for C4. With the inexorable rise of non-linear outlets such as You Tube and Tik Tok, linear TV viewing has dropped across all age groups, but has fallen 23% year-on-year among 16 to 24-year-olds, who now watch a third less than they did in 2010, preferring instead to watch online.
if there is good reason for keeping the channel as public-service broadcasting it has to be Channel Four News, which retains a sense of independence of the Tory/Blue Labour establishment which effectively calls the tune for the BBC’s Newsnight. C4News still has moments to savour: like when anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy had a hot mic moment after a “robust” interview with Northern Ireland minister, Steve Baker. Thinking he was off-air Guru-Murthy quipped to a colleague, “What a cunt.” Guru-Murthy apologised for this lapse in professional conduct (if not accurate judgement) and got the very light sentence from the C4 bosses of a week’s banishment. The BBC would likely have sacked him.
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