BBC, Channel 4 Discuss Potential Operations Tie-Up

BBC and Channel 4 held preliminary talks with the UK government on a commercial joint venture that would combine Channel 4's advertising operations, E4, Film4 and video-on-demand services with UKTV, the BBC's commercial subsidiary. The entity could be equally owned by both and would exclude Channel 4's flagship channel. UK Government Investments is involved and declined to comment. Both broadcasters backed greater public-service collaboration. A BBC spokesperson said increased collaboration is vital in a competitive global market. Channel 4 said it welcomes working together and already sells ads for UKTV. Claire Enders called such a tie-up a perennial that flowered every so often and said Channel 4 is far from a failing firm after winning Channel 5's ad sales. Channel 4 CEO Priya Dogra has ruled out a full merger but is open to iPlayer content sharing. Matt Brittin said on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg the BBC would not guarantee any programme or channel will exist forever. The BBC plans to cut 550 jobs to save £500 million over three years. Channel 4, after cutting its 2025 pre-tax deficit to £10 million, plans about 340 job cuts. Sale of Channel 4 was scrapped in 2023 following a 2022 announcement under Boris Johnson.