C4 public funding bid 'was tactical error'

Channel 4's deputy chairman Lord Puttnam has accepted that the broadcaster's failed campaign to secure public funding assistance was a "tactical error".

Speaking yesterday on Radio 4's The Media Show, Puttnam said that the strategy pursued by Channel 4's former chief executive Andy Duncan and ex-chairman Luke Johnson left the broadcaster open to accusations of "having cried wolf".

"There was a moment where it looked as though there was going to be a gap [in Channel 4's finances]... a sizeable gap," he said.

"It was never the size that I'm afraid was at one point being claimed and there were those of us on the board that knew that and felt that we made a quite serious tactical error in hopping up and down too early for too much."

Duncan started lobbying for some form of government subsidy almost straight away after joining Channel 4 in 2004. He wanted help in covering the broadcaster's budget shortfall, which at one stage was projected to be £100 million a year by 2012.

However, new Channel 4 chief executive David Abraham has since dropped any calls for funding assistance and instead pledged to keep the broadcaster financially independent.

When asked why Duncan was able to exaggerate Channel 4's financial problems, Puttnam said: "A board is a board and you do your best as a board to keep the show on the road. You're not the chief executive... [you] try to convince the chief executive he's made a mistake."

Puttnam also said that Channel 4 previously endured a "moment of madness" on executive salaries, with Duncan and former director of television Kevin Lygo both earning over £1m a year at one stage.

The deputy chairman said that the situation occurred during the tenure of former chief executive Mark Thompson, who is now in charge at the BBC. He claimed that Thompson has made some "extraordinary misjudgments" at the corporation, particularly on executive pay.

"I think he completely lost the plot in understanding that actually... the moment a person crosses a bridge - which is the salary earned by the prime minister - you've got to start asking a lot of questions," said Puttnam.

"It was a great pity that Mark Thompson, who is a very, very moral man... allowed himself to get trapped into something that became very, very embarrassing for him.

"If someone came along and said, 'Would you like to be controller of BBC One, but I'm afraid we can only pay you £110,423', not a lot of people would say, 'No thank you'."

Puttnam also joined calls for the government to block News Corporation's proposed takeover of Sky in order to ensure a plurality in the British media.