‘Ridiculous' for Channel 4 to start making in-house TV shows, says Sony

South Wales Argus

03-06-2025

Under a new strategy, launched in May, the broadcaster unveiled how it would start to develop in-house production capabilities with a separate company focused on 'entertainment, reality and entertainment genres with international potential'.
Wayne Garvie, the president of international production at Sony Pictures Television, whose company is behind Netflix hit Cobra Kai and Starz series Outlander, told the Media and Telecoms 2025 and Beyond Conference in London on Tuesday that Channel 4's plan is 'ridiculous' and 'it won't work'.
Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon (Ian West/PA)
He added that those 'who run in-house production businesses' know that when you start 'you lose money for the first three years'.
He claimed that Channel 4 is doing this without owning many intellectual rights or having an 'institutional knowledge of how to run a production business'.
Mr Garvie said: 'It could be potentially disastrous for Channel 4, because it's got limited resources. It's got to adapt to a change in (the) broadcast market.'
However, he did praise outgoing Channel 4 chief executive Alex Mahon with helping the broadcaster continue, but pointed out that even with 'good people' it is going to take half a decade to make money.
Mr Garvie said the UK having multiple public broadcasters is 'unsustainable', and added: 'The future has got to be, surely, Channel 4 and the BBC coming together, and that should be the focus for a new chair of Channel 4 (who replaces Sir Ian Cheshire).'
Responding later in the day, Ms Mahon said: 'Wayne was a bit excitable this morning, wasn't he?'
She added: 'The good news is that Channel 4 has a sensible, modest, intelligent plan for in-house production, but I do agree with Wayne that it's not easy… to be a producer.'
Ms Mahon also dismissed a 'coming together' of the BBC and Channel 4, saying the UK has 'such a strong public service broadcasting ecosystem' because of the 'plurality and competition'.
She added: 'I think there are ways that we should all operate together, and Freely is the best example of that, but we also shouldn't believe that by popping us all together in one service, we would end up with more impact on the audience.'
Sir Ian Cheshire, the outgoing Channel 4 executive (Ofcom/PA)
Netflix's vice president of content for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Larry Tanz, dismissed that the streaming giant would not have commissioned Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, at the event, which is hosted by Enders Analysis and Deloitte at Convene Sancroft in the St Paul's area.
'(Vice president of UK Content at Netflix) Anne Mensah, and her team in the UK, commissioned Adolescence, Baby Reindeer and Toxic Town for the UK audience first and foremost,' he said.
'Maybe I can finally put that to rest here and say we absolutely would have commissioned Mr Bates in the UK if we had the opportunity, we think our audience would have loved it.'
It follows Wolf Hall director Peter Kosminsky, who has pushed for a levy on streaming companies to finance public broadcasters, which include ITV, BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
Mr Kosminsky told the BBC Two current affairs programme Newsnight that Adolescence, which explores themes such as incel culture and bullying and has been a global hit for Netflix, is a 'fantastic programme', but the streaming giant would not make the show if it was not successful outside the UK.
He claimed that streamers would not make issue-led dramas such as Mr Bates Vs The Post Office and Hillsborough as they are too British-focused, and voiced concerns that public broadcasters do not have the money to finance such commissions.