Channel 4's Thompson rejects privatisation

Mark Thompson, Channel 4's chief executive, rejected calls to privatise the troubled channel as he urged the government to discuss ways of guaranteeing the company's funding to ensure its independence and survival in a highly-competitive market.

Thompson, delivering the MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh International TV Festival, said: "Unless the public model for Channel 4 fails utterly, I don't believe that privatisation is the right answer."

"Independence is a vital part of Channel 4's DNA, the basis for its diversity and its editorial courage, and that would be lost if the channel was privatised," he said.

"I believe than an independent and publicly-owned Channel 4 remains the best option for the future," he added.

The company has been aggressively taking action to stay competitive and self-funding, including cutting its overhead by a third and using current profits to build up a reserve fund to protect the programme budget during future advertising downturns.