The chaos currently engulfing the UK government has prompted key figures in the local kids’ industry to consider what a change in administration might mean for the future of Channel 4 and the Young Audiences Content Fund (YACF).With prime minister Boris Johnson desperately trying to cling to power following a deluge of resignations within his cabinet and government this week, panellists at yesterday’s Question Time session at the Children’s Media Conference (CMC) in Sheffield discussed how the uncertainty might affect crucial decisions regarding the YACF and Channel 4. This morning, Johnson finally agreed to resign.Controversially, Channel 4 is set to be privatised, while the YACF has already been closed, but a campaign backed by hundreds in the industry has been launched calling for it to be reinstated.Asked whether a new regime at 10 Downing Street could see either, or both, decisions reversed, the panel of five leading industry figures said U-turns would be welcome, but not necessarily likely under the current government.Discussing Channel 4’s privatisation, Maddy Darrall, co-MD at UK indie Darrall Macqueen, said it would mean the broadcaster would shift to an IP-retention model that would seriously hurt the independent production sector that it has helped grow.However, it was noted by Faraz Osman, MD at UK-based creative agency Gold Wala, that Channel 4 currently commissions few projects for kids, so its potential privatisation would not greatly impact the children’s business.Osman said whatever happens with Channel 4 its remit should be “made more robust” and forced to focus on content for teenagers and young adults, a demographic that other pubcasters aren’t reaching.“We’re being asked as indies to defend Channel 4, and rightly so as we’re worried the indie production sector will collapse without it. But we also need, as a whole industry, to discuss what Channel 4 should be if it isn’t privatised,” he said. “Because if this government does change, in any direction – and this media bill is probably on shaky ground now – and it doesn’t happen and we throw a party, then great. But what is Channel 4 going to be in public ownership? For me, it can’t be business as usual and we all need to discuss what we expect from a Channel 4 that stays in public hands.”Last month it emerged that British actor and producer Idris Elba is in discussions to be part of a £1bn (US$1.2bn) bid for the broadcaster, while ITV, Channel 5 owner Paramount Global, Warner Bros Discovery and Sky owner Comcast are also reported to be in the running to make bids.Meanwhile, the YACF, set up to boost the creation of free-to-access children’s content that reflects the lives of young people in the UK, is judged to have been a huge success by the industry and has supported well over 100 projects with funding since 2019.Mikael Shields, CEO at Acamar Films, said he believed the YACF could “definitely be saved” and praised it for what it achieved in a short period of time.“The rise and fall of the fund was simply due to political support. The cancellation of it is ideological; it’s not to do improving the lives of our children or resources for programming. Could it be reinstated? Absolutely. Is it going to be under the current regime? I doubt it.”Osman added that he doesn’t expect the YACF to be reinstated but that it could return in a different form, potentially involving tax breaks.Marc Goodchild, an independent consultant at Connected Ideas, said he didn’t think the YACF will survive “as it is, but we can keep lobbying to try and find some other intervention which will build on that good work.”Goodchild said within government there are misunderstandings about the children’s media sector and that ministers are unaware of the specific challenges facing the sector.“A lot of people in parliament think we’re going through a boom period in children’s media. They look at Netflix and you could argue that was the case, but not now. Markets have boom periods and they have a trough. We’re in danger of going into a trough. Therefore we need to look very carefully about how we support public service in that mix with the international stuff,” said Goodchild.Seetha Kumar, chief executive at ScreenSkills, agreed that the situation around the YACF, which she said had done good work, presents an opportunity “to come together, which I know this conference is doing, and think about what we mean about public service content in this world.”At the time of writing, more than 50 minsters and aides within the government had resigned whilst urging Johnson to quit following a series of scandals at the top of government, while a large number of his own MPs have written letters calling for him to go. He is now set to resign, instigating a leadership contest within the Conservative Party.This would eventually result in a new cabinet being formed, with the likelihood being that the UK would get its 11th secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport in 11 years.Julia Lopez, who resigned as culture minister yesterday, is the frontrunner to replace Nadine Dorries. A Johnson loyalist, former contestant on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and divisive figure in UK politics, Dorries has had an eventful tenure as culture secretary since taking on the role last year.This included overseeing the closure of the YACF, much to the despair of the industry, freezing the BBC’s annual licence fee at £159 for the next two years, which has resulted in plans to cull linear children’s channel CBBC, and ploughing ahead with hugely unpopular plans to privatise Channel 4, whilst seemingly unsure about how it is actually funded.Research has shown that UK voters are, in the main, against the privatisation, leaving commentators to suggest the government is targeting Channel 4 as an act of revenge for coverage of the administration by Channel 4 News.A recent survey of more than 2,000 people conducted by polling form JL Partners on behalf of political consultancy WPI Strategy found just 16% back the privatisation plan, compared with 37% who oppose it.
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