Caroline Hollick, current Channel 4’s Head of Drama, is to leave the broadcaster, as reported by The Guardian. According to the media, Hollick’s role will be made redundant and brought under the remit of Ollie Madden, the director of Film4, as part of cost-cutting measures and will be run from Channel 4’s London office. This would leave the broadcaster with no senior decision makers living in Leeds, the “city of national HQ”.
The head of drama role is one of more than 200 of Channel 4’s 1,200 staff slated to lose their jobs. A further 40 unfilled positions will not be recruited and the broadcaster said it would sell its £90m headquarters in London and move to a smaller office.
A Channel 4 spokesperson said: “Our fast forward strategy is specifically designed to harness Channel 4’s regional structure and boost investment and job opportunities in all corners of the UK. As we transition to a digital-first public service streamer and protect our long-term sustainability, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions including a reduction in headcount. While this has resulted in departures across all of our locations, we have reduced our out-of-London commissioning team by a lower proportion than our London team, and we remain focused on maintaining our diversity targets, which are ahead of the working population.”
Earlier this week, the broadcasting union Bectu said the decision of senior bosses to accept bonuses at Channel 4 was “a slap in the face” to those whose jobs are being cut. The chief executive, Alex Mahon, the chief content officer, Ian Katz, and the chief operating officer, Jonathan Allan, all accepted reduced bonuses. “In the midst of a very difficult period for the UK’s film and TV workforce and industry at large, news of Channel 4 executives accepting large bonuses is disappointing to say the least,” the union said.