EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 has no plans to review record levels of executive pay in recent years despite the UK network’s ambition to radically reduce its cost base.
Deadline understands that Channel 4’s board is not giving active consideration to reducing the pay packets of top executives amid a broader strategic review at The Great British Bake Off broadcaster, which will result in 340 layoffs before the end of the year.
Alex Mahon and Ian Katz were the highest-paid CEO and chief content officer in Channel 4’s history, and executive remuneration often became a lightning rod for disquiet about the network’s performance.
The pay levels contributed to a feeling that Channel 4 became “bloated” and inefficient under Mahon’s regime, with these concerns resurfacing after new CEO Priya Dogra announced last week that the broadcaster will cut more than a quarter of its workforce. Mahon declined to comment.
Mahon pocketed total pay of £8.46 million ($11.3M) during her tenure, which was up 33% on her predecessor, David Abraham. Katz earned £4.2M in his first six years as chief content officer, a 34% increase on what Jay Hunt was paid during an equivalent period of time. Channel 4 top brass came in for criticism during layoffs in 2024, when it was revealed its top three earners would accept bonuses. Katz ultimately decided to forego his.
Channel 4 declined to disclose how much Dogra will be paid, though her earnings will eventually be published next year in the 2026 annual report.
Channel 4’s remuneration committee considers multiple factors when awarding pay, including remit targets, though overall growth is considered a key metric. Channel 4 posted record sales of £1.16 billion on Mahon’s watch in 2021, but the 33% increase in her pay outpaced the company’s revenue growth of 5.6% during her time in charge.
Channel 4 chairs have consistently defended executive pay. Interim chair Dawn Airey said last year that Mahon had done an “extraordinary” job in marshalling the company’s resources towards streaming and growing digital ad revenue.
Not all agree with Airey. “Executive pay is a tiny proportion of Channel 4’s overall costs, but it’s a perception issue. It speaks to the psychology at Channel 4. The notion that Channel 4 was in rude health under Alex appears to be deception in the context of Priya’s cuts,” said a senior producer, summing up the sentiment of many. “If you want to judge the mess, look at the cleanup.”
Channel 4 is slashing its workforce by 28%, with around half of commissioning roles at risk. Channel 4’s drama and comedy teams are being smashed together, with talk of seven roles becoming three, encompassing two genre heads under a scripted chief. Film4 is not part of the changes.
Insiders said the mood is grim and chaotic. Some criticized the way in which layoffs were handled, including that two different groups were invited to meetings on the same day and “it became quite clear quite quickly which was for redundancy and which wasn’t,” according to one.
But Dogra has argued that the changes are essential to ensuring Channel 4 cuts duplication and spends more money on screen. A senior Channel 4 source added that the need to slash costs has been made more urgent by the ad market taking “a dramatic shift down from where all the projections were.”
The redundancies have cast light on Channel 4’s workforce swelling in recent years. The company’s average number of employees increased 50% to 1,276 during Mahon’s tenure, a notable period of expansion compared with the BBC, a fellow public service broadcaster, which cut headcount by 20% under former director general Tim Davie.
This period included a plan to cut 200 jobs in 2024, though Channel 4’s average employee numbers only fell by 67 roles during that year. “You always felt like they were bloated and in the end the previous regime’s inaction has meant the current one is now walking off a cliff edge,” said one regular Channel 4 supplier. A former employee lamented: “They’ve known for ages that having about 50 commissioners was wrong, but weren’t brave enough.”
Mahon’s allies said she changed internal metrics to include long-term contractors, forcing employee numbers up. Mahon was also responsible for delivering on government demands to grow Channel 4’s presence outside of London, though critics said she chose to do this by duplicating rather than displacing jobs.
“To please the politicians, they’ve built these offices and filled them with people, but they haven’t bitten the bullet on how to restructure the center,” said a well-placed industry source. Others pointed out that Channel 4 has made cuts in London and that its Horseferry Road headquarters — which will be put up for sale amid belt-tightening — has been quieter in recent years.
A Channel 4 spokesperson said: “It is important to view past remuneration and workforce numbers in the context of one of the most significant periods of transformation in Channel 4’s history. During this time, the organisation managed the impact of the Covid pandemic, expanded its presence across the UK and accelerated its digital transition to a public service streamer.
“The organisational changes proposed last week are the first stage of a transformation strategy to prioritise content investment, grow Channel 4’s impact and secure long-term sustainability, and will ensure that the organisation is in the right shape and size to deliver that future.”
Dogra’s willingness to grasp the nettle of change has impressed insiders and Channel 4 observers, even if there are reservations about her decision to carve up the chief content officer role. Interviews have been ongoing for the director of programmes, with frontrunners said to include BBC iPlayer boss Dan McGolpin and Twofour CEO David Brindley. Numerous key Channel 4 suppliers characterized this hire as being one of the biggest decisions in Channel 4’s 43-year history.
“The issues facing Channel 4 go far, and it’s going to take time and real creative leadership to turn things around,” said one. Roughcut CEO Ash Atalla, who produces comedies Big Boys and Stath Lets Flats, is among those who have defended Katz’s record, saying he backed “disruptive shows and the troublemaking that is important to Channel 4.”
Dogra has made headway in other ways by poaching Paramount’s £300M TV advertising sales business from Sky, meaning Channel 4 now controls ad sales for Channel 4, 5, and UKTV. David Abraham, Channel 4’s former CEO, said it was the “most significant commercial deal” the company had signed in over a decade.
“It brings together a block of the UK airtime and streaming market, which combines UKTV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, to a scale that is material and distinctive enough from what will become the Sky/ITV block,” said Abraham. “It’s a major feather in Priya’s cap and a big achievement to have done it because it’s not easy doing these deals.”
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