What you need to know about the privatisation of Channel 4

theguardian.com:

The industry player most likely to buy Channel 4, with the least regulatory hurdles, is Discovery. The big US pay-TV company, which is merging with WarnerMedia, the parent company of CNN, HBO and the Hollywood studio behind the Batman and Harry Potter franchises, expressed interest the last time the broadcaster faced privatisation in 2016.

The company, which has a mix of free and pay-TV operations, continues to be highly active in the UK market, striking a deal with BT in February to launch apay-TV sports joint venture including BT Sport, which has rights to sports including football’s Premier League and Champions League.

However, ITV has been lobbying Whitehall about the possibility of a “national champion” takeover, designed to take the political fallout of yet another buyout of a UK “crown jewel” by a foreign owner. The issue for ITV, which said in the noughties that it would bid for Channel 4 if it was combined with another broadcaster as was mooted with Channel 5, is that it would create what amounts to a TV advertising monopoly resulting in significant competition issues.

There will also be significant interest from private equity buyers, although Channel 4’s remit would have to be changed to allow a non-trade buyer to make profits from the business.

Channel 4’s remit has never been to make a profit – the money it makes is reinvested in commissioning and buying programmes from mostly British TV production companies, helping to support a key national industry.

Analysts believe that a privatised Channel 4 would face 40% to 50% cuts to its £660m programming budget – spent on content such as news and current affairs, Gogglebox and It’s a Sin – to force its model into that of a commercially-focused broadcaster.

This is likely