ITV chairman Michael Grade has opened a bid for a lifeline from the
taxpayer to keep the broadcaster's regional news services on the air.
He
warned MPs on Tuesday that the switch from analogue to digital
televison will leave a £100m "funding gap" in regional news and "public
funding might be worth seriously considering".
Andy Duncan, Chief
Executive of Channel 4, told the cross-party media select committee
that Channel 4 News was unlikely to survive in its present form without
public subsidy.
He said: "Whilst Channel 4 News is a flagship
public service programme on the Channel, it is expensive to make and
has limited potential for revenue raising.
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"As such it is
unlikely to survive in its present form – a one hour peak time
programme, containing 40 per cent international news – in a purely
commercial environment."
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