Media Forum: Should Channel 4 link up with the BBC?

Channel 4 is reportedly keen on forming a strategic alliance with the BBC. Is this a good idea, Alasdair Reid asks.

Before the start of this year's Big Brother Channel 4 was regarded by many as a rather classy organisation, the closest thing, in fact, that you could get to the BBC while still being involved in the dirty world of advertising. And there are those who believe Channel 4 is a vision of what BBC terrestrial television could become once the corporation's ambitions have been scaled back.

It is a vision of a broadcaster that is modern and sophisticated but avoids being elitist and obscure. Arty without being self-indulgent Intelligent without being intimidating. Commercially astute without being trashy.

OK, so Channel 4 has embraced trash TV in a big way with this year's Big Brother but its position is by no means irredeemable. Andy Duncan, the new chief executive, will surely steer it back to a more viable long-term position - starting with a proposal to form closer contacts with his former employer, the BBC. Last week, in what must be seen as a major 'kite-flying' exercise, Duncan told staff he regarded collaboration with the BBC as a potential way of ensuring Channel 4's future in a fragmented, multichannel world.

There are no detailed proposals on the table as yet but, if you use a bit of imagination, you can see plenty of scope for co-operation. Co-production on the programming side, for instance. International sales of existing content, the development of interactive functionality or joint marketing initiatives related to, say, activity on the BBC-controlled digital platform, Freeview. Or even, if legislation could be tweaked, more substantial joint ventures.

Is Channel 4 thinking along the right lines? Or should it be concentrating its efforts on increasing its leverage in the commercial airtime market by, for instance, forging closer links with five on the sales side?

Tom George, the managing director of Mediaedge:cia, says it would be a mistake to imagine the public service notion and the commercial sides are mutually exclusive. He says: 'It's hard to comment any further than that, because there isn't much to go on in terms of concrete details, but I don't think seeking an alliance with the BBC would necessarily mean Channel 4's commercial remit would have to be diluted. If it involved things such as programming, it could strengthen Channel 4 commercially. Advertisers and agencies would certainly welcome it if it means stronger programming and bigger audiences.'