Channel 4 has announced that none of its senior executives will move to Leeds as part of its relocation.
The broadcaster confirmed Monday’s report that up to 90 per cent of staff are expected to quit rather than move out of London.
Chief executive Alex Mahon said: “We’ve always been very clear that the execs will not be based there because it’s too small an organisation for me to pull that apart.”
“We’ve always expected – and have been very clear – that previous moves by the BBC show that 70 per cent to 90 per cent of people won’t be able to take up the jobs, or will not choose to. It’s often because people are in dual-income families. The great thing about that is that it makes lots of jobs available,” she added.
Around 300 out of 800 staff are relocating to new offices, with the majority going to the new HQ (a converted nightclub) in Leeds.
Top executives will not be affected by the upheaval, but some heads of departments will relocate as part of the move.
Speaking at the release of Channel 4’s 2018 annual report, Mahon also said that its youth channel E4 lost a tenth of its 18-34-year-old viewers in a year.
Channel 4 News also lost a tenth of its audience (despite winning awards for its Cambridge Analytica coverage), partially blaming “Brexit fatigue” among audiences.
The company is also in discussions with ITV and the BBC about joining the upcoming Britbox streaming service, along with BT.
