C4 boss sounds death knell for TV comedy

The government is gambling with the entire future of comedy on TV, the head of Channel 4 has claimed.

Mark Thompson says that few broadcasters will take the potentially costly risks of developing new comedies if ownership rules are relaxed under the Communications Bill - leading to the death of the genre.

In an interview in today's Independent he says: "Great situation comedies would not exist without the non-commercial investment of the BBC and Channel 4.

"It's very hard for channels with small budgets - Channel 5 and Sky One would be good examples - to afford to do scripted comedy, and as a result, they don't. ITV does very little scripted comedy."

And he argues that if changes in the Communication Bill allowed Sky to buy Five, things would be worse - as the bigger company could outbid Channel 4 for the lucrative US imports, such as Friends or Frasier, that help fund new British comedies.

"That would be an enormous loss," Thompson added.

And he also claimed the British film industry would be hit by the proposals. "I'm not sure you would have a Four Weddings And A Funeral without a television comedy industry paid for by Channel 4 and the BBC," he said.

Published: 6 May 2003