Alex Mahon Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Channel 4 is compiling a plan to enact its biggest round of layoffs for more than 15 years, with up to 200 staff potentially in line to be made redundant. The figure would represent around 17% of the network’s overall headcount.

EXCLUSIVE: The former UK chief of one of Europe’s biggest production giants has been drafted in by Channel 4 to advise on the formation of its in-house productions unit.

Channel 4‘s boss has apologised to a former employee for not properly investigating a “serious” allegation made against Russell Brand in 2009.However, the broadcaster found “no evidence” that Channel 4 staff knew about the allegations against Brand in a Dispatches programme before it aired.The 48-year-old comedian was accused of rape, assault and emotional abuse as part of the joint investigation with the Times and Sunday Times. Brand has strongly denied all accusations, which relate to a period between 2006 and 2013.Channel 4’s chief executive, Alex Mahon, said in a statement (via The Guardian): “While the investigation did not find any evidence to suggest that any Channel 4 employees were aware of Russell Brand’s alleged behaviour contained in the programme, it did find that one former Channel 4 employee made a serious and concerning allegation about Russell Brand in 2009.“This was not escalated to Channel 4’s then senior management team, nor investigated as it should have been.

The boss of Channel 4 has apologised to a former staff member for not investigating a “serious” allegation made against Russell Brand in 2009.

“A slap in the face” was the verdict of broadcasting union Bectu to Channel 4 bosses’ decision to accept bonuses this year amidst a 250-staff layoff program.

EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 bosses will take home reduced bonuses in 2024 as 250 staffers are laid off.

Channel 4 has hired a Chief Financial Officer amidst its 250-staff layoff program.

Channel 4 is merging several commissioning departments including TV drama and film and leaving its Horseferry Road premises as the network sets out its layoffs plan and five-year strategy.

Alex Ritman Daniel Battsek, one of the most respected execs in the U.K. film industry, is set to leave his role as chairman of Film4 after eight years at the company. The news was announced in an internal note from Alex Mahon, CEO of Channel 4 (Film4 is its film production division), seen by Variety.

Channel4 chief executive Alex Mahon this morning announced the departure of Film4 Chairman Daniel Battsek who is set to return to the U.S. from March. Read the internal statement below.

An ad for climate change programing in which politicians and business leaders were shown with a ‘carbon skid mark,’ which attracted the ire of Conservative lawmakers, was Channel 4‘s most-complained-about content of 2023.

Channel 4 is in “market shock territory” and may finally look to use its £75M ($94M) revolving credit facility next year, according to CEO Alex Mahon.

Channel 4 bosses will be grilled on the network’s finances, commissioning slowdown and streaming strategy in front of an influential parliamentary committee next week.

EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 has refused to release the findings of an independent review into whether it is an anti-racist organization, saying that putting the document in the public domain would have a “chilling effect” on internal diversity discussions.

“It’s the Alex Mahon show,” was how one seasoned British TV executive characterized the industry’s biennial gathering in Cambridge, chaired by the Channel 4 CEO. 

We’ve got the keys to the weekend, Insider fans. Jesse Whittock here guiding you through the international film and TV stories you need to read to top off the working week. 

Katherine Ryan avoided the “elephant in the room” at the RTS Cambridge tonight by not mentioning Russell Brand during an RTS Cambridge comedy set.

K.J. Yossman A YouTube exec has said disgraced comedian Russell Brand should not be able to “make a living” through the platform but added YouTube currently has no plans to ban him. Pedro Pina, YouTube’s EMEA VP was appearing in conversation with Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon at the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge, U.K, on Wednesday when Mahon asked him about the decision to turn off monetization of Brand’s YouTube channel.

BBC Director General Tim Davie has declined to rule out an external inquiry into the Russell Brand allegations as he stresses the issues surrounding the situation are “not wholly historic.”

Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon has said that the allegations against Russell Brand show that “terrible” treatment of women was tolerated in the British television industry.

K.J. Yossman Alex Mahon, boss of U.K.

Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has vowed to protect traditional TV viewers as she unveils planned research on the future of television in the UK.

EXCLUSIVE: “The UK’s role in the media multiverse” will take up plenty of airtime at the RTS Cambridge Convention, according to Theresa Wise, as the great-and-the-good of the TV industry prepare to gather for the biannual get-together.

Naman Ramachandran James Corden and Emma Thompson are among the industry leaders featuring in the speaker lineup of the U.K. Royal Television Society’s annual convention.

James Corden is to give his first industry interview since leaving the Late Late Show and returning to the UK at the RTS Cambridge Convention next month.

Piers Morgan Added To RTS Cambridge Lineup

K.J. Yossman U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has posted robust revenues of £1.14 billion ($1.475 billion) for 2022. The figure was only a 2% drop from last year’s record £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion). “2022 was operationally and financially a very successful year,” the network’s CEO Alex Mahon told reporters at a press briefing on Wednesday morning local time as the results were announced. One third of revenues came from streams other than traditional linear advertising, Mahon said, and the network also expanded non-advertising revenue to 11% of total revenue. The network also posted strong results in video-on-demand, clocking up 1.4 billion streaming views in 2022, almost the same figure as in 2021, which was boosted by lockdowns. April 2022 was Channel 4’s best month for VOD with 5 billion minutes streamed.

K.J. Yossman The WGA strike has had an impact on U.K./U.S. co-productions, Channel 4’s head of content Ian Katz said today. The strike, which has been running since May 2, has spooked U.K. writers who are too loyal or nervous to engage in conversations with U.S. co-production partners, Katz said at a press briefing on Wednesday morning, where Channel 4 unveiled its 2022 revenue results. “A lot of U.K. writers, either out of a feeling of solidarity with colleagues in the States or concerns about not being able to work in the States, don’t want to be involved in any conversations with U.S. platforms,” Katz said in response to Variety’s question about whether the U.S. strike had had any impact across the pond.

Channel 4 executive pay soared to record highs last year amid industry fury over salaries for senior leaders at the UK commercial broadcaster.

EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4 has axed documentary series Rescue: Extreme Medics after two seasons.

Popular TV dating show Naked Attraction is set to be axed from Channel 4, according to reports.The Mail On Sunday has revealed that a slew of popular programmes – including the risqué Naked Attraction, hosted by Anna Richardson – are due to be cut from schedules following funding cuts. Other series that could disappear include Four Weddings, Scared Of The Dark and medical documentary Rescue: Extreme Medics, with staff allegedly calling it a "bloodbath".

EXCLUSIVE: Channel 4’s top executives have indefinitely deferred their six-figure loyalty bonuses amid a revolt from producers, who have voiced dismay at the British broadcaster pleading poverty as senior leaders pocket record pay packets.

K.J. Yossman The heads of Britain’s four main public service broadcasters gave their verdicts on the current industry climate and the future of PSBs at the Deloitte and Enders Media and Telecoms conference in London on Thursday afternoon. The BBC’s director general Tim Davie, ITV CEO Carolyn McCall, Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon and Maria Kyriacou, Paramount Global’s president of international broadcast and studios (which oversees Channel 5), spoke on a variety of topics including the Media Bill, digital supremacy and even slug sex. Read on for some more highlights from the panel:

UK broadcasters have a responsibility to combat the worst effects of pornography and AI, according to the boss of Channel 4.

K.J. Yossman The U.K.’s National Film and Television School (NFTS) has launched a scholarship in memory of Channel 4 publicist Lesley Land. Land, a highly regarded publicist who worked for Channel 4, died unexpectedly last December at the age of 41. She was honored during the in memoriam segment at Sunday night’s BAFTA TV awards. Her parents Anita and Brook Land have now joined together with Channel 4 and NFTS to create the Lesley Land Scholarship, which will enable participants to study for two years on the school’s MA course in marketing, distribution and sales. The Lands will fund the scholarship, which will support the course tuition fees.

There was a moment last November when Channel 4’s senior executives breathed a sigh of relief.