Speaking today (11 February) at the House of Lords Communications Committee inquiry into the future of public service broadcasting, Carter revealed that several commercial companies had approached the Government with "interesting ideas" regarding the creation of a new, enlarged public service broadcasting entity to rival the BBC.
Last month, in his Digital Britain report, Carter proposed that Channel 4 should be at the core of an enlarged provider of public service broadcasting beyond the BBC. The report suggested a merger or some other form of tie-up with BBC Worldwide could underpin the new public service broadcaster.
In recent weeks, Five has stepped up its bid to gain support for its plan to merge with Channel 4 - as a potential basis for the enlarged new entity - although Channel 4 is opposed to such a move.
Today, Carter said the planned PSB entity should "mainly be publicly-owned and that it will have a big PSB remit", but he added: "Could you imagine private capital in this [entity]? Yes."
He said that while there "may be merit" in some combination between a revised Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide, "we are also of the view that there may be private parties involved".
Carter hinted that the Government was opposed to privatising Channel 4 as a solution to its future funding shortfall, which the broadcaster estimates could be £150m within a few years. He said: "Why would you sell a media asset that is declining in value in the worst [media and economic] market in years?"
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