Speaking at the Royal Television Society 2006 conference, Andy Duncan, Channel 4 chief executive, said that the broadcaster could face a funding gap of more than £100m a year, according to current estimates, equating to a 6%-7% loss this year alone.
Duncan said that the messages the broadcaster was hearing from advertisers and their agencies were pointing to decline of advertising budgets and that Channel 4 was not planning for "advertising market growth next year".
Duncan said the company was talking to regulator Ofcom about measures of how to plug the gap in budgets, but was not in favour of a "straight privatisation", which he though would destroy its public service remit
Broadcasters, including outgoing ITV chief executive Charles Allen, have opposed the any call for a subsidy for a Channel 4 subsidy, possibly backed by a share of the licence fee.
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