...but increase promised for 2014

Channel 4 cut the number of hours and the budget it dedicated to comedy last year.

But in its annual report it has vowed that there will be an increase in spending on the genre in 2014, despite cuts to other departments.

In 2012, Channel 4 made 68 hours of original comedy, but in 2013, this was slashed by a quarter to just 51. The report said this was partly down to the Funny Fortnight which ran in 2012, but not repeated the following year.

The broadcaster also cut its sending on comedy – both home-grown and imported – but by a much more modest six per cent, from £66million to 62million.

Programmes such as The Last Leg and Stand-Up For The Week come under Channel 4’s entertainment department, whose budget was cut from £124 million in 2012 to £101million in 2013 and whose broadcast hours fell from 1,071 to 779.

On budgets, the report said: ‘Overall content spend will see a planned modest reduction in 2014, though notably comedy and factual entertainment will have an increase.’

Head of comedy Phil Clarke wrote in the document: ‘Of all TV genres, comedy is the most difficult to get right and the easiest to get wrong’ – but said C4 had got it right last year because it ‘entertained millions of viewers… stimulated debate, promoted alternative viewpoints and nurtured new talent’.

He added that there were three strands to C4’s comedy output: ‘There’s the genuinely alternative voice, like Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy, or Toast of London – things you really won’t find anywhere else. Then there’s the “big joke: strand, where there are big laugh out loud jokes and big energy – shows like Man Down. And the third strand, which I want to do more of, is witty, acerbic, knowing comedies. You might not laugh out loud, but they’re clever and sophisticated. You admire them.’

In the latter camp, he said: ‘Watch out for Scrotal Recall’ – in which a character played by Cardinal Burns star Dustin Demri-Burns contacts everyone he's ever slept with to tell them he has chlamydia.

Clarke also explained that he wanted to make sure original voices were heard rather than trying to artificially try to appeal to the largest audience, saying: ‘ When it comes to working with a particular writer, we would never say “Oh, I don’t think many people are going to like that.” We try to work with writers to hone what makes them unique and original.’

In the entertainment genre, C4’s head Justin Gorman, summed up 2013 by praising The Last Leg as ‘audacious, live [and with] a brilliant talent line-up working well together’, Stand Up for the Week for being ‘provocative’ and 10 O’Clock Live for its ‘unique voice’.

Published: 8 May 2014