Channel 4 confirm 200 jobs to go in shake-up

Channel 4 have confirmed a wide-ranging shake-up will result in 200 job losses, including casualties in upper management.
The cuts are part of a programme to reduce operating expenses, and are expected to save Channel 4 up to £36m per year.
Channel 4's director of finance and business, affairs, Janet Walker, was among the first staff members to volunteer for redundancy.
The restructuring will result in a reshuffle of the management team, with current managing director David Scott also taking on the mantle of deputy chief executive, and programme director Tim Gardam promoted to director of television, with responsibility for all Channel 4's TV channels, including youth station E4.
Stuart Cosgrove, the Head of Nations and Regions, sees his position upgraded to Director, while Rob Woodward, currently Managing Director of 4 Ventures, gains the title of Commercial Director of Channel 4. He will be responsible for all Channel 4's commercial relationships, apart from advertising airtime sales, which remain under Andy Barnes, whose title changes from Commercial Director to Sales Director.
Commenting on the plan, Chief Executive Mark Thomson said: "Without access to public funding and without private shareholders to fall back on, Channel 4 can only generate additional investment by increasing its revenues or reducing its cost base. Some jobs will therefore be lost to deliver this fresh investment, but every penny we can transfer from overhead to the screen means a better, richer service to our viewers."
The job cuts, which are subject to a statutory 90-day consultation period, sidelined Channel 4's earlier announcement of a £430m winter programming lineup, a 4% increase from last year's £413m budget.
Highlights of the schedule, widely believed to be a direct challenge to a newly vital Five, include a new series from the makers of Big Brother, 'The Salon', which will go out every weeknight on the channel. Run by nine full-time staff, the show will feature the gossip, makeovers, staff-room banter and beauty-tips, via "discreet cameras and microphones" placed at key locations throughout the premises.
New dramas include '40', a three-part drama revolving around seven people "whose lives are intimately linked by their hidden sexual and emotional secrets". Heading up the cast are Eddie Izzard, Joanne Whalley, Hugo Speer and Kerry Fox.
Returning series include 'V Graham Norton', with a 13-week run beginning in January, 'Sex and the City', 'ER', 'The Sopranos', 'The West Wing', 'The Secret Life Of Us', 'Will and Grace' and 'Bremner, Bird & Fortune'.
Finally, stars coming under the spotlight in 'The Real…' series include glamour model-turned-rocker Sam Fox, former tennis anti-hero John McEnroe and the late skater John Curry.
(GB)