Ever since Channel 4 began broadcasting on 2 November 1982, it has courted controversy and innovation in equal measure. Maggie Brown considers its contribution to education.
About the Author: Maggie Brown was one of the founder journalists of The Independent, is a frequent contributor to The Guardian and other periodicals and is the author of A Licence to be Different: The Story of Channel 4 (2007).
Right from the start Channel 4 was expected to provide a fresh approach to educational programmes for all age groups. The new station also reflected its founder Jeremy Isaacs’ love of the arts, from poetry to opera and ideas, which contributed to its often high minded early tone. He insisted on a weekly books programme, and regular seasons of operas, presented ‘as live’. This was reinforced by the austere personalities shaping Channel 4’s original remit at the Independent Broadcasting Authority, who came from the world of education. Accordingly the channel, at launch, was asked to dedicate a minimum of 15 per cent of its output to education in its broadest sense, a big public service commitment. But then it was being subsidised by ITV.
The task of conjuring up so many hours - 400 a year - fell to Naomi Sargant, herself a founder of the Open University. She did this by pioneering a wide range, from consumer advice (For What It’s Worth) to gardening (Gardeners’ World and Plants For Free) and The Wine Programme, the first of its kind. Almost by accident, in her choices, she championed the kind of ‘soft learning’ and lifestyle programmes which later became commonplace. Some, when placed in prime evening hours, achieved unexpectedly high ratings for the channel’s early days, when it was roundly criticised for programmes of variable quality - some were downright unwatchable.
The role in education was greatly expanded and made more specific in 1993, when Channel 4 was also required to take over ITV’s responsibility to commission schools programmes, spending about ten million pounds a year at the time. This was accepted as part of a deal which saved it from privatisation, but in retrospect was never warmly embraced. The channel, however, tried to complement the BBC (while also dedicating the morning hours after The Big Breakfast ended at 9.30 am until midday) with educational TV aimed at teenagers. This was refined later in 1998 under a new licence which strengthened its role in training, specifically to helping teenagers outside of the class room with programmes about life skills and the world of work. It also for a time ran Homework High, for teenagers taking GCSEs.
The channel’s commitment to schools programming however, was fatally undermined in 2001, when education became part of the (now discontinued) 4Ventures, a commercially run arm of the broadcaster. It was moved from being a core area of public service content to an activity expected to make money. This was a controversial diversion. As a result, specific educational content targeted at teenagers, the 14-19 year olds, went into sharp decline, the low point marked by a Teen Big Brother, in which a couple had unprotected sex. This policy was abruptly abandoned in 2006 when the channel’s managing editor and acting head of education Janey Walker took the matter in hand.
Channel 4 realised it had drifted too far from its public service duties. Also, hardly any teenagers were watching its morning programmes. The new commissioning team headed by Matt Locke, brought in from the BBC, with editor Alice Taylor, have laid plans for a complete revamp, to migrate much of the fresh content onto the web using social networking sites, and gaming techniques. These will lead eventually to programmes on the themes of careers, entrepreneurship and privacy aimed at 14-19 year olds, and other web content based on Channel 4 programmes, such as history.
Two thirds of the current £6 million schools budget is being invested in cross platform commissions during 2008. However, the 330 hours of schools programmes a year will continue in the morning, to pay lip service to the channel’s licence. Meanwhile Channel 4 continues with its tradition of more general educational programming, for example, Richard & Judy’s wine club and book club, though Channel 4 is expected to start reintroducing more bracing educational programming.
Maggie Brown