Digital TV helps C4 to break even - graduate jobs

Channel 4 bosses have credited staff with getting it through last year's "sharp downturn", as digital TV helped the broadcaster offset declining advertising revenues.

The broadcaster managed to break even thanks to record digital profits and strict budgeting - despite experiencing the worst advertising downturn in more than two decades, it said.

Channel 4's Report and Financial Statements for 2009 showed it achieved a surplus of £300,000, compared with £1.8 million the year previously.

Digital TV brought a £53.4 million profit - as well as £3 million from its online/on demand sections - which helped compensate a £61.6 million loss on its core channel.

The fall in advertising revenues, which plunged 10% in the year to £706.7 million, has never been seen before by the 28-year-old broadcaster, and TV advertising as a whole dropped nearly 12%.

Chief executive David Abraham said: "It's credit to everyone working here that Channel 4 has come through such a sharp downturn with our share of advertising revenues and ratings and our cash reserves intact and that we've continued to deliver creative excellence despite having significantly less money to spend on content.

"We have created a stable financial base that allows us to commit with confidence to a fresh round of creative and commercial innovation, renewing Channel 4's schedules post-Big Brother and positioning ourselves to take advantage of the opportunities that arise from the ongoing convergence of television and other media."