Channel 4 CEO discusses Derry Girls in Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee session: "It was a very, very risky show to make"

At a Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee session in London this morning, Channel 4's CEO Alex Mahon has described Derry Girls as "a very, very risky show to make" – the likes of which, she fears, would not be possible if the channel were privatised and run solely for profit.

During the session, which was centred around the work of Channel 4 and the plans to privatise it, Mahon stated that "a reasonable worst case [scenario] of privatisation" would be Channel 4 being run "purely for profit maximisation."

Discussing her own previous experience working for private enterprises, Mahon pointed out that she is "very familiar with how to profit maximise", and as such, knows what she "or another CEO might do to profit maximise."

"And that's not how Channel 4 is currently run," she continued. "It is run for public purpose, and our core objective is to deliver on the remit, and to do that in a not-for-profit fashion."

Mahon went on to discuss what would happen if Channel 4 was run solely for "profit maximisation," noting that the CEO would likely "change the commissioning strategy – the kinds of programmes we buy – in order to de-risk it."

Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon. Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee session - July 12 2022. parliamentlive.tv

"It would mean, on television, you wouldn’t see things like the Paralympics," she resumed. "You wouldn’t have seen things like Derry Girls, or It’s A Sin, or even Gogglebox…"

At this point, one of the committee members, Conservative MP Damian Green, specifically asks: "Why wouldn't you do Derry Girls?"

"Derry Girls has turned out to be a huge hit – and is wonderful," Mahon responds. "If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it. But it doesn’t sound great, does it?

"A 1990s comedy about young girls growing up in Derry," she laughs. "No one would have thought that would be really popular. It was a very, very risky show to make. And that goes for many shows that subsequently become popular with the public."

Mahon notes that the creators of shows like Derry Girls, It' A Sin and Gogglebox have all "gone on record saying that no one else would have bought those shows."

Derry Girls' creator Lisa McGee and stars of the show have also previously spoken out against the potential privatisation of Channel 4.

Watch the full Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee session here, and revisit our interview with Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee here.