Channel 4 chief predicts 'bland' future for British TV

Published: Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:01:01

Broadcasters' fear of offending audiences will lead to an increasingly bland output on British television, the programming head of Channel 4 has warned. Julian Bellamy told the Royal Television Society the "compliance spiral" within the UK's broadcasting industry threatens to "bland out the medium to no-one's benefit". While the BBC has stressed "creative risk-taking" is "alive and well" at the corporation, Bellamy argued that recent scandals - such as the offensive voicemails row involving Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross - had sparked the broadcaster into a more conservative approach.

Stand-up comedian Frankie Boyle recently confirmed his departure from the BBC panel show Mock the Week was sparked by his own frustration at the programme's producers being wary of "frightening the horses" by broadcasting potentially controversial material. "After a string of scandals about taste and decency, [the BBC] seems to avoid disruptive, potentially controversial ideas like the plague," Bellamy commented. "Time and again, producers tell me this and I believe it."

He added: "If a fear of offending the audience begins to proscribe creative freedoms, then I believe the danger to our broader cultural life is clear. "Our society will become less democratic. Less enlightened. Ultimately, less free."

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