Channel 4 has announced the termination of 15% of its workforce and stoppage of less financially attractive programmes.

The broadcasting company needed a subsidy of £150m every year up to 2012 to render public broadcasting services and estimated that the cutting of 150 jobs would save £50m a year for the company for the next 2 years.

Channel 4, which is state-owned but commercially funded, claimed that a 5% fall in the advertising revenue compelled them towards terminating the jobs. The company generates annual revenues of £1bn.

The cut would result in less original productions and the broadcast of more repeat programmes by the channel in its schedule. The UK originated material alone would account for two- thirds of the £26m cut from current year’s programming budget.

However, Channel 4 will protect the most important PSB telecasts such as Dispatches and Channel 4 News, but drop non-commercial programmes.

The channel drew attention to its plight most vocally, highlighting that it would face trading loss unless it was helped in bridging a yearly gap of £150m in funding until 2012.

This argument of channel 4 has been accepted in principle by the broadcasting regulator Ofcom. It will be disclosing in a few days about the details of the aid to Channel 4.