The Media Act 2024 (the “Act”) signalled the end of the long-standing publisher-broadcaster restriction against Channel 4, enabling it to establish an in-house production company for the first time in its 43-year history. This marks a significant shift in the UK broadcasting ecology as Channel 4 (“C4C”) will, for the first time, compete directly with the independent producers that have historically been its lifeblood. This is where the Statement of Commissioning Policy (“SoCP”) is set to serve an important role, acting as the guardrail designed to preserve fair competition and protect the independent production sector from being squeezed out by Channel 4's own nascent studio.

In its June 2025 draft guidance, Ofcom made it clear that it was not going to permit soft commitments. The SoCP must contain clear, practical detail on Channel 4’s duties regarding commissioning process transparency, internal escalation routes for complaints, and evidence of genuine operational separation between commissioning and in-house production teams. Please see our Law-Now here highlighting the key points of the draft guidance.

After consulting on the draft in June last year, which received overall support whilst also drawing some robust submissions from industry bodies (including Pact) calling for further safeguards, Ofcom has published its final guidance and supporting statement regarding Channel 4’s SoCP.

Key points

Ofcom has largely held the line from its June proposals, but with three telling refinements following industry pushback:

  1. Operational separation: Pact pushed hard for a formal information-sharing protocol between C4C and Channel 4 Productions ("C4P") (the in-house studio), arguing that operational separation means little without clear rules on what intelligence can and cannot flow between commissioners and their in-house production colleagues. Ofcom appears to have listened to this demand: its final guidance now explicitly cites such a protocol as an example of how to prevent information leakage that could skew the competitive landscape.
  2. Fairness and transparency: Here, Channel 4 won a pragmatic concession. The draft guidance required all producers to see commissioning opportunities at the same time. Channel 4 pushed back, noting that targeted callouts (for specialist genres or proven talent) are standard industry practice. The net result is that Ofcom’s revised guidance requires opportunities to be shared at an appropriate time, a subtle but commercially important shift that preserves Channel 4's ability to curate its supplier relationships strategically, whilst still preventing its in-house team from getting an unfair head start.
  3. Dispute resolution in relation to fair competition for commissions: Following concerns raised by Pact regarding being able to bring forward issues on behalf of its members, Ofcom has amended its guidance to clarify it expects C4C to engage with bodies (like Pact) when they raise concerns on behalf of members. This creates a useful avenue for collective grievances without individual producers having to put their heads above the parapet.

The full provisions of the Act associated with these changes commenced on 1 January 2026.

Ofcom’s final guidance takes a familiar position of setting out principles without being overly prescriptive. Nevertheless, the guidance signals that Ofcom will closely scrutinise how C4C operationalises both separation and transparency in practice.

Channel 4 Productions has made recent moves that signal its own ambition. It recently built out its in-house development team and is making targeted acquisitions through its Creative Investment Fund, including the purchase of Firecrest Films last September. An expanded C4P has the potential to reshape commissioning dynamics, particularly if further acquisitions consolidate creative and commercial capability under the C4P structure. It will be Ofcom’s job to oversee a reinvigorated C4C will ensure a fair commissioning playing field.

Next steps

In the coming months, Channel 4 is expected to publish its first annual SoCP following Ofcom’s guidance and its combined SoPP and SoCP before the end of the year. Ofcom will review the extent to which C4C has discharged its new duties at least every five years and may direct corrective action if it finds non‑compliance.

For the latest updates, please refer to Ofcom’s interactive timetable.

We are watching the Media Act’s progress along the roadmap for implementation, so keep an eye out for our updates on our dedicated CMS Media Act Tracker. If you would like to discuss any aspect of the Media Act or how it may affect you, please get in touch.

Co-Authored by Helena Thornby, Trainee Solicitor at CMS