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Let's imagine that I'm one of those opinion poll interviewers lurking outside a Tube station to ask passersby how many public service broadcasters there are in Britain. My hunch, based on my own admittedly unscientific straw poll, is that the overwhelming majority would answer: "One." Which is? "The BBC." The fact that Channel 4 is the nation's alternative public-service broadcaster is largely unknown outside the media and political elites. It is widely regarded by viewers as an ITV spin-off, a commercial station with a mixture of highbrow programmes plus some unconventional, and rather entertaining, American imports.
The misconception stems in the main from its broadcasting of adverts and partially from its own failure to promote itself as a not-for-profit public body. And that failure is coming home to roost as C4 strives to stave off an increasingly grave funding crisis.
It cannot count on the wave of support the BBC enjoys whenever its funding is threatened.
Though there is a loyal segment of the public that likes what it screens - an appreciation of "high-quality" public service programming evidently registered in recent research - it is not translated into public sentiment. This makes the job of the Big Brother broadcaster's chief executive Andy Duncan that much more difficult as he pleads for a slice of the licence-fee cake in order to compensate for falling revenue.
Advertising is slipping away. An advertising fall could be seen as cyclical but few commentators, or broadcasters, believe it will return soon. Even when it does, it will not do so in anything like the volume of past years. Digital fragmentation is changing the landscape for ever, and the market will no longer provide enough funding for a vibrant C4.
Worse, far worse, is the loss of C4's analogue spectrum subsidy, which falls in value with each passing year and, come analogue switch-off in 2012, will be worth nothing at all. In effect, it is that £150 million shortfall that is exercising Duncan. Long term, he must find a way of raising at least that sum in order to preserve C4's output at its current level. Short term, he is preparing to save £10 million a year for the next two years by cutting back C4's spend on programmes. The danger of cutbacks is obvious. If quality slides, the channel may well lose viewers.
That, of course, is the background to Duncan's appeal to the Government - and to anyone else who will listen - for the licence fee to be top-sliced in C4's favour.
He believes that his channel's existence is essential to maintain public service plurality. I am beginning to believe that his message has also been understood by the BBC.
Over recent weeks, the corporation has clearly had a change of mind, if not of heart, about its feisty rival. Where its executives once scoffed at Duncan's demand for fee money, they have begun to soften their stance. So the BBC made overtures to C4 on Monday by offering help that stops short of allowing the channel to dip its hand into the fee pot. Among its proposals is a promise to share its resources more widely, assistance with regional news-gathering and the possibility of exploiting ITV and C4 programmes internationally through its own commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. The BBC also floated the idea of including an internet TV version of Freeview.
In public, Duncan appeared less than delighted at the BBC's offer. In a formal response welcoming the BBC's comments about partnership, he added: "To be meaningful, these proposals need to be more than warm words and make a material difference to our funding model."
In private, however, I suspect that Duncan is rather pleased. The BBC has come round. It is no longer thumbing its nose at C4. Its wiser heads will have realised the merit of public service plurality while, understandably, wishing to protect the corporation from any encroachment into a licence fee that it already believes to be too little to carry out its own obligations.
Duncan will have noted that the BBC now wants to do a deal. Reaching a compromise won't be easy, of course, because £150 million is a hefty sum to make up, given that C4's ad income last year was £852.2 million and it spent £624 million on programmes.
Although the BBC has rudely suggested that C4 cuts costs, if Duncan were to fire his whole staff he wouldn't save much more than £50 million. His overheads are only four per cent of his business, after all.
What the BBC surely appreciates is that C4 is a complementary public service broadcaster that often punches above its weight. Its evening news show hosted by Jon Snow is a perfect example. I know of at least one senior BBC network controller who thinks it is first class. Similarly, I have heard praise from BBC journalists for C4's Dispatches. The Cutting Edge series of films was also admirable.
Given that C4 alone commands an 8.4% audience share and 11.9% once its digital channels - E4, More4, Film4 and 4Music - are included, it clearly retains the affection and attention of a very healthy slice of the nation's viewers. There must be some way of ensuring its future.
