A row has broken out between top execs at today’s Deloitte Conference, with departing Channel 4 boss Alex Mahon refusing to take Sony international chief Wayne Garvie’s criticism lying down.
Responding to Garvie’s critique of the new Channel 4 in-house productions biz and his declaration that PSBs will need to combine in future, Mahon said two hours later at the London conference that Garvie was “a little high on his own supply.”
“Wayne got a bit excitable this morning didn’t he?,” said Mahon during her keynote. “The good news is that Channel 4 has a sensible, modest, intelligent plan for in-house production. But I do agree with Wayne that it’s not easy to be a producer.”
Earlier, Garvie, who oversees labels that make Doctor Who, Industry and Sex Education, described the plan for Channel 4 in-house production as “preposterous” and “potentially disastrous” for the nation’s irreverent public broadcaster.
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On his notion that the “future surely is the BBC and Channel 4 coming together,” Mahon joked that Garvie is the “grandmaster of chess pushing all the PSBs together.” But she pushed back on this, saying that “plurality and competition” lead to a strong broadcasting ecosystem and saying the audience would suffer if PSBs started combining.
Mahon will soon exit Channel 4 to join live events firm Superstruct.
Mahon was speaking at the Deloitte and Enders Media & Telecoms 2025 and Beyond Conference after the likes of Garvie, BBC boss Tim Davie, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy and Netflix EMEA Chief Larry Tanz.