Equity & Inclusion
We’ve led our industry in diversity and inclusion, both as a broadcaster and an employer. From Desmond's, the first black sitcom first broadcast by Channel 4 in 1989, to our ground-breaking coverage of the Paralympic Games, Channel 4 has brought previously neglected experiences and perspectives into the mainstream.
From on-screen initiatives like Black to Front, through to industry-leading commercial initiatives like the Diversity in Advertising Award, our pioneering workplace policies around women’s health and our commitment to being an anti-racist organisation, we’re proud to be progressive – and we’re committed to making an impact. But we know there’s more work to be done to ensure Channel 4’s reality matches its aspirations, on and off screen, and internally.
“Channel 4 was designed to be ahead of the curve and has never stood still”
Our equity strategy
'Equity by Design'
We launched Channel 4’s first equity strategy in March 2024. The strategy was co-designed with our employees, and it guides everything we do as a business.
The strategy’s six principles are as follows:
-
Our decisions consider everyone, and are powered by diverse views and quality data from our employees and audiences.
We seek underrepresented perspectives, consulting those with lived experience and groups representing communities' voices. This includes our employee resource groups (ERGs) who act as strategic partners in identifying issues and potential solutions alongside our functional teams.
-
Our product, content, workplaces, and ways of working are inclusive by design, and showcase the best in accessibility for all.
-
We invest in diverse, inclusive partners who share our values, and we pass our learnings and expertise onto others in our value chain.
We work with like-minded businesses in an increasingly digital world. We launched the 4Ventures’ Untapped scheme in 2024 to bring more investments from underrepresented founders to our attention.
-
We expect the very best from our people, in particular our leaders, and help our industry set the standard in tackling unacceptable behaviour and systemic discrimination.
-
We lead our field in workforce representation, and progressive and inclusive workplace practices, aligning employee experience with our brand values.
We have a number of policies that support our inclusive culture, these include:
See our 2024+ floor levels below.
-
We act on emerging societal issues affecting our employees and audiences.
In June 2020, we set out six new commitments for Channel 4 to be a driver of anti-racism in the industry and improve ethnically diverse representation. Read about our progress here: Anti-Racism Commitments
Other key work in this space includes:
2024+ floor levels
After hitting our ambitious 2023 diversity targets, we’re taking a fresh approach to workforce representation to support our focus on equity. From 2024 onwards, we will stay in line with or ahead of general population (Census 2021) and previous Channel 4 targets by setting ‘floor levels’ we won’t fall beneath. We’ve also set a new goal for ‘non-professional’ socio-economic status and are starting to monitor representation of those with care responsibilities and care experience.
2024+ floor levels:
Data is being tracked on an ongoing basis and published annually.
18% Disabled
20% Ethnically diverse
51% Women
6% LGBTQ+
New goal:
40% Non-professional
Creative Equity
Channel 4 is committed to increasing representation on screen and behind the camera, encouraging greater inclusion, and ensuring that portrayal within our programmes is authentic, challenges stereotypes and reflects the lives of everyone living in Britain today.
The Creative Equity team sit at the heart of Commissioning and work across all genres and platforms. They’re involved at the very start of the commissioning process helping to identify talent and opportunities that help shows to meet our Commissioning Diversity Guidelines. Through the Creative Equity Fund they work with Heads of Departments to target funding to accelerate talent, ideas, and independent producers.
The team has an open-door policy and aim to support and advise Channel 4’s production partners specifically to help them to meet the Commissioning Diversity Guidelines and also to support off screen talent where possible. We are creative partners, collaborators and facilitators working collectively to advocate for equality and ensure that real, substantial change takes place through our work.
TV Access Project (TAP)
TAP was formed in response to the campaign by Underlying Health Condition (UHC).
In Spring 2022, some of the UK’s main broadcasters and streamers met to discuss how to improve access for Deaf, Disabled and/or Neurodivergent talent across the TV industry.
Officially launched in August 2022, TAP is now an alliance of ten of the UK’s biggest broadcasters and streamers who have pledged to work together to create a substantive and permanent structural shift to ensure access provision for Disabled talent.
To find out more about TAP visit the TAP page on 4Producers.
To view the Commissioning Diversity Guidelines and more of the team’s projects, visit the Creative Equity page on 4Producers.
To view disability-specific projects, visit Creative Equity’s Disability Inclusion page on 4Producers.