‘Tieless’ Andy Duncan leaving C4
Chris Forrester
15-09-2009

It has been the worst-kept secret in British television, but the tenure of Channel 4’s chief executive Andy Duncan is widely reported to be coming to an end. The reasons give suggest “disputes” with the Board of the publicly-owned network, and in particular with its chairman (restaurateur Luke Johnson).

The “Tieless” appendage comes about because of Duncan’s affection for appearing at media functions in a T-shirt, and rarely – if ever – a tie. This coming weekend is the Cambridge TV Festival and he has a keynote slot where it is understood he could deliver a swan-song statement.

The Channel 4 board directors are said to be unhappy that assorted deals seen as being necessary for C4’s commercial future have failed to materialise. The channel has recently decided that its Big Brother reality show would end after its next airing. Duncan had been looking for a ‘top slicing’ deal of the annual BBC licence fee, or some sort of deal with BBC Worldwide to help guarantee cash into the station.

For the time being his job will be handled by the channel’s CFO, Anne Bulford.