Chief creative officer says rival's claims it has recently beaten Channel 4 audiences is ruse requiring 'squinting' to make true
Jay Hunt, Channel 4's chief creative officer, has aggressively dismissed figures showing that rival Channel 5 has trumped it in audience numbers recently, arguing it is a PR ruse involving "squinting and turning your head on the side" to make true.
Hunt rubbished a recent widely reported story that Richard Desmond's TV station beat Channel 4 for a week in viewing share for the first time since launching in 1997.
"Channel 5 didn't beat us for a week by a measurement the industry recognises," she said, speaking at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival. "But to be blunt if I was a PR at Channel 5 and I found a way that if they took out all of the hours between midnight and 6 o'clock in the morning and squinted and turned your head on the side then you sort of beat us, I might have done that too".
Nevertheless it is true that there have been a number of days that Channel 5 has come out on top, thanks in part to Big Brother and the popularity of the highlights of the Ashes series, while summer is traditionally a fallow period for Channel 4.
Earlier this week the final of Big Brother and Stephen King's Under the Dome provided a rare all-day-share ratings victory over C4.
Hunt said that in reality there is a "huge margin" between the two broadcasters and that its flagship digital channel, E4, often outperforms Channel 5.
"As I say normal service is resumed and there is a huge margin between us and Channel 5 and it is worth remembering that in any given week E4 frequently outperforms Channel 5, particularly on young audiences," she said. "So I'm not hugely concerned about that".
She did admit that Channel 4's ratings have flagged somewhat year on year, on the measure known as all-individual share, but argued that this is just one way of looking at audience.
Hunt said that Channel 4 is also evaluated on which demographics it reaches, with "huge" reach among 16 to 34-year-olds, and that it does target "light" audiences with some shows.
"Yes, all individuals is slightly down this year," she said. "To be blunt… you become quite sanguine that there will be ups and there will be downs. There is always going to be a bit of a rollercoaster, particularly on a channel that is reinventing itself at such a pace".
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
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Jay Hunt, Channel 4's chief creative officer, has aggressively dismissed figures showing that rival Channel 5 has trumped it in audience numbers recently, arguing it is a PR ruse involving "squinting and turning your head on the side" to make true.
Hunt rubbished a recent widely reported story that Richard Desmond's TV station beat Channel 4 for a week in viewing share for the first time since launching in 1997.
"Channel 5 didn't beat us for a week by a measurement the industry recognises," she said, speaking at the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival. "But to be blunt if I was a PR at Channel 5 and I found a way that if they took out all of the hours between midnight and 6 o'clock in the morning and squinted and turned your head on the side then you sort of beat us, I might have done that too".
Nevertheless it is true that there have been a number of days that Channel 5 has come out on top, thanks in part to Big Brother and the popularity of the highlights of the Ashes series, while summer is traditionally a fallow period for Channel 4.
Earlier this week the final of Big Brother and Stephen King's Under the Dome provided a rare all-day-share ratings victory over C4.
Hunt said that in reality there is a "huge margin" between the two broadcasters and that its flagship digital channel, E4, often outperforms Channel 5.
"As I say normal service is resumed and there is a huge margin between us and Channel 5 and it is worth remembering that in any given week E4 frequently outperforms Channel 5, particularly on young audiences," she said. "So I'm not hugely concerned about that".
She did admit that Channel 4's ratings have flagged somewhat year on year, on the measure known as all-individual share, but argued that this is just one way of looking at audience.
Hunt said that Channel 4 is also evaluated on which demographics it reaches, with "huge" reach among 16 to 34-year-olds, and that it does target "light" audiences with some shows.
"Yes, all individuals is slightly down this year," she said. "To be blunt… you become quite sanguine that there will be ups and there will be downs. There is always going to be a bit of a rollercoaster, particularly on a channel that is reinventing itself at such a pace".
• To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook Reported by guardian.co.uk 9 hours ago.