Alex Mahon will step down as the Chief Executive Officer of Channel 4 this summer after nearly eight years at the British public service broadcaster.
Jonathan Allan, the Chief Operating Officer of Channel 4, will take over as interim CEO while the broadcaster’s board begins the recruitment process for a permanent successor.
“Alex is a great figure in British television,” Dawn Airey, the interim chair of Channel 4, said in a statement on Monday. “She has been one of the most impactful CEOs since Jeremy Isaacs’ founding of Channel 4 more than 42 years ago. She is business minded and has also been transformational both culturally and creatively, proving time and again her extraordinary ability to inspire and drive positive and meaningful change.”
Mahon joined Channel 4 as its first female CEO in 2017. Throughout her tenure, she has worked to steer the public service broadcaster in the direction of meeting TV viewers on the platforms of their choice, with a shift in programming distribution strategy that now involves offering Channel 4 shows, documentaries and events through YouTube and other connected TV platforms.
“Under her leadership, Channel 4 has moved with the times and driven the times,” Airey said. “Her commitment to Channel 4’s public service mission has been unwavering. She has backed entertaining, shocking, interesting telly, never playing it safe and her grit and resilience more than met the rough-tough challenges of recent times. She leaves a strengthened and well-run Channel 4 that will continue to flourish, with its Fast Forward strategy re-engineering the organization for the future.”
Mahon’s leadership saw Channel 4 secure its public ownership through two privatization attempts, while transitioning into a digital-first public service streamer. She drove strong digital growth and helped establish one of the UK’s largest social media brands. Mahon also advocated for young people, urging action to tackle misinformation and provide support for a generation navigating a complex digital environment.
In a statement, Mahon reflected on her time at Channel 4 and the various initiatives that broadcaster has powered through over the past eight years:
“Working at Channel 4 has been a lifetime privilege because Channel 4 is the most extraordinary organization. What we get to do here is much more than television because we reflect our country with humor, creativity, grit, and care. We try our best to challenge convention and to change conversations. And we do it with a kind of irreverent brilliance that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else. I feel lucky beyond belief to have had the chance to lead Channel 4 for nearly eight years – through calm seas (very few) and stormy waters (more than our fair share). From navigating the threat of privatization (twice), to shifting out of London, to digital transformation, lockdowns, political upheaval, advertising chaos – there has never been a dull moment. But through every twist and turn, there’s been one constant: the astonishing caliber, resilience, and creativity of all my colleagues at Channel 4.
Together, I hope that we have evolved what Channel 4 means and what it stands for. We’ve protected the brand, even as we reinvented it. We’ve stayed risky, relevant and relentlessly new – with 60 percent of our shows fresh each year. And through it all, it’s been the programs – and their impact – that have brought me the most joy and pride. Most recently, the Paralympics changed lives. It changed perceptions. And that really matters. And in the last few months our Gen Z work – giving voice to the experiences of a generation too often overlooked and spawning so many national conversations – is another example of why Channel 4 has to exist. Shaping the national conversation in ways no other broadcaster dares to. Doing things that are bigger than programs. Not just public service – actual public impact.”
Channel 4 has faced financial challenges during Mahon’s time, including a 9.6 percent drop in advertising revenue in 2023 and a pre-tax loss of £52 million (around U.S. $70 million), prompting cost-cutting measures and a shift toward digital operations. The broadcaster is relocating its headquarters to Leeds and aims to have digital revenues make up more than half its income by 2030.
