Channel 4’s comedy and entertainment heads are to leave the broadcaster amid an overhaul its commissioning structure.
Charlie Perkins and Steve Handley’s exit comes as C4 merges its entertainment, documentaries, fact-ent divisions into a single unscripted unit, to sit alongside a combined scripted unit housing both comedy and drama.
The unit will be headed by Alisa Pomeroy, who steps up from her role as head of documentaries and factual entertainment.
Alongside commissioning new documentary singles and series, fact ent shows and entertainment formats, the role encompasses C4 returners from 24 Hours in Police Custody and Educating Yorkshire to Taskmaster, Gogglebox, 8 out of 10 Cats Does Countdown,Tempting Fortune, Handcuffed and The Great British Bake Off.
C4 is currently recruiting for a head of scripted, with both execs reporting to incoming director of programmes David Brindley.
The restructure is expected to result in the axing of up to half of commissioning roles at the broadcaster and forms part of chief executive Priya Dogra’s plan to cut 340 jobs across the company.
The move also comes as the BBC plans to merge its TV and radio commissioning teams into one unit.
Perkins joined C4 as head of comedy in late 2022, commissioning two series of sketch show Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping, narrative series such as Break Clause, It Gets Worse [pictured] and Make That Movie!, and upcoming commissions including Pidgeon and Stepping Up..
In a note to staff, director of content strategy Kiran Nataraja and director of commissioning operations Emma Hardy described Perkins as “a true champion of emerging talent both on and off-screen,” adding: “In any conversation with her it is immediately evident that she loves her genre deeply.”
Handley joined C4 eight years ago as an entertainment commissioner, becoming head of the genre in 2024.
