COLLAPSE OF MONEY CHANNEL BLAMED ON CONTENT

THE recent collapse of the UK’s first dedicated financial channel has been blamed on low viewer figures, dull programming and overly complex programme content.
Founder of The Money Channel, Adam Faith, speaking to the Financial Times, attributed the failure of the channel to the fact that he was “in a minority of one” when it came to “taking the programming in a different direction”. He said that viewers did not watch financial television for amusement, but rather for its relevant content.
Faith stepped down last year to become a non-executive director of the Money Channel, which was headed by chairman and city stockbroker Paul Killick.
Although the channel has proved unattractive to advertisers, at one point with shares hitting £5.22 the paper value of The Money Channel plc was put at over £200 million.
However, despite claiming to be the most watched UK financial channel, the Money Channel consistently attracted insufficient viewers. Three months on from the March 7, 2000 launch official figures from the Broadcasters Audience Research Board (BARD) showed that the previous week’s top rated programme had achieved an audience of just 28,000 viewers.
In February the directors of The Money Channel plc issued a defensive statement following a disastrous share price slide. The directors claimed that the channel’s business model was based on a number of revenue streams, including traditional advertising sales, sale of their unique content and, importantly, sales through their interactive advertising service, which had been launched three weeks earlier on January 30. The directors were then exploring a number of options, including strategic alliances and corporate transactions to help retrieve the situation.
With The Money Channel currently in the hands of administrators PriceCoopersWaterhouse, who are seeking potential bidders for the company’s assets, it is considered unlikely that the channel can be resurrected as a financial broadcaster.
Following the withdrawal of the Simply Money channel in March this year, the demise of The Money Channel throws into question the sustainability of many niche digital broadcasters that are heavily reliant on traditional advertising revenues. (SP)