LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) - Britain will set out the details of the sale of Channel 4, the publicly owned but commercially funded broadcaster established in the 1980s, in a policy paper on Thursday, minister Julia Lopez told lawmakers.
Channel 4 was created by Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher's government to provide an edgy alternative to the BBC and ITV, with a focus on under-served audiences.
With no in-house production capability, the broadcaster was the biggest driver in establishing Britain's thriving independent production sector.
The broadcaster's management, lawmakers across parliament and a slew of TV heavyweights have voiced their opposition to a sale, saying it would jeopardise the channel's distinctive voice.
Lopez said public service broadcasters like Channel 4 delivered high-quality content, but the television industry had changed beyond recognition in recent years with the rise of the U.S. streaming giants.
"Tomorrow we will be publishing a White Paper that proposes major reforms to our decades-old broadcasting regulations, reforms that will put traditional broadcasters like the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 on an even playing field with Netflix, Amazon Prime and others," Lopez, Britain's Media, Data, and Digital Infrastructure minister, said.
"The sale of Channel 4 is just one part of that major piece of reform."
She said the broadcaster had "few options to grow, to invest and to compete" under public ownership.
"This government believes its time to unleash the broadcaster's full potential and open Channel 4 up to private ownership and investment, while crucially protecting its public service broadcasting remit," she said. (Reporting by Paul Sandle, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)
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