BBC4 won't be axed, says channel boss

The boss of BBC4 said the channel "will not be axed" as part of the corporation's efforts to save money.

The BBC is in the middle of a cost-cutting process as it comes to terms with budget cuts and the highbrow channel has been reported as a possible target.

BBC4 boss Richard Klein told an audience at the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival that the channel would "take its share" of the cuts at the BBC, but added: "BBC4 will not be axed, as far as I'm aware."

Director general Mark Thompson has not ruled out axing a service entirely but has said there was "a smarter way of making savings without taking entire services away from the public".

Reports that BBC4 could go have resulted in an online campaign supporting the digital channel, which counts political satire The Thick of It and foreign crime dramas Spiral and Wallander among its successes.

A similar campaign to save the under-threat digital channel 6 Music was a success.

PA