Mark Thompson's MacTaggart Lecture identifies a ‘creative deficit’ in British television resulting in many programmes appearing ‘dull and mechanical and samey’. The culprit is not competition (identified by David Liddiment in the 2001 MacTaggart Lecture), which can have positive effects, but a twofold conservatism: the ‘risk-aversion of the schedule’ in tandem with ‘an older cultural conformism’. Even Channel 4, which was initially inspired by a commitment to risk, diversity, originality and a schedule in which ‘everything was an experiment’, has become ‘distracted by its ambitious digital plans’ and allowed its ‘creative decision-making to become too centralised and risk-averse’.

Thompson argues that Channel 4 must be revitalised to resume its place as ‘the creative space in the centre of British television’ where it must offer a distinctive kind of public-service programming to the BBC: ‘an improvised rhythm of experimentation and alternative ideas against the steady drum-beat of information, education and entertainment’. To achieve this, Thompson promises a fundamental review and restructuring of the schedule at Channel 4. But creative thinking alone will not suffice: the channel faces financial and other difficulties. Thompson rejects privatisation since ‘independence is a vital part of Channel 4's DNA’, but hints at the need for public support in the deregulated television market place. Government legislation, moreover, promises to liberalise media ownership in the commercial sector – creating the prospect of a single owner for Channel 3 – with evident and deleterious implications for the public sector of broadcasting, including Channel 4.