New chief of Channel 4 is tied with golden handcuffs

Channel 4 has slapped a three-year golden handcuffs deal on its new chief executive, Andy Duncan, to ensure that he does not leave to return to the BBC like his predecessor, Mark Thompson.

Channel 4 has slapped a three-year golden handcuffs deal on its new chief executive, Andy Duncan, to ensure that he does not leave to return to the BBC like his predecessor, Mark Thompson.

Luke Johnson, the chairman of Channel 4, made it clear yesterday that part of Mr Duncan's salary of about £500,000 would be held back until he had stayed at the company for long enough. Mr Thompson returned to the BBC after just two years in the job.

Mr Johnson, who helped to recruit Mr Duncan, currently director of marketing and communications at the BBC, said: "He has got a package that's comparable to that of Mark's, but a material proportion of it is deferred for three years, payable only if he stays for three years." He added: "That's to overcome any concerns people might have about him buggering off to become director general [of the BBC]."

Mr Johnson, the PizzaExpress entrepreneur who became Channel 4 chairman in January, described the industry's "job hopping" as "very disruptive".

He added: "In the real world, three years is a reasonable time frame to expect someone who's ambitious [to stay in a job]. Any less and their effectiveness is impaired. Five is ideal."

Mr Duncan, who made his name at Unilever overseeing brands such as PG Tips and Batchelors Supernoodles, said that he wanted to see Channel 4 "continue to push boundaries". Channel 4's remit is to be innovative, culturally diverse and distinctive, but the channel has recently come under fire for going too down-market, relying too heavily on lifestyle programmes and for overstepping the mark in terms of taste and decency.

Mr Duncan said: "I'm passionately committed to the idea that Channel 4 stands for being original, taking risks, being distinctive, being creative, pushing the boundaries, that's its whole role."

He said that his favourite Channel 4 programmes included the drama series Shameless and No Angels, Peter Kay's comedy Phoenix Nights and the documentary series God is Black, which charted the rise of African Christianity. A committed Christian himself, Mr Duncan cited Channel 4's cricket coverage as an example of how the channel performs an important role in keeping other public service broadcasters, particularly the BBC, on their toes.

"The BBC had done cricket in a tired, dusty way. Channel 4 came along and refreshed it, did a much better job ... and indirectly gave a kick up the bum to the BBC, who I think subsequently massively improved its tennis coverage and football coverage."

The new chief executive joins at a time when Channel 4 is in the middle of a debate about whether its current structure - publicly owned, but commercially funded - is viable in the increasingly competitive world of digital television. Up to 10 options are under consideration, including a merger with Channel Five or setting up a not-for-profit trust.

"I've genuinely got an open mind on what the right structure is going to be, including partnerships, alliances and so forth," said Mr Duncan. "You can see a scenario where exactly in its current form Channel 4 can have a very healthy future exactly as it is. At the same time there might well be better strategies that involve that changing," he added.