Publicly-owned British broadcaster Channel 4 posted a 4.9 per cent increase in 2005 pretax profits today.
The group, which is owned by government but funded by advertising, said pretax profits were £66.8 million (€96.3 million), from £63.7 million a year earlier.
Revenues rose to £894.3 million from £841.4 million, as the group launched the More4 channel and added its E4 channel to the popular Freeview platform.
But Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan has warned of a looming funding shortfall as Britain shifts to multichannel TV, fragmenting audiences and hurting the ratings and ad revenues of terrestrial broadcasters.
"Pleasant though it is to report success, it would be foolish to pretend that public service broadcasting can make a painless and cost-free transition to the digital world," said
"We may have defied gravity in 2005, but it would be naive to assume we can do so forever," he said.