By Aladair Glennie British television is being bought wholesale by greedy American corporations, the head of Channel 4 has warned. The channel's chief executive David Abraham said billionaire media tycoons and production companies want to invest in this country to avoid tax in the US. ITV could one day be owned entirely by shareholders based across the Atlantic while our favourite shows could be produced by internet giants such as Netflix and Google, he said. Giving the annual MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Mr Abraham called on politicians to do more to protect the UK television industry from overseas interference.
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David Abraham said ITV could be owned entirely by US shareholders
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He claimed our favourite shows could be produced by Netflix and Google
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Abraham was giving the annual MacTaggart lecture in Edinburgh
He added: '@placeholder media companies [are] eager to stay ahead of each other by internationalising their revenues…and shielding their tax exposure.'