Wank Week was criticised in the prestigious James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the 2006 Edinburgh International Television Festival on 25 August, only a month after Channel 4's initial announcement. Charles Allen, the outgoing Chief Executive of Channel 4's commercial rival ITV, attacked Channel 4 for deterioration of output and adopting a "begging" approach to finances in the run-up to terrestrial digital switchover (requesting subsidies for public service output while pursuing a path of commercialism). Wank Week's mention came as part of a critique of programming that Channel 4 was counting towards its "educational" content. Allen joked that he was expecting Wank Week to be included, "but that could be a hard one to pull off even for Channel 4." The pun was subsequently repeated in the press.