The exciting topic of budgeting makes the front pages

Its not often that expenditure budgets make the front page of the newspapers, but the dispute over the payroll costs of the “Queen of Countdown” makes for an interesting case study in how to control costs…

For those of you who don’t watch Channel 4 in the afternoon, a quick introduction to Countdown.

Countdown is a British game show, currently presented by Des O’Connor (he is leaving soon) and Carol Vorderman. It was the first programme aired on Channel 4, and over fifty series have been broadcast since its debut on 2 November 1982. With over 4,000 episodes, it is one of the longest-running game shows in the world.

So where do expenditure budgets come into this story?

Simple - Channel 4 needs to reduce the cost of producing the show as viewers have fallen from a peak of 5 million per show to nearer 1 million. The biggest cost category is “talent” - the payments made to the show’s presenters. So what better place to start to make some savings?

According to an article in Guardian Media, the overall Countdown budget has been cut from £6m to nearer £4m a year.

However, these cost-cutting measures have generated a storm when it became known that Carol Vorderman had been asked to accept a significant pay cut in return for an extended contract for presenting future programmes.

Vorderman claims that she has been asked to take a 90% pay cut, which she has rejected. Vorderman is reportedly paid around £1m per year.

The story will run on, though perhaps less emphasis will be placed on the use of budgets to control costs!