Tom Loosemore is leaving Ofcom in October to head Channel 4’s £50 million 4iP digital investment project – his latest key role in UK public service digital media. Tomski was BBCi acting controller, strategic innovation head and BBC 2.0 project director at the BBC, before heading to Ofcom in 2007 to lead its thinking on public service digital publishing.
Announced in March, 4iP (4 Innovation for the Public) is a partnership between regional media development agencies and C4, which is committing £20 million. Staked out during C4’s 2gether08 summer event as a socially-minded programme for online media investment, it’s a key part of the case C4 is making for retaining its public funding, as Ofcom continues its review of the UK public broadcasting and landscape and as C4 itself faces a funding shortfall. But the planned launch was delayed from July to September.
Loosemore will report to C4’s new media director Jon Gisby, who had fronted all 4iP announcements to date. He said