Channel 4 has announced that it is axing its flagship daytime show, Steph’s Packed Lunch.
In a statement the broadcaster blamed “audience habits” and that it didn’t “best drive our digital-first strategy.”
It means the show, which has broadcast since 2020, will come to an end in December this year after around 700 episodes.
“We remain as committed as ever to our mission to help level up the TV industry outside London and to our 50% origination out-of-London target. We will be reinvesting the budget previously committed to Steph’s Packed Lunch into other nations and regions productions,” read a statement from Channel 4.
Steph’s Packed Lunch, which started out as The Steph Show, had a difficult start to life, as it had to start broadcasting from Steph McGovern’s own house, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Moving to its current location in Leeds Dock, a few months later, along with the rebrand to Steph’s Packed Lunch, it took time to gain an audience, with one show reaching zero viewers.
However, in the summer, it was honoured by the Leeds Civid Trust as celebrating “inclusivity and diversity.”
The show was credited by the organisation as having an “absolutely immense” impact on Leeds broadcasting and culture, turning “Leeds Dock into a Hollywood Boulevard…”
Channel 4 said today that they were “incredibly proud of all that Steph’s Packed Lunch has achieved” and were grateful to the production teams from Expectation and Can Can “for creating a show that kick started our growth in the North of England.”
The broadcaster added that it would “build on the legacy of the show” and hoped to work with McGovern on other projects soon.
