Channel 4 is feeling "pretty small and pretty vulnerable" following BSkyB's purchase of a stake in ITV, according to chief executive Andy Duncan.
The C4 boss said recent changes in the media market, coupled with a loss of revenue from the ban on junk food advertising that he put at "somewhere north of £10million", have left it feeling squeezed.
Speaking at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch in London, Duncan said he had competition concerns about Sky's shareholding in ITV and said it needed to be "looked at carefully" by regulators.
And he said it would be "helpful" to know that Ofcom, the Competition Commission and government were running the rule over the deal.
"It would be helpful to know Ofcom and the Government were looking at it properly. It is important that they [ITV and Sky] are effectively standalone businesses."
Duncan queried whether or not Sky would remain a sleeping partner.
He pointed out that Fidelity - which sold its ITV shares to BskyB last week - had had an influence operationally on ITV, not least on the departure of Michael Green as ITV chairman.
"We've clearly got mixed feelings about it. It was a bold move by Sky that seems to have scuppered the NTL deal. But we are concerned how it will work operationally."
"News is quite an interesting area. ITV is looking to renegotiate its contract with ITN. Sky has Sky News. What does it mean in terms of the plurality of news in this country? Also, what is ITV's corporate line now on Freesat?"
"Putting the BBC to one side, putting ITV and Sky together, it's a big chunk of the British TV and media...It could mean undue and unfair cooperation."
Duncan said he had "no regrets whatsoever, in fact, quite the opposite" over not taking part in the race for a new chief executive for ITV.
He has been linked with the job but today insisted he was staying at C4.
Duncan went on to say that C4 stands to lose "in excess of £10million" following the decision by Ofcom last week to propose a ban on junk food advertising to under-16s.
"We are probably the most affected broadcaster in the above nine-year-old category. I suspect we're about 25% of the impact."
"We're still doing the calculations. It could have quite a substantial impact on our revenue."
Although C4's ratings and revenue juggernaut Big Brother is not affected when it airs post-9pm, daytime editions of Big Brother's Little Brother could be affected by the ban.
Duncan said it would be "unfair and inappropriate" if television was "singled out for intervention". He called for press, online and cinema to follow suit.
He said a ban on junk food ads on television was "probably meaningless" unless it also applied to other media.
"If there's going to be any impact then it also needs to be banned in cinemas, online, in newspapers and on radio etc. Otherwise it's just damaging to television and TV production," he said.
In 2005, C4's revenue from advertising on its main channel was £706million. So far, the forecast for 2006 is £670million.
C4 is currently the subject of a review by Ofcom on its funding and the sustainability of its funding model.
Duncan confirmed that the first phase of the review by Ofcom's consultants has now taken place.
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