CHANNEL 4 chairman Lord Burns has ruled himself out of the running to replace Lord Patten as the head of the BBC Trust.
The former civil servant and academic said he was "very happy" at Channel 4, where he has been since 2009.
He has been among the names mentioned as a possible replacement for Lord Patten, who announced he was standing down "on the advice of my doctors" after having heart surgery.
Lord Burns told reporters: "Being chairman of the BBC Trust I don't think is one of the things that's still on my list of ambitions. That's a rather shrinking list, as you can imagine. I'm very happy doing what I am doing."
Channel 4's annual report, which was published yesterday, shows the broadcaster had an "operating deficit" of £15 million in 2013 but was "positioned to deliver a break-even operating result" this year. Its total audience share, across all its channels, fell from 11.5 per cent to 11 per cent in 2013.
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