Lord Waheed Alli, the gay peer and television executive, is rumoured to be a serious contender for the chief executive of Channel 4 post.

Alli’s main rival for the job is thought to be Peter Bazalgette, the man responsible for ‘Big Brother’.

Alli is the founder of the Planet 24 production company, which has made shows for Channel 4 including ‘The Big Breakfast’ and ‘The Word’. He also had an executive role at Carlton Productions. Together with business partner Charlie Parsons, Alli was instrumental in commissioning ‘Survivor’ and resurrecting ‘Crossroads’. More recently he won the digital radio broadcasting franchise which backs Purple Radio, the gay and lesbian station based in London.

A Labour peer, Alli spoke in favour of reducing the age of consent to 16 for homosexuals in the House of Lords.

Alli is regarded as a strong contender because he has a deep understanding of commercial and creative strategy. It is hoped that he may steer Channel 4’s subsidiary interests, FilmFour and E4, into greater profitability.

Other shortlisted candidates include Mark Thompson, Jane Root, Dawn Airey, Adam Singer, and Peter Fincham.