Channel 4 Plans To Extend On-Demand Opportunities

UK free-to-air broadcaster Channel 4 are reportedly close to launching a new channel that would help them to extend the life of some of their shows, as they plan the ‘on-demand’ broadcast channel for a summer release.

The new network would be created with the intention of offering viewers a further chance to catch up on the main channel’s most popular series, including Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, Come Dine With Me, Comedy Lab, and New Girl.

Being made as a complement to the network’s current ‘catch-up’ offerings of Channel 4+1, and online service 4oD, the new service has been said to already have been booked in as a future channel number on digital terrestrial platform Freeview and satellite broadcaster Sky, while plans are also in place to attempt a carriage deal with Virgin Media.

A source close to the project (which is currently internally dubbed ‘Project Shuffle’) claimed that the new channel would be operated with Sky’s in-system ’Anytime’ service as a slight template, suggesting that Channel 4 will select their best shows for extra broadcast, but then placed into an actual schedule, as opposed to Sky Anytime’s full ‘on-demand’ offering.

While the brand name of Channel 4 is almost certain to be used in the channel’s name, suffixes (similar to the ‘+1′ channel) are said to be in discussion by executives, with the name thought to be selected from the options of ‘Shuffle’, ‘Too’, ‘Squared’, and ‘Plus Two’.

Channel 4 is thought to believe that the Shuffle project could help it offer more advertising inventory around popular new shows, as well as ensure it maximises audience share for programmes. A Channel 4 source reported the plans and their motivation for launching the channel, saying: “If there is something like a Sherlock [BBC One] or a major show on a commercial rival then Channel 4 takes a big hit. If light viewers miss an episode, especially the first, they tend to go away so this is a clever idea to keep them engaged in the prime window after first broadcast and it shouldn’t cannibalise the main channel.”

Another source added: “Advertisers are genuinely pleased with the opportunity, there is certainly demand for it. Too quickly, too often this stuff falls off our screens. This gives an opportunity to re-engage with the big stuff that people want to watch on a TV screen. It gives two or three more bites at the electronic programme guide.”

While it seems to be a format that has not been used too often before, some critics might claim that it is a step back from the moves online that most major networks (including Channel 4 themselves) have made over the past few years. Can Project Shuffle manage to tempt online viewers back into traditional viewing methods?

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