Channel 4 has refreshed its brand identity with an emphasis on its digital and streaming platforms.
From Tuesday, Channel 4 has transitioned to become the “world’s first public service streamer,” the British television organization said in a statement.
The relaunch is intended to target younger viewers who are accustomed to watching video content across different devices and platforms, including phones, tablets, computers and streaming services.
The refresh will put a greater emphasis on “app-like” experiences across the Channel 4 brand, which will continue to include the flagship linear broadcast network and ancillary TV channels.
New features on Channel 4’s digital and streaming properties are designed to increase engagement with a growing segment of younger viewers, executives said in a statement. They cited internal research that showed nearly one million young people between the ages of 13 and 24 streamed Channel 4 content on a PC or laptop, an increase of 17 percent when compared to the prior year.
From Tuesday, Channel 4 has transitioned to become the “world’s first public service streamer,” the British television organization said in a statement.
The relaunch is intended to target younger viewers who are accustomed to watching video content across different devices and platforms, including phones, tablets, computers and streaming services.
The refresh will put a greater emphasis on “app-like” experiences across the Channel 4 brand, which will continue to include the flagship linear broadcast network and ancillary TV channels.
New features on Channel 4’s digital and streaming properties are designed to increase engagement with a growing segment of younger viewers, executives said in a statement. They cited internal research that showed nearly one million young people between the ages of 13 and 24 streamed Channel 4 content on a PC or laptop, an increase of 17 percent when compared to the prior year.
- 5/14/2024
- by Matthew Keys
- The Desk
Priyanka Chopra-Produced Doc Debuting On Prime Video India
Women of My Billion (Womb), a documentary about the forms of violence faced by women in India, will premiere exclusively on Prime Video India on May 3. Produced by Apoorva Bakshi and Monisha Thyagarajan’s Awedacious Originals in association with Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ Purple Pebble Pictures, the documentary follows protagonist Srishti Bakshi on a walking pilgrimage across India – spanning 3,800 km over 240 days – to talk to women from various backgrounds about their struggles and dreams. “Women have borne the brunt of gender bias for far too long, enduring a silent struggle against entrenched social injustices that seek to suppress their voices. With Womb, the aim is to transcend these struggles – to be a beacon of hope,” said Chopra Jonas, Producer at Purple Pebble Pictures. “Womb is not merely a depiction of pain and suffering, but a rallying cry and call for solidarity and action.
Women of My Billion (Womb), a documentary about the forms of violence faced by women in India, will premiere exclusively on Prime Video India on May 3. Produced by Apoorva Bakshi and Monisha Thyagarajan’s Awedacious Originals in association with Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ Purple Pebble Pictures, the documentary follows protagonist Srishti Bakshi on a walking pilgrimage across India – spanning 3,800 km over 240 days – to talk to women from various backgrounds about their struggles and dreams. “Women have borne the brunt of gender bias for far too long, enduring a silent struggle against entrenched social injustices that seek to suppress their voices. With Womb, the aim is to transcend these struggles – to be a beacon of hope,” said Chopra Jonas, Producer at Purple Pebble Pictures. “Womb is not merely a depiction of pain and suffering, but a rallying cry and call for solidarity and action.
- 4/25/2024
- by Max Goldbart, Hannah Abraham and Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
The Amazon Prime Video UK unscripted exec who has worked on the likes of Clarkson’s Farm and 007: Road to a Million has been appointed Edinburgh TV Festival Advisory Chair for this year.
Harjeet Chhokar will shape the festival’s program and general themes with new Creative Director Rowan Woods. His post is a rotating annual role that was held last year by Channel 4’s Kiran Nataraja.
Chhokar is an Unscripted Executive at Prime Video where he has worked across the likes of Clarkson’s Farm, Bond gameshow 007: Road to a Million and All or Nothing: Arsenal. Prior to Amazon he worked at Channel 4, delivering shows including Murder Island, 999: On the Frontline and Sex Actually with Alice Levine.
“Television is the most powerful cultural force in the world,” said Chhokar. “You only have to see its impact in the first few weeks of the year so far to...
Harjeet Chhokar will shape the festival’s program and general themes with new Creative Director Rowan Woods. His post is a rotating annual role that was held last year by Channel 4’s Kiran Nataraja.
Chhokar is an Unscripted Executive at Prime Video where he has worked across the likes of Clarkson’s Farm, Bond gameshow 007: Road to a Million and All or Nothing: Arsenal. Prior to Amazon he worked at Channel 4, delivering shows including Murder Island, 999: On the Frontline and Sex Actually with Alice Levine.
“Television is the most powerful cultural force in the world,” said Chhokar. “You only have to see its impact in the first few weeks of the year so far to...
- 2/6/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Channel 4 is merging several commissioning departments including TV drama and film and leaving its Horseferry Road premises as the network sets out its layoffs plan and five-year strategy.
The network has unveiled a Fast Forward blueprint to suppliers, staff and press in the past few minutes. There will be a “substantial” number of layoffs in commissioning, according to content boss Ian Katz, with several mergers incoming.
Caroline Hollick’s TV drama department is coming together with new Film4 boss Ollie Madden’s team. Meanwhile, documentaries and factual entertainment, which make the likes of 24 Hours in Custody and Gogglebox, are coming together, as are entertainment and reality – commissioners of Married at First Sight and The Last Leg. Portfolio channel E4 is also restructuring, with commissions at E4 going through relevant genres and digital reporting straight to Katz.
“We know that this is also a very difficult time for the indie...
The network has unveiled a Fast Forward blueprint to suppliers, staff and press in the past few minutes. There will be a “substantial” number of layoffs in commissioning, according to content boss Ian Katz, with several mergers incoming.
Caroline Hollick’s TV drama department is coming together with new Film4 boss Ollie Madden’s team. Meanwhile, documentaries and factual entertainment, which make the likes of 24 Hours in Custody and Gogglebox, are coming together, as are entertainment and reality – commissioners of Married at First Sight and The Last Leg. Portfolio channel E4 is also restructuring, with commissions at E4 going through relevant genres and digital reporting straight to Katz.
“We know that this is also a very difficult time for the indie...
- 1/29/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: A producer wryly tells us that they arrived to Channel 4 HQ in late 2023 to discover a boarded-up front, feeling their way around to a narrow door on the side of the building “where there stands a huge f***ing bouncer.”
If ever there was a metaphor for the British broadcaster’s relations with the indie sector in recent months, surely this is it. After pulling up the commissioning drawbridge and passing on the financial pain of a disturbingly prolonged ad crisis, producers have oscillated between rage and disillusionment when the subject of Channel 4 rears its head.
There has been an inescapable sense that Channel 4 has not been listening to the concerns of its suppliers, even if this is hotly disputed by the broadcaster itself. But the mood music has now changed. Channel 4 is, for the first time, publicly acknowledging that it must share in the pain being felt by producers.
If ever there was a metaphor for the British broadcaster’s relations with the indie sector in recent months, surely this is it. After pulling up the commissioning drawbridge and passing on the financial pain of a disturbingly prolonged ad crisis, producers have oscillated between rage and disillusionment when the subject of Channel 4 rears its head.
There has been an inescapable sense that Channel 4 has not been listening to the concerns of its suppliers, even if this is hotly disputed by the broadcaster itself. But the mood music has now changed. Channel 4 is, for the first time, publicly acknowledging that it must share in the pain being felt by producers.
- 1/11/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Avalon boss Jon Thoday has said he is “surprised” that ITV bosses weren’t aware of Phillip Schofield’s relationship with a much younger runner on This Morning.
Speaking during the Power of TV debate at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the boss of the Starstruck producer and Rose Matafeo agency said “it is management’s job to know what is going on.”
Schofield resigned in disgrace several weeks ago from the popular breakfast show and ITV CEO Carolyn McCall has since said “no evidence” of the affair was brought to her team, while more This Morning current and former staff have since approached a government committee with toxicity complaints. ITV has said it informally approached the younger runner and Schofield around a dozen times over the years about the affair rumors.
“If you run a business and someone is doing something wrong it’s unusual for [management] not to know about it,...
Speaking during the Power of TV debate at the Edinburgh TV Festival, the boss of the Starstruck producer and Rose Matafeo agency said “it is management’s job to know what is going on.”
Schofield resigned in disgrace several weeks ago from the popular breakfast show and ITV CEO Carolyn McCall has since said “no evidence” of the affair was brought to her team, while more This Morning current and former staff have since approached a government committee with toxicity complaints. ITV has said it informally approached the younger runner and Schofield around a dozen times over the years about the affair rumors.
“If you run a business and someone is doing something wrong it’s unusual for [management] not to know about it,...
- 8/23/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Meera Syal is to deliver the Alternative MacTaggart at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
Syal also received the BAFTA Fellowship and has appeared in the likes of Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at Number 42 and The Split. She will soon be seen in Acorn’s Mrs. Sindhu Investigates and Prime Video’s Wheel of Time.
“I’m so excited that the wonderful Meera Syal has agreed to be this year’s Alternative MacTaggart speaker,” said Edinburgh Advisory Chair Kiran Nataraja. “As an icon who has always been at the forefront of the industry, I know her unique perspective will make for a fascinating and lively session.”
Syal added: “I am delighted to be invited to speak as this year’s Alternative MacTaggart and look forward to sharing some of those untold stories with the wonderful Fatima Salaria.”e
The main MacTaggart will be delivered by Louis Theroux. Other sessions confirmed today...
Syal also received the BAFTA Fellowship and has appeared in the likes of Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at Number 42 and The Split. She will soon be seen in Acorn’s Mrs. Sindhu Investigates and Prime Video’s Wheel of Time.
“I’m so excited that the wonderful Meera Syal has agreed to be this year’s Alternative MacTaggart speaker,” said Edinburgh Advisory Chair Kiran Nataraja. “As an icon who has always been at the forefront of the industry, I know her unique perspective will make for a fascinating and lively session.”
Syal added: “I am delighted to be invited to speak as this year’s Alternative MacTaggart and look forward to sharing some of those untold stories with the wonderful Fatima Salaria.”e
The main MacTaggart will be delivered by Louis Theroux. Other sessions confirmed today...
- 7/13/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Festival
The 37th edition of BFI Flare: London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival (March 15-26) will open with Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker’s Sundance-winning documentary “The Stroll,” which tells the history of New York City’s Meatpacking District from the point of view of the trans women of color who lived and worked there.
Hannes Hirsch’s debut feature, coming-of-age film “Drifter,” fresh off its world premiere at the Berlinale, will close the festival. Tünde Skovrán’s documentary “Who I am Not,” a portrait of the lives of two intersex South Africans and the challenges they face navigating binary sex and gender systems, will be the centerpiece presentation. All filmmakers are expected to be in attendance.
Michael Blyth, BFI Flare’s senior programmer said: “The opening, closing and centerpiece presentations at this year’s BFI Flare offer a fascinating cross section of queer identities, each radically different in both style and content.
The 37th edition of BFI Flare: London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival (March 15-26) will open with Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker’s Sundance-winning documentary “The Stroll,” which tells the history of New York City’s Meatpacking District from the point of view of the trans women of color who lived and worked there.
Hannes Hirsch’s debut feature, coming-of-age film “Drifter,” fresh off its world premiere at the Berlinale, will close the festival. Tünde Skovrán’s documentary “Who I am Not,” a portrait of the lives of two intersex South Africans and the challenges they face navigating binary sex and gender systems, will be the centerpiece presentation. All filmmakers are expected to be in attendance.
Michael Blyth, BFI Flare’s senior programmer said: “The opening, closing and centerpiece presentations at this year’s BFI Flare offer a fascinating cross section of queer identities, each radically different in both style and content.
- 2/7/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Edinburgh TV Festival has unveiled Channel 4 strategy boss Kiran Nataraja as its 2023 Advisory Chair.
Nataraja, who is the broadcaster’s Director of Content Strategy and Planning, will oversee panel sessions and keynotes for the annual festival that has been extended to four days this year. It will run from August 22 to 25 and theme is The Passion and The Power of TV.
Nataraja joined the Gogglebox broadcaster in 2011 and has since worked her way up to running the planning and scheduling teams while shaping commissioning strategy across the Channel 4 portfolio, including VoD player All4.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with TV,” said Nataraja.
“I was endlessly fascinated by different worlds and voices on screen. I’m honored to take on this role so we can explore the passion and responsibility we all share for creating powerful shows that can bring positive change to a viewer.
Nataraja, who is the broadcaster’s Director of Content Strategy and Planning, will oversee panel sessions and keynotes for the annual festival that has been extended to four days this year. It will run from August 22 to 25 and theme is The Passion and The Power of TV.
Nataraja joined the Gogglebox broadcaster in 2011 and has since worked her way up to running the planning and scheduling teams while shaping commissioning strategy across the Channel 4 portfolio, including VoD player All4.
“For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with TV,” said Nataraja.
“I was endlessly fascinated by different worlds and voices on screen. I’m honored to take on this role so we can explore the passion and responsibility we all share for creating powerful shows that can bring positive change to a viewer.
- 2/7/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
This time last year, Ben Frow didn’t know how to use a laptop, had never worked from home for a single day of his career, and was terrified that his local supermarket was going to run out of food. “I was more worried about the shelves being empty than the Channel 5 shelf being empty,” says the mischievous and sometimes off-message ViacomCBS UK chief content officer. Flash forward 12 months, Frow is conversing over Microsoft Teams on his laptop, he’s speaking to me from a tastefully appointed front room, his fridge is (presumably) well-stocked, and he has steered Channel 5 through the biggest peacetime crisis in the history of British television.
Frow was one of five of the UK’s most powerful television executives who joined me to reflect on a truly wild year for our industry. Together, we traced the events of the past 12 months, from the shock of...
Frow was one of five of the UK’s most powerful television executives who joined me to reflect on a truly wild year for our industry. Together, we traced the events of the past 12 months, from the shock of...
- 4/1/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
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