4seven

Speaking today at the FT Digital Media Conference David Abraham, Channel 4 Chief Executive, announced the launch of 4seven; the first new channel for the broadcaster since 2005.

Launching across all major TV platforms later this year, the channel will give viewers another chance to catch up with the most popular and talked about Channel 4 content from the last 7 days with the ease of a remote control rather than going online.


more details ……..

WWW.CHANNEL4.COM
08-Mar-2012 @ 09:53

and comment

Channel 4 has given the green light to a new TV channel, to be called 4seven, that will allow viewers to catch repeats of its most popular shows from this summer.

The new channel, which has been developed under the code name Project Shuffle, will allow viewers who missed the first live broadcast of Channel 4's most popular shows the opportunity to catch up with them over the next seven nights.

Channel 4 has secured a Freeview slot and distribution deals with Sky and Virgin Media, which had initially been wary of giving the channel the green light as it could provide competition to its own catch up services. No details on where 4seven will appear on electronic programming guides is currently being revealed by Channel 4.


from ……..

WWW.GUARDIAN.CO.UK/MEDIA
08-Mar-2012 @ 09:56

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/3/8/1331199723416/channel4-logo-for-4seven-007.jpg

I like the logo....

I don't, I'd have preferred the proposed 4Shuffle.

The working title was 'Project Shuffle'

The logo is great but not convinced on the concept - there are enough holes in the C4, E4 and More4 schedules to accommodate quick turn around repeats of C4 shows (it's ridiculous things like The Promise, Any Human Heart and Pillars of the Earth didn't get a repeat slot on More4 - or indeed C4). And with it being "social media driven" does that mean it won't have a schedule published in advance?

The Guardian thinks it'll launch later than the original June 1st launch date - so I hope C4 hold it back until September and make use of the stream during the Paralympics for extra coverage.

Very good logo but I have to agree with Brekkie on this; I'm skeptical of the case being really strong enough to warrant a whole TV channel providing this particular type of service.

Indeed, if that is the case, it'd be worse than useless.

It's no different from the +1 channels, launching another channel entirely full of repeats is just an easy way for Channel 4 to gain additional advertising revenue without having to go to the bother of actually creating any new content. They're not there to provide a 'service'.

And surely being driven by social media means people who like certain shows and want to tweet or whatever about them will just link to 4oD anyway. Completely agree that it's nonsensical and it's not embracing resources that they already have which fulfill this function. Why not simply put more money into a better 4oD or programming?

Let's see how long it lasts!

I think it will do very good business for them.

How many times have you heard people go on about a show, then you mean to watch it on catch up and completely forget?

I just think this will round-up a lot of these 'forgetters' into watching the big shows they've heard people go on about, simply because seeing on the EPG will remind them.

Well they are though aren't they.

I suspect that it WILL be scheduled. I assume that the core of this channel will be around 35 key hours of programming a week, these progtammes being selected based on socio economic principles and past viewing habits of these viewers from BARB. As the channel develops a complex audit of Twiiter, FB and G+ and any other social media will be performed to adjust the profiled audience figures for Channel Four programming and the schedule duly changed over the coming transmission period.

What might be worth doing is to spread the potential source library across it's other barnds, more4, E4 and Film Four to provide additional content to 4seven from these services. A film of the week from Film4 could be run as a fixture on Sunday Nights for example.

There could be an argument that an HD Version of this channel, if it encompassied all the Channel Four brands, could replace C4HD on DTT eventually.