However I still think that they should uset he word 'four', because that was the channels name. I don't have 'FilmFour', but I still recoginise the brand.
I'm not sure about the idea of rebranding and tweaking everything for a Freeview launch. The issue which dogged it was the lack of 'killer brand'
multichannel names. It gave you UK History instead of UK Gold, Sky Travel instead of Sky One, TMF instead of MTV etc.
To me, the platform might have improved but it the two things which gave it the most credibility (although I accept that they didn't do much to actually improve the content) were replacing Sky Travel with Sky Three, because it's much more closely aligned to Sky One, and introducing Men&Motors, because it's a highly recognised pay TV channel brand. A further trick which I can't believe MTV UK missed was to completely detach TMF from the MTV brand - an MTV-branded music channel would make the offering
appear
so much better, even if it was the same channel underneath.
E4's launch on DTT was such a significant addition precisely because it was exactly the same channel which people up until then had had to pay for (even if by that stage the channel was rather watered down from the days when it stole two of Sky One's top shows and dealt it a blow from which it has never recovered).
Adding FilmFour to DTT for free would appear to be so much more significant if it just carried on with the same presentation set and the same schedule (perhaps with a few things changed for contractual reasons). Rebranding it to Film4 (and the logo does look hideous) and making wild alterations to the channel could lead to it being perceived as something that's been watered down for Freeview, and could lead to some of the paying satellite and cable subscribers cancelling their subscriptions if they feel that they are paying the same money for a lesser channel.
I too am concerned about the perceived need to replace 'four' with '4' just in order to bring it in to line with the other channels. Could this be the first step in an eventual generic look across all of their channels? IMO, the reason Channel 4 does so well out of multichannel is because they *don't* all look the same. They might all clearly be from the same family, but each has a different logo, a different ident set, and some other different presentation. This means that each appears as a standalone channel in it's own right, making each individual channel a bigger deal for the viewer, whilst delivering the benefits of a portfolio of channels to the broadcaster. If E4 was called Channel 4 Extra and used modiciations of the C4 presentation set, I can't see it having half the clout that it does - even if the actual schedule was identical.
IMO, the best way to launch FilmFour on Freeview would just be to launch it, as it is now, changing nothing unless it needs to be changed for contractual reasons. Any relaunch of the channel should have been put off until it had become established on DTT.
'Lost In Translation' will spearhead Film4's free-to-air launch night. Rubbish film IMO but I'm sure it will prove a big draw. Particular on the Freeview platform.
Are there any vids available of FilmFour's current presentation? If not, can someone cap them quickly please - and preferbly make them available for download, not on bloody YouTube!
I think they'd have been better off waiting a month myself until Big Brother was out of the way.
That way not only would the live feed have remained on Freeview till the end, but I also think scheduling wise it be better to launch it after C4's biggest show had finished - they'll be a few million people looking for alternatives in the last week in August!
We've touched on this a bit but what do people think of the 9pm start time.
Everyone is different, but personally 10pm is better for me. It means most of the main network programming is finished by then, and I prefer to watch a film later in the evening. 9pm is a bit too early as it'll clash with other things, while 11pm is getting a bit late really!
I'm guessing then the regulations which allow premium movie channels to screen 15+ films at 8pm don't apply if they go free to air!
Are there any vids available of FilmFour's current presentation? If not, can someone cap them quickly please - and preferbly make them available for download, not on bloody YouTube!
I think they'd have been better off waiting a month myself until Big Brother was out of the way.
That way not only would the live feed have remained on Freeview till the end, but I also think scheduling wise it be better to launch it after C4's biggest show had finished - they'll be a few million people looking for alternatives in the last week in August!
We've touched on this a bit but what do people think of the 9pm start time.
Everyone is different, but personally 10pm is better for me. It means most of the main network programming is finished by then, and I prefer to watch a film later in the evening. 9pm is a bit too early as it'll clash with other things, while 11pm is getting a bit late really!
I'm guessing then the regulations which allow premium movie channels to screen 15+ films at 8pm don't apply if they go free to air!
Personally I prefer the 9pm start time. Being up at 7 each morning, I like to be in bed by midnight, and films starting at 10 are just that little bit too late for me.
