C4 to launch 4oD iPad app

Channel 4 is to launch an iPad app for its 4oD catch up service in three weeks’ time.

For the first three months it will be available free of charge, courtesy of sponsorship by Heineken, and thereafter there will be a one-off fee – to be announced at a later date.

Ed Couchman, the company’s commercial controller, future and digital media advertising, broke the news at a session at the IPTV World Forum yesterday.

Channel 4 is also launching a new shuttering video product, where the advertisement is surrounded by additional content options.

Couchman said that 56% of Channel 4  TV advertiser brands also used 4oD last year, but he felt the new medium still needed more research to add credibility.