Channel 4 Sees Best January In Years After Audience Boost

Channel 4 has announced its best January performance for five years, with an audience share of 10.3%, topping the performance of BBC 2 and defying the downward trend of its terrestrial rivals.

The impressive performance follows a strong 2004 for the broadcaster, in which its audience grew by 2% year on year. A spokesman for Channel 4 cited a “robust” start to 2005 as the main reason for the growth in share, with the start of year performance representing an 11% rise year on year, which compares favourably with a fall in audience share for other major terrestrial channels in the same period.

Five also managed to increase its audience share by 3% in January, pushing its total to 6.4%, although this was a growth from a much smaller base than that of Channel 4.

Channel 4’s growth was most impressive in the commercially important 16-34 category, which rose by 28% year on year, while ABC1 audiences rose by 6% in the same period. The channel’s 8.4% share in multi-channel homes also reflected an increase of 24% on 2004.

A combination of strong programming and effective peak time schedules has helped Channel 4 to secure its growth, with regular weekday slots for lifestyle programmes at 8pm, major factual programmes at 9pm and drama at 10pm. The broadcaster also stated that original programmes, running across the week at 11pm, was working well in boosting audiences.

Amongst the top rating shows on Channel 4 during January were Celebrity Big Brother and The Simpsons, while US drama Desperate Housewives also performed admirably (see Channel 4 Sees Strong Start For Celebrity Big Brother).

Channel 4’s drama and factual programming also ranked highly throughout January, with award winning drama Shameless amongst the top rating programmes. Michael Moore’s documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11 also proved popular, with 3.5 million viewers tuning in to see Moore’s controversial anti-Bush slant on the terrorist attacks in 2001.

The broadcaster recently announced a boost of £20 million to the programming budget of its digital entertainment channel, E4. The move echoed last year’s budget boost of the same ammount for Channel 4, a change which allowed the broadcaster to notch up its strong January performance (see E4 Shake-Up Paves Way For £20 Million Budget Boost).

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com

Recent Television Stories from NewsLine Sky Boosts Freeview Profile With 24 Premiere Sky Secures Buena Vista For Pub Advert Takeover ITV Extends Movie Rights Deal Into 2006

Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive