Channel 4 Sets Autumn Date For More4 Launch

Channel 4 has announced that its latest digital channel, More4, will launch in October this year, providing documentaries, daily news and current affairs in a format “more accessible and down to earth” than rival BBC4.

Outlining its plans for the year in its programme policy for 2005-06, the broadcaster announced a launch budget of “around £30 million” for the new channel, which is guaranteed a space on Freeview and should also be carried by Sky Digital and cable TV operators.

Channel 4 will aim the new channel at ABC1 audiences aged 35 and older, with a clear ambition to provide public service broadcasting and commission original programmes across a number of genres. The broadcaster also states that the channel will have a “strong international and multicultural flavour” serving to add to the UK’s digital offering with funding for original documentary or drama events.

The channel will also offer viewers another opportunity to see some of Channel 4’s strongest public service documentaries and features. More4 is designed to operate in tandem with Channel 4, with the broadcaster hoping to enhance viewers’ enjoyment of its programming and protect itself in the increasingly competitive multi-channel market.

The broadcaster also stated that its strategy for Channel 4 throughout 2005 will be focused maintaining and enhanceing its public service impact. The broadcaster has pledged to commit its highest ever programme budget, totalling £485 million, to the core channel in the coming year, with a “significant portion” of 2004’s surplus also being invested in the strengthening of public service programming. Funding has specifically been set aside by the broadcaster for “investment in innovation” in key genres such as comedy.

Last year saw Channel 4 react to criticism of its public service broadcasting content with a massive investment in its flagship peak-time politics and current affairs show, Dispatches. The seven-figure financial boost served to more than double the number of Dispatches programmes in the 2005 schedule, increasing its run from 12 programmes a year to 28 (see Channel 4 Boosts PSB Output With Dispatches Investment).

Elsewhere the broadcaster has already given the go ahead for a £20 million budget boost for entertainment channel E4, echoing a similar move made for Channel 4 last year and opening the door for more original programming and increase the channels’ impact amongst multi-channel viewers (see E4 Shake-Up Paves Way For £20 Million Budget Boost).

Channel Four: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com

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