As part of its content and distribution strategy, Channel 4 has today announced it has taken a minority stake in multi-media content company Barcroft Media.
Barcroft Media was founded in 2003 by photojournalist Sam Barcroft, and has grown into a robust business producing digital TV programming and digital shorts for brands and a broad range of UK and international networks.
Its YouTube channel, Barcroft TV, is hugely popular for its factual content and has over 2 million subscribers and more than 1.8 billion views to date.
Channel 4 has made the investment with its growth fund to bolster the corporation’s wider digital innovation strategy. In a statement it said the new investment extends the fund’s business portfolio beyond traditional UK independent production support, in a bid to help develop the UK’s influence in the global digital market.
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“As Channel 4’s growth in online and commercial innovation continues apace, it’s an exciting time for our Indie Growth Fund to make its first investment in a future-facing business with both content creation and multi-platform distribution capabilities,” said David Abraham, chief executive of Channel 4.
“Barcroft’s ability to connect with younger audiences globally, and their work with different formats, platforms and brands, aligns with our own commercial growth and we look forward to sharing our expertise to help Barcroft grow and to develop 4’s wider digital strategy.”
Barcroft Media’s TV credits include Inside The KKK for Channel 4 and Bear Grylls: Man vs. Everest for Discovery.
Channel 4 did not reveal the total sum of the investment, but the entire growth fund pot, which launched in the first quarter of 2014, amounts to £20m over a three-year period.
Commenting on the deal, CEO Sam Barcroft added: “For many years Channel 4 has proven that successful disruption at scale and constant innovation are its core strengths, which makes them the perfect partner for us.”
