Channel 4 to launch on Disney+ with linear channel and day-and-date shows
Channel 4 will launch on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland from early 2027 under a new agreement with The Walt Disney Company.
Disney+ subscribers will be able to watch Channel 4’s linear HD channel and hundreds of hours of on-demand programming, including 24 Hours in A&E, Big Mood and Tip Toe, at no extra cost. The content will sit in a Channel 4-branded section of the app.
Several new Channel 4 shows will also be released on Disney+ each year at the same time as they air on Channel 4. The first three announced are Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, Bella Ramsey thriller Maya and Denise Welch comedy Stepping Up.
Disney said the partnership was one of the most significant it had agreed globally to bring local content to Disney+. Further details on launch timings and content are still to be confirmed.
Priya Dogra, CEO of Channel 4, said: “Channel 4 is home to some of the UK and Ireland’s most talked about and trusted programming, and this new service will help those shows reach viewers in new places. This exciting step shows how collaboration between broadcasters and streamers can create more choice and value for audiences.”
Adam Smith, chairman of direct-to-consumer at Disney Entertainment, said the deal paired “high-quality local programming and cultural relevance with a complementary audience” on Disney+.
Channel 4 confirmed to The Media Leader that Channel 4 Sales will keep selling advertising on the live simulcast of its linear channel within Disney+.
For on-demand viewing, Disney will sell advertising around Channel 4 content on a blind basis, meaning advertisers buy Disney+ inventory without being able to target Channel 4 programmes specifically. Channel 4 will be compensated through the commercial structure of the deal, the terms of which have not been disclosed.
Beyond a taste
The agreement goes considerably further than Disney’s arrangement with ITV, which Disney also billed as a “first-of-its-kind” partnership when it launched in July 2025, with each company making a selection of programmes available on the other’s streaming service.
As The Media Leader reported at the time, the limited number of titles meant the deal was better described as co-promotion than a shift in distribution strategy, with ITV not expected to offer more than a dozen titles on Disney+ at any one time. Disney sells the advertising against the ITV content on its ad-supported tier.
The deal also follows both companies’ recent pitches to advertisers. At its upfront this month, Channel 4 said it reaches 34m adults a month in the UK, 5m more than the ad-supported tiers of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ combined, and contrasted the 90% of its programming made in the UK with 25% of global streamers’ content.
At its own upfront, Disney said UK advertising revenue had grown 80% year on year and that 16-34s accounted for 43% of Disney+ viewing hours in the UK.
Channel 4 is also expanding its commercial footprint. In September, it agreed to become the exclusive ad sales partner for Paramount’s UK brands, including 5, from next year, taking over a business previously run by Sky that earns more than £300m a year.
Channel 4 Sales to become exclusive partner for Paramount’s UK linear and digital brands
Younger audiences
Maria Rua Aguete, head of media and entertainment at Omdia, said the deal was “another sign that the boundaries between traditional broadcasters and global streaming platforms are disappearing”.
She pointed to Omdia research showing that 43% of Disney+ users in the UK are aged 18 to 34, compared with 29% of Channel 4’s overall audience and 33% of its streaming audience.
“This is a particularly interesting opportunity for Channel 4 to reach younger viewers through a platform they already use,” she said, adding that Disney+ gains distinctive British content and a linear channel within its ecosystem.
Rua Aguete compared the deal with Netflix’s partnership with TF1 in France. She said: “The future of television is not broadcasters versus streamers. It is increasingly broadcasters and streamers working together to win the battle for attention.”
Ian Daly, head of AV at the7stars, was more sceptical about the benefits for advertisers. He said it was hard to establish whether Disney’s ITV deal had generated any incremental viewing or ad opportunity for ITV, as he had been unable to isolate that viewing in Barb.
“Ultimately, I don’t think it makes much difference to clients, other than making TV ever so slightly more complicated,” he said.
Daly noted that a single show can now be watched live via satellite or terrestrial, recorded on a PVR, live on Freely, live or on demand via the broadcaster’s own streaming service, on demand via Disney+ and as clips on YouTube, leaving planners to weigh live versus catch-up and full episodes versus clips.
“Whereas the viewer barely acknowledges a difference,” he added.