Channel 4 To Relaunch E4.com As Social Networking Site
Channel 4 is set to relaunch E4.com as a new standalone social networking website early next year and plans to give users the chance to audition via the site for a place in the Big Brother house.
The www.E4.com domain name, which has lain dormant since the E4 website was integrated into parent site channel4.com in 2002, is being revived as a standalone online brand.
“E4 already has a powerful connection with younger audiences and looms large in their media consumption habits,” said Andy Duncan, chief executive of Channel 4. “These viewers are the first generation to grow up with the internet and they are driving the phenomenal growth of social networking online and of user-generated content as a mainstream entertainment medium.
“Big Brother is also a global phenomenon and we think it’s a perfect platform to launch this initiative and propel Channel 4 into one of digital media’s fastest growing marketplaces.”
Wannabe BB contestants will be able to upload a video clip to E4.com explaining why they think they should star in Big Brother VIII. The auditions, which can be viewed and rated by other users, will be studied by producers at Endemol and Channel 4 commissioning editors with at least one online applicant guaranteed to enter the Big Brother house next year.
“We think our plans for E4.com open up an even easier route into the Big Brother auditions process and will encourage a new wave of applicants to join Britain’s most famous house,” said Danny Cohen, head of E4. “The spread of digital technologies, such as phones and cameras, means the E4 audience is completely at ease generating and distributing its own content and we’re already working on exciting plans to get them interacting with E4’s other key programmes.”
In addition to Big Brother auditions, E4.com will have programming information, news and gossip from home-grown E4 shows such as Skins, Fonejacker and High School Dance and acquired series including Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty and The O.C.
Users will be able to create personalised web pages where they can chat to other users, upload their own content and rate clips and submissions from other users.
Channel 4: 020 7396 4444 www.channel4.com