E4 has announced the signing of a carriage deal with Telewest. The new entertainment channel from Channel 4 will be available to Telewest subscribers as part of its digital and analogue packages.
This is E4’s second distribution deal, having recently secured carriage with NTL, and it is hoped that deals across all multi-channel platforms will be signed before its launch date on 18 January. “Our aim is to bring E4 to as many viewers as possible and distribution on Telewest takes us further towards this goal,” said Gerry Bastable, managing director of pay and digital TV at E4. “E4 will broadcast new episodes of established shows and a range of brand new commission targeting an upmarket and younger audience that we believe is currently under served.”
The schedule for the new channel was announced earlier this month and will include UK first-runs of new series including Friends, ER, Ally McBeal and The Sopranos.
