4oD to get major revamp

Speaking at the C4 Annual report, chief executive David Abraham said the broadcaster was working on a “revolutionary way” to aggregate the digital content it produces in an accessible format.

The revamped service will combine live, catch-up, archive and short-form video content with programme interactivity and supporting information.

“Up until now all of these aspects have been developed by the industry in relatively individual ways,” said Abraham. “We are working on a revolutionary way to present this in a joined up way.”

The service, currently being tested by users and due to be unveiled at C4’s autumn Upfronts, was dubbed a “design break through” and will be available across a range of platforms including spanning mobile, desktop, tablet and connected TV.

“It’s a very insightful solution to challenge how viewers navigate coherently between what is on now, what was on last night, shows available from several years ago and all the related  information and interactive features,” said Abraham.

“We have more new shows every night for viewers to discover, so we have to maximise people’s ability to discover and interact with the great content we produce.”

It follows a 6% year-on-year growth in C4’s VoD viewing to 476m (see graph). The broadcaster generated revenues of £61m in 2013, including syndication and sponsorship deals, up 15% from £53m in 2012.    

The data C4 has gathered via 10m registered users, including 50% of the UK’s 16-24 year olds, has informed the service along with insights from its second-screen app, 4Now.

“We are starting to learn from the behavioural data we are capturing,” said Abraham. “We are allowing people to navigate the archive in a particular in way driven through recommendations and improvements in our algorithms.”

He added that the revamp was also designed to continue to drive consumption of C4’s short-form video content, through initiatives such as 4Shorts.