Lifestyle

Introduction

• Welcome to Lifestyle (formally known as Daytime & Features).

• We’ve re-branded to LIFESTYLE as it encapsulates the type of shows we commission, resonates with audiences as they search for content & aligns with the C4Lifestyle digital presence.

• Lifestyle is concerned with how we live & what we care about (homes, family, food, travel, health, etc) – the things that touch our lives every day.

• Lifestyle now has a key role in supporting Channel 4’s Fast Forward strategy:

1. Delivering linear share across daytime, shoulder peak and 8pm at more competitive, lower tariffs.
2. Nurturing high volume, lower cost formats that drive streaming

• We already have some of Channel 4’s biggest shows on our slate: The Great Pottery Throw Down; Location, Location, Location; George Clarke’s Remarkable Renovations & Amazing Spaces; Love It or List It; Air Fryers, Matt Baker, Middle Aisle, Junior Bake Off; Help! We Bought a Village; A New Life in the Sun; Chateau DIY and new favourites such as Michael Mosley’s Secrets of Your Big Shop, PopMaster TV, Worst House on the Street & Britain’s Most Expensive Houses.

In 2024 / 25 we’re concentrating on finding, developing, and commissioning a new generation of lower cost returnable shows in the lifestyle space, that complement our existing hit shows, feel relevant and timely and embody Channel 4’s unique tone of voice and deliver a sense of purpose and attitude. We want to celebrate & reflect Britishness in all its quirky fabulousness.

• These need to be broad appeal shows that will primarily live first on linear – but have a long tail that means they’ll thrive and drive streaming viewing as well.

How we want our Lifestyle viewers to feel

• The audience wants uplifting content & the promise of happy endings and resolution / reveals.
• Format that does the hard work for the audience & makes it easy to join across the ep.
• Broad subjects that feel relevant to most people in some way, tackled in unexpected ways.
• We want emotion in our shows – that ultimately always leaves the audience feeling uplifted.
• Feel good tone is crucial – however we know the audience loves a sense of unpredictability & spontaneity – but we always need resolution of some sort, and ideally a good hook and reason to watch the next ep.
• Immersive and inspiring formats rather than finger-wagging, preachy or too overtly instructional.
• Competition in unexpected places can revive and reinvigorate classic topics.

Top Tips:  8  things to think about – all beginning with ‘T’

• Title: A killer title will bring the audience and do the marketing heavy lifting for you. Air Fryers: Are They Worth It? was pretty much commissioned off the title alone.
• Territory: Is it big / broad / relevant?
• Talent: If they’re not big names they need to be big on expertise and renowned in their field. Something to say and a reason for us to listen.
• Trends:  Is it ‘a thing’ or about to be ‘a thing'? Is the time right to do it now?
• Take Out: Learning new things from the comfort of the sofa, for example ‘Bake Off’, where knowledge and insights from Paul and Prue bring added value.
• Transformation: An opportunity for both the contributors’ skills to evolve and for them, personally, to change and grow.
• Talkability: Emotion, tone, drama, reveals – considering what will make people not only watch our shows but talk about them too. Whether that be via social media or just by the kettle at work.
• Thumbnail: What’s the image that’s going to sell the show to the audience?

We have a number of opportunities in 2024 / 2025. Because of our focus on delivering most of the channel’s lower cost output you’ll need ingenuity and creativity to deliver a brilliant idea on a tight budget.

We’re looking for clever & innovative production models that mean we can deliver quality content (e.g: clever hybrid of access meets format / simple formats)

We’d like to hear about YOUR brilliant lifestyle idea that can come into us for between £100k-£180k per ep.

We have REAL / GENUINE opportunities for:

• 60’ eps - very low-cost Lifestyle - up to £100k an ep.
  • (Would consider limited number of singles in VERY BROAD, POPULIST SPACE – e.g.: the much-imitated Air Fryers: Are they Worth it? 😊 NB: The bar here is VERY high).
• 60’  - low to mid cost lifestyle - up to £180k an ep.

We know whittle shows are unattainable at those tariffs – however if you have a way of making one work, (by imaginative & creative production models / bringing in additional ££ etc) without compromising production values then we’ll be all ears.

We’ve been clear about the tariff range we’re working with and it’s worth remembering that that’s not a floor, but it IS a ceiling – so please don’t bring this department shows that will require a C4 contribution of over 180k.

We would LOVE IT if you proactively pitched us an idea at circa £120k an ep – it means we can make our cash go further and that means we’ll have more opportunities for you!!

We will want to try a few ideas so wouldn’t consider more than 3/4 eps for first series (we also know that 3 episodes is the sweet spot for bingeing shows hence the appeal).

Areas of particular interest

Parenting & Family: 

We have put several ideas into funded development and so not looking for anymore ideas in this territory at the moment.

Health & Wellbeing is one of our biggest obsessions.

• It’s important territory for our audiences – fact v fiction has become less clear in social media and now the AI age for consumers which is why strong trusted platforms like ours are critical in getting messages across, even if it’s difficult to do.
• Scope to revisit and refresh traditional territories by applying modern values.
• Keep what we know works: e.g. Before / After reveals – but rather than judging and shaming contributors, go beyond surface level transformations and help contribs get to the root of their issues / the role of society / big business and the world we live in plays rather than putting all of the onus on to individuals.
• Needs to be authentic, something people can relate to, quietly judging one minute then going ‘oh my god, I do that’ or ‘that explains why’ - it’s the bigger picture.

• Trad Features shape can feel old-fashioned – how can you innovate with form / structure / introduce hooks to encourage ‘watch next ep’.
• Competitive high-pressure environments that create compelling emotional narratives.

• Talent need to have something to say / authority in the space.
• Think about talent pairings. If they don’t have something to say or opinion is all science-based then it's not going to work. Pair them with a personality who has authority in the space.
• Is there anyone from the old guard we could bring back who still resonates with audiences?

Consumer

We are keen to hear consumer ideas for the lower cost tariff. In Lifestyle our consumer titles are all about empowering the audience, (Secrets of the Middle Aisle) giving them tips and hacks to spend smarter (Joe & Katherine’s Bargain Holidays), get great value, reflect consumer trends (the OG Air Fryers: Are They Worth It?) all with trademark Channel 4 wit.

Travel / Escapism

We want to encourage people to think of exploration or mischief rather than just travel.  Getting out into the world and bringing the world to our viewers.  The world they’ve not seen, or the world people think they’ve seen but haven’t really. Might be unfamiliar and intrepid or familiar or iconic but through a different lens. This lens could be the presenter, attitude, or perspective.

• Might be a new format that carries a bit of rub: possibly a singular presenter with their own in-built comedic take on the world, or a duo or gang whose dynamic generates the rub. We’ve seen that over the years with Miriam and Alan. Shows with identifiable characters are so clearly defined you can put them into any situation and sparks will fly or comedy will happen. That’s what we are looking for in Travel. People who guarantee added value to whatever backdrop they land in.
• Also think about ideas where The Title, is the Top Line and is the Format. (e.g: An Idiot Abroad or Breaking Dad, or our own upcoming Bargain Holidays with Joe and Katherine).  Each of those titles suggests that not everything is going to be easy; there’s an imp in the mechanism, a challenge afoot, a doubt to be disproven. And the format can go anywhere that top line takes it.
• Don’t just think of travel as travelogue. How else can you take our viewers out and about? Look at Amanda and Alan on BBC Two – a show that brings you all of the escapist joy of Italy, but it’s not a travel show. So what big talent could you bring us and what could they be doing abroad that isn’t just driving from tourist site A to tourist site B
• Don’t want: Straight travel with food, single presenters or duos traveling round Britain; traditional travelogues that are based on an a-to-b-to-c geographical journeys. We already have enough of those and so do our competitors.

Relationships & Love: Whether it's family, romantic, friendship, etc, the way that we live with each other underpins pretty much all our successful shows.

• So, when you’re thinking about ideas for us – think about how the relationship aspect of the idea can amplify the proposition.
• We think ‘relationships’ is a good partner to other subjects, but...

**WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR DATING SHOWS!**

What haven’t we mentioned / thought about? What do you think we’re missing? What are the unexpected wholesome treats – that empower, lift up or inform the audience about their lives?

NB: ** Our Property bucket is well and truly overflowing with amazing shows – we’re not actively looking for any new property ideas (for now)** (except for the daytime brief below)

If you’re not currently working with someone in the team it's always best to send ideas into our email - Lifestyle ideas.

We look at ALL ideas we get via that route and it’s by far the most efficient way for you to get your idea seen by us.

If you have an established relationship with a Comm Ed please do continue to pitch to them – but PLEASE DON’T pitch the same idea to different Comm Eds – we all discuss the ideas & who’s pitching.

And please tell us upfront if you’ve already pitched an idea to another department in C4.

The Lifestyle Team

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