10 O'Clock Live

11 April 2011

 

Following the success of the Alternative Election Night, Channel 4 Comedy and Entertainment Commissioning Editor, Darren Smith, has commissioned Zeppotron to produce an ambitious 15 week run of hour long, live shows - to do for the week's news, what the Alternative Election Night did for this year's polling day.

Channel 4 and leading comedy and entertainment producers Zeppotron are delighted to announce that David Mitchell, Lauren Laverne, Jimmy Carr and Charlie Brooker will return to front the live show.

Lauren Laverne said: "What a thrill it will be to broadcast live to the nation with my three favourite television fellows. I anticipate incisive comment, intriguing content and solid gold LOLZ. I can't wait!"

David Mitchell said: "Live television! Wow! Just think of the amount of tape we'll save!"

Jimmy Carr said: "It's an hour of live TV once a week on Channel 4. I heard Ofcom have set up a panic room. It might save everyone a lot of time and energy if I just apologise and resign now".  

The weekly series will use the presenting team's collective talents as comics, performers and commentators to bring a funny, fresh and clever take on current issues and events.  As with the Election Night coverage,  the show will be filmed live each week, and the team will be joined by studio guests, ranging from politicians and commentators, to experts or analysts.

The Alternative Election Night reached a peak audience of 2.8m and averaged 1.7m across the three hours it was on air, beating ITV's election coverage during this time, and boasting the strongest profile of 16-34s amongst all the terrestrials. The show proved a big draw for younger viewers, with a sizeable 44% of the show's audience coming from the 16-34 demographic.

C4's Darren Smith will be the lead commissioner on the series; but the Channel's highly respected News and Current Affairs Department will also lend their expertise.

Darren Smith said: ""The success of the Alternative Election Night proved that there is an appetite for a show that mixes comedy and the news agenda together in a way that produces genuine insight as well as laugh-out-loud moments.10 O'Clock Live will provide a fresh and unashamedly intelligent take on current affairs from a young perspective."

Executive Producer and Creative Director of Zeppotron, Ben Caudell comments "We hope to take forward the Alternative Election Show's spirit - its humour, its intelligence and its genuine interest - even if there isn't a national vote taking place that evening. There's always something to be fascinated by in the world, be it the latest twist in coalition politics, or how much Wayne Rooney looks like a potato." 

10 O Clock Live is produced by Zeppotron, an Endemol company. The Executive Producers are Ben Caudell, Richard Osman and Zeppotron's newly appointed Head of Comedy, Ruth Phillips. The Series Producer is Andrew Westwell.