UKTV and C4 agree long term extension of exclusive sales partnership

18 January 2017

New partnership to focus on digital innovation to support development of UKTV Play

UKTV and Channel 4 today announced they have extended their agreement for 4 Sales to remain the exclusive advertising representative for the UKTV portfolio.

4 Sales will continue to act as the sales agent for all UKTV inventory, including UKTV Play, until well into the next decade, securing Channel 4’s position as the UK’s second largest sales house. The new long term partnership will leverage Channel 4’s track record of award-winning digital innovation and double-digit revenue growth to support UKTV in the development of its digital business. The extended deal also enables UKTV and 4 Sales to work with advertisers to create bespoke new ad formats, putting innovation at the heart of advertising.

UKTV’s CEO, Darren Childs, said: “4 Sales has represented UKTV’s inventory in the advertising market since 2010, during which time UKTV has grown its share of commercial impacts to an all-time high of almost 10%. Channel 4 shares our ambition to be innovative and creative when allocating airtime to brands, and as UKTV continues to grow its share in the market, 4 Sales remains the perfect partner to represent UKTV’s inventory across all different viewing platforms.”

Channel 4’s Sales Director, Jonathan Allan, said: “After growing UKTV’s revenues successfully since the start of our relationship, we’re delighted to have significantly extended our valuable partnership and will continue to be a key part of their success for many more years to come. The quality of their output, strengthened by their original programming investment and VOD growth, perfectly aligns with the rest of our portfolio.”    

UKTV’s channel mix, which includes the top two non-PSB channels in the UK, Dave and Drama, Britain’s favourite comedy channel Gold and premium pay entertainment channel W, offers advertisers a wide range of desirable consumer demographics.

The network has recently announced record year-end viewing with SOCI (share of commercial impacts) at an all-time high of 9.86%.

UKTV’s on demand service, UKTV Play, is also going from strength to strength. It is the broadcaster’s fastest-growing brand, with a 74% increase in direct-to-consumer views and a 98% increase in app downloads year-on-year. UKTV Originals have been performing particularly well on the on demand service, with the exclusive preview of Red Dwarf XI proving a big driver for newly-launched user registration on uktvplay.co.uk.

In 2016 Channel 4 won Campaign Media Award’s TV Sales Team of the Year for the third consecutive year, following winning Campaign’s Medium of the Year and Media Week’s TV Sales Team of the Year in 2015. This success is driven by the broadcaster’s investment in commercial and digital innovation over the last six years which has leveraged its award-winning data strategy with over 15 million registered viewers to launch Europe’s first programmatic buying option for a TV VOD platform via All 4; multiplatform targeted ad solutions on mobile and big screens; and the first ever interactive ads for the big TV screen. 4 Sales creative strategy propelled by its content solutions and creative arm PL4Y has helped advertisers access the channel’s commissioning teams to create branded digital content and a range of bespoke ad breaks and brand partnerships including live stunts and contextual ads. These market leading initiatives have contributed to Channel 4 achieving record breaking £1bn+ revenues for the fifth consecutive year and +30% growth in digital revenues in 2015.

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Stats Measurement

SOCI 2016 year-end figure based on BARB data delivered via DDS.

VOD data: Jan – Nov 16 vs Jan – Nov 15

About UKTV

UKTV is the biggest multichannel broadcaster in the UK.

The award-winning independent has eleven imaginative brands - UKTV Play, Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Drama, Really, Home, Eden and Good Food. These include the two most popular non-PSB channels in the UK and account for nearly 10% of the British commercial TV market. The company's most recent financial results showed record-breaking year-end revenue of £319m and EBITDA of £82m. It invested £148m in programming and related launches last year, and is becoming an increasingly significant investor in UK creativity.

UKTV has a truly innovative model, curating brand-defining commissions, high-profile acquisitions and the very best of BBC, alongside programmes originally shown on ITV and Channel 4. The network embraces technology to deliver inspired channels to audiences through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat, Amazon Fire and UKTV Play, and distributes its highly valued original programmes to 200 territories.

Now celebrating over 20 years at the forefront of digital television, UKTV - an independent commercial joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. (SNI) - is proud to be the only British television broadcaster in The Sunday Times top 100 companies list.

corporate.uktv.co.uk / press.uktv.co.uk / @uktv_press

About Channel 4

Channel 4 is a publicly-owned, commercially-funded, not-for-profit public service broadcaster and has a remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive. Its public ownership and not-for-profit status ensure all profit generated by its commercial activity is directly reinvested back into the delivery of its public service remit. As a publisher-broadcaster, Channel 4 is also required to commission UK content from the independent production sector and currently works with over 300 creative companies across the UK every year.

In addition to the main Channel 4 service, its portfolio includes: E4, More4, Film4, 4Music, 4seven, Channel4.com and digital service All 4.