In the old days, the idea of repeating a TV show the very next day would have struck programme schedulers as barmy. However, Channel 4 is generating buzz in the UK and US with a new channel called 4Seven – launching on July 4th – which does just that.
The difference is that 4Seven viewers will be able to effectively choose the schedule, as Channel 4 monitors activity around individual programmes on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter – with the views of TV critics also taken into account.
Slots will be set aside at 8pm and 10pm each evening where repeats from the previous day will be transmitted, preceded by a snappy selection of related comments, good and bad. The rest of 4Sevens schedule will be reruns of the most popular shows of the week.
“We think it is the first time a channel has incorporated the views of viewers into what goes on air,” Dan Brooke, Channel 4’s chief marketing and communications officer told The Observer. “We will run a montage of comments before the programme starts – the rough with the smooth, not just propaganda.”
“Repeats used to be a dirty word,” he added, “but now there is so much on, that viewers say they are missing the best stuff they want to see. When we did research we found the appeal of this channel was across the board.”
In the past, programmers have been taken aback by sudden success, with imported US drama Homeland just one recent example. Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, on the other hand, is a series that was born of a one-off documentary two back which pulled in 6.4 million viewers – three times the amount expected.
Tess Alps, executive chair of Thinkbox, which represents commercial TV channels, said: “I think it is a very clever idea and very Channel 4 – in the sense that their audience, which trends towards younger adults, uses social media disproportionately. People also watch certain TV programmes so they can join in conversations about them.”
Channel 4 will fill the 4Seven schedule with shows from its whole stable of TV stations, including E4, More4 and Film4.
MEC opinion: Well done Channel 4! This is an excellent example of how social media continues to shape our lives and give consumers more control over their entertainment. This might be the first innovation of its kind, but it is our opinion that it most certainly won’t be the last.