Time-Shift Service Boosts Channel 4 Share

LONDON, December 8:
Channel 4 +1, the digital time-shift service of British broadcaster Channel 4,
will account for nearly 10 percent of the total audience share for the main
network this year.

New figures show that for
the 11 months ended in November, Channel 4 +1 drew in a 0.7-percent share of
all TV viewing, across all hours. This is up from 0.2 percent for the year-ago
period, though the time-shifted channel only launched last August. The main
Channel 4 network's audience share fell from 8.6 percent for the 2007 period to
7.5 percent this year, a decline of 13 percent.

With the viewing figures
for the two services combined, Channel 4's total audience share stands at 8.2
percent versus last year's 8.8 percent. Channel 4 +1 now
accounts for 8.5 percent of Channel 4 network's total audience share, up from
the 2.3 percent recorded last year.

Meanwhile, BBC Two saw an
8.2-percent decline in its all-hours share, while ITV saw its numbers fall to
17.3 percent, down 4.1 percent from last year. BBC One remained relatively
flat, with its all-hours share down just 0.9 percent to 21.8 percent. Five has
a 5.2-percent share of all viewing, compared with 5.4 percent from the 2007
period.

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski