Mark’s post on Channel4
Mark’s post on LinkedIn
To those outside the UK bubble, Channel 4 might seem like a bit of an oddity. Established as a public broadcaster that platforms voices underrepresented by the more establishment BBC, it has evolved into an eccentric mix of respected hard news, edgy and critically lauded comedy and drama, and the most inconsequentially silly reality and light-entertainment Alan Partridge ever deleted from his Dictaphone.
This week Channel4 has dominated headlines by focusing on the latter element of its output and seizing the initiative from ITV and Channel 5 as the silliest billy in UK television by announcing a series of shows that also function perfectly as publicity stunts.
The first was a show in which an audience decides (presumably with some kind of debate format) whether Jimmy Carr should destroy a painting by Adolf Hitler (and then other subsequent controversial artworks) live on air. The title, the format and everything about the show is the kind of clickbait that feels like it was generated by a pop culture AI Bot and that’s exactly what the media and social networks picked up on, what will probably attract a decent amount of viewers (for the first 10 mins of the first episode at any rate) and, more importantly, reignite the channel’s reputation for anarchic experimentalism that pushes the boundaries of taste.
Then came the announcement that every PR, Marketing and Advertising company’s favourite example of a TikTok-er to use in a pitch (2020-present), Mr Francis Bourgeois, has shaken off his cancellation for failing to support the RMT strikes and landed a celebrity trainspotting show with Channel 4. Depending on whether C4 have missed his peak popularity and how Bourgeois fairs as a presenter, this could grow into the kind of mindless, feel-good candyfloss telly that lasts and connects the ol’ dog of a channel with that illusive younger audience.