📺 How Channel 4 Is Winning on YouTube And What That Means for Broadcasters

For years, traditional TV networks treated YouTube like an afterthought, a dumping ground for social clips and promos.

Channel 4 flipped the script. They launched their “Fast Forward” strategy in 2024, which is all about taking YouTube seriously as a content distribution platform as part of a broader digital transformation plan. And it’s paying off.

🔥 Here’s what they’re doing right:
📢 1) Full Episodes on YouTube
Instead of just highlights, they’re uploading full episodes of hit shows like First Dates and Gogglebox.

Full episode views on YouTube are now up 169% YoY, outperforming rivals like the BBC, ITV, and Sky in average views per video.

🎬 2) Channel 4.0: A New YouTube Channel Built for Gen Z
They created “Channel 4.0” as a digitally native YouTube channel, built with content formats and featuring digital talent geared towards younger audiences.

Some of these unscripted, creator-led formats like Tapped Out (hosted by Nella Rose) are now turning into full-blown productions on linear TV.

The Channel 4.0 YouTube audience doubled YoY and and their TikTok presence grew 81% YoY.

🚀 The Big Takeaway:
Even amongst “traditional” TV networks, forward thinking ones like Channel 4 are seeing the tangible benefits of treating YouTube as a serious content distribution platform, rather than a cute social add-on.

In addition to driving incremental incremental reach that grows your audience and your IP, you can passively earn AdSense revenue on YouTube and sell new buckets of direct ad inventory.

Digital-native content arms (like Channel 4.0) can be both a growth engine and an IP incubator.

I expect that many traditional broadcasters are now reviewing their YouTube strategy for 2025. They’ll need to be aggressive or risk falling behind.