Channel 4 has ordered two new original series and handed further commissions to two piloted formats for its digital-first youth brand Channel 4.0, in a summer slate that underlines the broadcaster’s commitment to building returnable IP on YouTube, TikTok and Meta platforms.
The orders, spread across four production companies, arrive as Channel 4.0 approaches its fourth birthday and suggest the channel has moved beyond experimentation into portfolio management, building a stable of repeatable, talent-led formats with recognisable faces at their core.
Leading the slate is Are They a Keeper? (6×20′), a dating format fronted by Nella Rose, in which the creator plays agony aunt to people unsure about their partners. Rose dates the partner in question herself before delivering her verdict. After Party Studios produces, with Jamie MacDonald and Sam Ewen exec producing and Abi Adetoye as series producer.
The second new order, The Chosen One (6×20′), is an evolution of Cowshed Collective’s The Intern. The format sees a celebrity from music, comedy or sport, with singer Leigh-Anne and rapper Headie One among those taking part, interview 20 amateurs alongside a panel of C4.0 regulars including Harry Pinero, Darkest Man and Rose, before endorsing a single next-gen talent. Ryan O’Shea and George Cowin exec produce, with Chris Goodson directing.
Two pilots have earned further episodes, both from Welsh indies supported by Media Cymru via 4Skills. Nimble Productions returns with Kids Table, a cultural cooking showdown pitting creators including Whitney Adebayo and Konan against aunties from their own heritage, judged by the teens of Minor Issues. Crash Productions’ Dating Dad, featuring Max Khadar and Brazavilleee, inverts the dating format by having singles vet and eliminate their potential dates’ fathers first.
Channel 4.0 has also ordered another 20 episodes of Savage Sundays from After Party Studios, returning the formats Find The and Cooked alongside new strand Career Report, in which a child interviewer armed with a dossier interrogates a celebrity’s career. The volume of that order, 20 episodes in one commitment, points to the economics of the space: short-form entertainment lives or dies on feed frequency, and thin slates do not sustain audiences.
Laura Marks, Head of Digital Commissioning for Channel 4, said the slate marked the start of the channel’s fourth birthday celebrations. Kaio Grizzelle, Digital Commissioning Editor and Interim Channel 4.0 Commissioning Lead, said the channel was continuing to build “a portfolio of iconic programmes” with indies making high-quality content in the digital space. The Chosen One, Are They a Keeper? and Savage Sundays were commissioned by Grizzelle, with Kids Table and Dating Dad commissioned by Digital Commissioning Editor Catriona White.
The slate premieres from mid-July across Channel 4.0’s YouTube, TikTok and Meta channels.
