Home · Entertainment · Oct 26 archive
Disney+ and Channel 4 Announce Landmark Content Deal in UK
Confirmed
In Short: Disney+ and Channel 4 have announced a landmark deal that will see Channel 4's popular shows, such as 'Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins' and the upcoming 'Maya,' available on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland starting early next year.
The deal, one of the biggest of its kind in UK TV history, includes a range of Channel 4 shows available day-and-date on Disney+ as part of subscribers' existing subscription.
Channel 4 CEO Priya Dogra emphasized the complementary nature of the deal, stating, 'We’re thrilled to be working with Disney+ to give audiences even more ways to discover and enjoy Channel 4’s brilliant shows.'
Disney+ viewing skews younger, with around 40% of viewing over the past year coming from 16-34 year olds, according to Holmes, who noted that the deal aims to reach a broader audience.
Holmes added, 'We’re not competing with free-to-air partners; we’re helping them reach a broader audience.' He also highlighted that the deal is broader in scope than previous Disney deals, such as the one with ITV.
The deal is part of a series of similar content deals Disney has signed with international broadcasters, following a groundbreaking deal with ITVX last year.
Channel 4 will be available via a Channel 4-branded section on Disney+, offering a range of shows to Disney+ subscribers.
Holmes noted that the deal is an example of how collaboration between broadcasters and streamers can create more choice and value for audiences.
The deal comes as part of a broader strategy for both Disney+ and Channel 4 to expand their reach and offer more content to viewers.
Disney and Channel 4 have also explored other collaboration opportunities, such as putting Channel 4 shows on BBC iPlayer, though a BBC-Channel 4 merger remains unlikely.
What this adds
The deal is expected to enhance Channel 4's reach and bring more choice to Disney+ customers.
The deal is described as one of the most significant that Disney+ has agreed globally to bring high-quality, local content to customers in markets around the world.
What's confirmed
- The deal, one of the biggest of its kind in UK TV history, includes a range of Channel 4 shows available day-and-date on Disney+ as part of subscribers' existing subscription.
- Disney+ viewing skews younger, with around 40% of viewing over the past year coming from 16-34 year olds, according to Holmes, who noted that the deal aims to reach a broader audience.
- Holmes added, 'We’re not competing with free-to-air partners; we’re helping them reach a broader audience.' He also highlighted that the deal is broader in scope than previous Disney deals, such as the one with ITV.
- The deal is part of a series of similar content deals Disney has signed with international broadcasters, following a groundbreaking deal with ITVX last year.
- Channel 4 will be available via a Channel 4-branded section on Disney+, offering a range of shows to Disney+ subscribers.
- Holmes noted that the deal is an example of how collaboration between broadcasters and streamers can create more choice and value for audiences.
- The deal comes as part of a broader strategy for both Disney+ and Channel 4 to expand their reach and offer more content to viewers.
- Disney and Channel 4 have also explored other collaboration opportunities, such as putting Channel 4 shows on BBC iPlayer, though a BBC-Channel 4 merger remains unlikely.
What's still developing
- In one of the biggest deals of its kind in UK TV history, shows like Channel 4 stalwart Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and upcoming Bella Ramsey-starrer Maya will drop on Disney+ at the start of next year in the UK and Ireland.
- “One clear lesson is that a focus on shows that are current, big, bold and buzzy – and available day-and-date – works particularly well with our audience,” he added.
- “We’re not competing with free-to-air partners; we’re helping them reach a broader audience.” The news comes more than a year after Disney+ kicked off a strategy of partnering with local European networks by striking a content-swapping deal with ITV that has seen shows like The Bear and The Kardashians head to ITVX, while Love Island and Mr Bates vs the Post Office went in the opposite direction.
- “From our perspective, people develop viewing habits in different places,” said Dogra.
- “There is a genuinely complementary relationship here,” added Holmes.
- That groundbreaking deal came just weeks after Netflix unveiled a landmark agreement in France to give its subscribers access to TF1 channels via the streamer.
- Local Telegram channels later showed another strike in central Kyiv, with videos showing a medical center belonging to Ukrainian private medical provider Dobrobut in flames.
- Monday, September 28, 2026 · 3:28 PM ET In Short: The attack damaged the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, a cultural landmark in the capital, setting its building ablaze.
- (TORONTO, September 14, 2017) – Radiohead, one of the world’s most acclaimed rock bands, and Hans Zimmer, one of the planet’s most successful movie and TV composers, are joining forces to produce an exclusive track for the forthcoming BBC Earth natural history landmark Blue Planet II.
- PT across all of Blue Ant Media’s Canadian specialty channels, including BBC Earth, Cottage Life, Love Nature, Makeful, T+E, A.Side, HIFI and Smithsonian Channel Canada.
- “The premise is that we need to lean into the wider ecosystem,” said the CEO, a former Sky and Warner Bros. Discovery executive.
- Holmes said the Disney-Channel 4 pact is broader in scope than Disney-ITV and his team learned from the latter when executing the former.