LONDON: Channel 4 has signed a deal with The Walt Disney Company to bring its shows to the Disney+ streaming platform in Britain and Ireland early next year.
The collaboration will see many of Channel 4’s programmes, including drama “Maya”, featuring Bella Ramsey, released on Disney+ at the same time as on Channel 4’s own platforms, the broadcaster said on Tuesday.
Channel 4’s main linear TV channel and hundreds of hours of its on-demand catalogue will also be available within a branded section of Disney+, it said.
Channel 4, like rival public-service broadcasters, is battling a tough advertising market and declining audiences for its linear channels.
Disney president says layoffs ‘extremely painful’ but necessary
It said last month it would cut about 340 jobs, representing more than a quarter of its workforce.
The broadcaster has held preliminary talks with the BBC about a tie-up of some operations, two sources told Reuters earlier this month.