Recognised as one of the UK’s most innovative operators, Channel 4 is consistently evolving its offering to deliver premium video experiences to its audiences whilst staying ahead of the competition in an incredibly fast-paced environment.
With the rise of Internet TV and the tremendous growth in online video consumption, the activities and services on channel4.com have been a key part of this evolution.
Brightcove has been working with Channel 4 for several years, powering its short-form video platform for clips and exclusive online material for a number of programmes on channel4.com including Made in Chelsea, Gogglebox, Hollyoaks, and 24 Hours in Police Custody.
Most recently, Brightcove worked with Channel 4 to power the video for its new Formula One microsite, which went live in March 2016. Channel 4 picked up the free-to-air TV rights to Formula One for the first time at the end of last year, striking a three-year deal to broadcast 10 live races from 2016, as well as highlights of all 21 Grand Prix and qualifying sessions. F1.channel4.com offers the latest news, standings, results and videos from the races, drivers and more.
The videos are delivered via the latest version of the Brightcove Player (version 5), which was released this February and is being used by Channel 4 for the first time. Specifically updated to enhance video performance and speed, the new Brightcove Player offers Channel 4 the following benefits:
- Faster loading — Brightcove Player version 5 delivers a 100% HTML5 video experience, ensuring loading time is decreased, and making time-to-first-frame even faster for maximum content engagement and an improved user experience.
- Increased usability – Improvements to the user interface include a large centered play button, an improved seek bar and updated controls.
- Easy customisation – The new player is fully customisable and uses web-standard HTML, CSS, and JavaScript – all of which Channel 4’s web developer team uses on a daily basis.
Channel 4 initially selected Brightcove both for its commitment to the continuous enhancement of its technologies, and our deep understanding of the broadcast market.
“As our digital services rapidly grow and diversify, Brightcove continues to provide us with a reliable and versatile product (Video Cloud) allowing us to give our viewers the best viewing experience possible.” – Paul Myers, VOD and Online Content Manager, Channel 4.
We look forward to continuing to help Channel 4 meet the changing demands of its online audience now and in the future!