Channel 4 axes T4 brand

Published Oct 12 2012, 18:30 BST  |  By Alison Rowley

Channel 4 has announced that it is axing the T4 brand.

The broadcaster will continue to screen the current weekend programming - produced by Shine's Princess Productions - until December, when it will be replaced with a new music-driven format.


[T4 presenters Rick Edwards and Miquita Oliver with Hugh Jackman]

T4 was launched in 1998, and over the course of its 14-year history has helped to kick start the presenting careers of names including Dermot O'Leary, Simon Amstell, Alexa Chung and new BBC Radio 1 breakfast show host Nick Grimshaw.

Since 2005 the brand - which targeted the 16-24 demographic - also staged its own annual music festival T4 On The Beach. It was preceded by the Popbeach event in 2003 and 2004.

T4 recently moved from Channel 4 to sister station E4, and is said to have been dropped as part of a move to refresh the network's youth programming. Channel 4's head of formats Dominic Bird is reportedly looking for three music shows to pilot in the new year, which will be broadcast on Friday nights and designed to appeal to the T4 audience.


[Nick Grimshaw, Rick Edwards and Jameela Jamil at T4 on the Beach]

"This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to develop a credible popular music show for Friday nights," Bird told Broadcast of the move. "The pilots reflect our continued ambition to provide our younger audiences on Channel 4 with a range of entertaining music content.

"Whilst T4 has historically been a much loved destination for our young audiences, its popularity has been incrementally diminished over time by the digital revolution," he added.

"In a landscape where Channel 4 now provides E4, the nation's most popular channel for 16 -34 year olds, T4 has been fighting incredibly hard to maintain the cut through it once enjoyed, and now is the right time to look at more appropriate ways to serve our younger viewers."

Former T4 presenter Vernon Kay took to Twitter to reminisce about his time with the broadcaster following the announcement.

"Very sad T4 is ending," he tweeted. "The start of great things for many many people, in front of and behind the camera!!"

He added: "I loved it and always will."

Jameela Jamil added: "Yes. It is true and it is very sad... T4 will be closing its doors this year... This is probably what ol' nostradamus was ravin' on about."

Photo gallery - T4 hosts and celebrity guests through the years: