More4 makes a strong debut with Blunkett comedy drama

by Sam Matthews, Brand Republic 11-Oct-05, 11:00

LONDON – Channel 4's new adult entertainment channel More4 launched last night, pulling in 2% of the overall viewing share and making it the third most succesful digital channel debut behind E4 and ITV3.

More4 comfortably beat BBC Three and BBC Four launch nights, which had a 1.4% and 0.15% share of multichannel viewing respectively.

So far, E4 has been the biggest digital channel launch with a 3.68% share and ITV3 close behind with 3.62% on their opening nights.

More4's launch centrepiece 'A Very Social Secretary' at 9pm, charting the affair between David Blunkett and The Spectator publisher Kimberly Quinn, which was heavily trailed on Channel 4, pulled in 484,000 viewers or a 2.9% audience share.

The one-off drama starred Bernard Hill as Blunkett, Victoria Hamilton as Quinn and 'My Family' star and former Citizen Smith Robert Lindsay as Tony Blair.

The much-hyped programme got mixed reviews from the critics with The Guardian's Nancy Banks-Smith writing "It caught British political life perfectly" while The Daily Telegraph's James Walton dubbed it "overstated and toothless".

More4 went on air last night at 8pm with 'More4 News', anchored by Sarah Smith, attracting 140,000 viewers.

Other first night shows include 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart', which managed 216,000 at 8.30pm, and 'The Last Word', with a rotating round of presenters commenting on the days's events reaching 92,000 viewers from 11pm.

Peter Dale, head of More4, said: "For a public service channel to create this impact with a challenging schedule in a hugely competitive market is an extraordinary achievement. This is a very encouraging start."

Forthcoming highlights on the channel include drama-documentaries and films including 'Animal Research', on the topical subject of animal experimentation, and the UK debut of Oscar-nominated film 'Downfall', starring Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler.

Other hit shows include 'Super Size Me' filmmaker Morgan Spurlock's UK premiere of his new US documentary '30 Days' and the chance to see his McDonald's-guzzling documentary again.

More4 will also regularly showcase international documentaries including 'Fahrenheit 9/11', 'Capturing the Friedmans' and 'The Corporation.'

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.