FilmFour set to hire W&K ahead of Freeview debut

by Nicola Clark, Marketing 07-Feb-06, 11:00

LONDON - Channel 4 is poised to appoint Wieden & Kennedy to handle advertising for the relaunch of FilmFour.

The decision comes as the broadcaster plans to ramp up promotional activity for FilmFour ahead of its debut on Freeview.

Earlier this year, WCRS group strategy director Cameron Saunders moved to Channel 4 as E4, More4 and FilmFour's head of marketing. The three channels are key to the broadcaster's strategy to increase its audience share in digital homes.

Channel Four has high hopes for FilmFour and is expected to introduce advertising, which is not present in its pay-per-view format. It is believed that advertising revenue will make up for the loss of subscription income.

The broadcaster has had significant success taking its youth channel E4 free-to-air, netting a significant increase in viewers among 16- to 34-year-olds.

FilmFour has had a turbulent decade, and in 2000 the broadcaster closed the group's separate production division, responsible for a number of big-budget flops such as 'Charlotte Gray', and announced hundreds of redundancies.

However, in recent years the channel has rebuilt its production business with smaller-budget ventures. FilmFour had its biggest international hits with low-budget pictures including 'My Beautiful Laundrette' and 'The Crying Game'.

Last Christmas, FilmFour was made temporarily available to cable and satellite customers in a bid to drive subscriptions.

Earlier last year Channel 4 spent £12m on extra capacity on the Freeview platform to launch more channels.

No one at Channel 4 was available for comment on the potential hiring of W&K.

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