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'The End of the F***ing World' returns to Netflix November 5th
One of Netflix's finest original series is coming back in just a few weeks' time. Season two of The End of the F***ing World will start streaming November 5th.
Channel 4 is making All 4 accounts mandatory early next year
Channel 4 is going the way of the BBC early next year, when it will begin forcing users to sign up for an All 4 account in order to access the catchup service. No doubt, like the BBC, this will give Channel 4 the opportunity to better tailor the All 4 experience to the individual. But switching accounts from optional to mandatory isn't without an ulterior motive. Just as the BBC peeks at user data to catch out licence fee dodgers, Channel 4 will utilise it to serve targeted ads to nearly every All 4 streamer, whether they be watching on a phone, tablet, console or smart TV.
Channel 4's online TV ads will call you out by name
Adverts are about to get a lot more personalised -- or creepier, depending on your point of view -- the next time you hop on the All 4 streaming service to catch up on The Island with Bear Grylls. This month, Channel 4 is bringing a new ad format to its on-demand platform that targets the viewer directly, including their name as part of the promo. Channel 4 gets this information from your All 4 account details, of course, and it's not a case of simply stamping that on an outro slide. In eerie, Minority Report style, the ads will actually talk to you (a world first, apparently), calling out your name and telling you to "run" after showing you a trailer for Alien: Covenant, for example.
All 4 is getting a new look with improved recommendations
Channel 4 killed off 4oD and replaced it with the new, All 4 on-demand service early last year. Since then, All 4 has made its way onto several important TV-connected devices and brought live streaming to mobiles and tablets. Next up: A visual upgrade. Not too much will change when the new UI comes to big screens like smart TVs, set-top boxes and consoles within the next few weeks, before hitting iOS, Android and the web in due course. A new dark background and slightly rearranged card-like UI are among the changes, but Channel 4 is making a point of talking up the new home screen, which'll blend data-driven recommendations with hand-picked content from human curators.
Channel 4 adds live TV streaming to the All 4 Android app
Channel 4 retired its aging 4oD platform and replaced it with the new and shiny All 4 streaming service this time last year. All 4 finally put on-demand content, live channel feeds and sundries like web shorts in one place. Well, that was true of the All 4 site and iOS app at least, but Android users have been missing out on one key feature: live TV.
All Amazon Fire TV devices now have the major UK catch-up apps
If you prefer to catch-up on TV shows instead of watching them as they air, Amazon's latest announcement might be of interest. After bringing all major UK broadcasters to the Fire TV, the company has turned its attention to the streamer's smaller sibling, the Fire TV Stick, confirming today that the HDMI dongle now supports BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4 and My5. It doesn't matter which Fire TV or Fire TV Stick model you own, they now all feature catch-up apps provided by the UK's biggest broadcasters. Add to that support Amazon's own Video service, Netflix and other major streaming services and you've got yourself a few reasons to skip your traditional TV box entirely.
Channel 4's game publishing arm announces first titles
Channel 4 makes video games? It might sound strange, but the British broadcaster has long tinkered with its own TV tie-ins and now wants to help the larger indie game development community. All 4 Games, a dedicated publishing arm set up last year, is now getting ready to launch its first three titles in the first quarter of 2016. These are Fire Fu by British studio RetroFist, Super Arc Light by the Glasgow team No Code and Apestorm: Full Bananas by Finnish developer Snowhound.
All 4 catch-up streaming comes to Amazon's Fire TV
When you've gone about revamping and rebranding your streaming service like Channel 4 did this year, the next step is to get your app on as many platforms as possible. Just before Christmas, All 4 made its way to the PlayStation 4, joining the apps already available for other games consoles, mobiles, tablets, computers and various smart TVs and set-top boxes (including Google's Chromecast). Today the service expands to yet another device, with All 4 launching on Amazon's newest Fire TV and support for the older version and Fire TV Stick also announced as "coming soon."
All 4 streaming app arrives on PlayStation 4
If your PlayStation 4 hogs the first or second input on your telly, there's a good chance it doubles as your TV streaming box too. It already has a bundle of apps including iPlayer and Netflix, but today an important service is joining its roster: All 4. The live streaming and on-demand service from Channel 4 (formerly known as 4oD) is now available from the UK PSN store, giving you easy access to programmes like Homeland and Fargo. This particular app only supports catchup viewing though, so you'll need to use another device if you want to tune in live. Given that Demand 5 is already available on the PS4, that means ITV Hub is the only service from the big terrestrial trio now missing on Sony's console.
Channel 4's All 4 will soon support Chromecast streaming
Love Channel 4 shows like Peep Show, Humans and Grand Designs? Own a Chromecast? If your answer to both of those questions is "yes," then we've got some good news for you. From November 24th you'll be able to watch All 4, the broadcaster's live streaming and catchup TV service (and the successor to 4oD) on your TV using Google's tiny dongle. It'll work through the Chrome browser and the All 4 Android app, followed by support in the iOS app around mid-December. If you have a spare TV, the combo could prove particularly useful over the Christmas period. Now, if and when your main TV is occupied, you've got another way to catch up on shows like Homeland and Empire undisturbed.
ITV's Hub is its answer to BBC iPlayer and All 4
As more and more households embrace online TV services, broadcasters are changing the way they deliver content in order to better fit around their audience. Last year, the BBC updated the iPlayer website and apps, followed by Channel 4's rebranded All 4 portal in March. Now it's ITV's turn. The company announced today that it will scrap the existing ITV Player and ITV.com website and roll them into a new entity: The ITV Hub. It will house all of the channels you'd expect (ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, CITV and ITVBe) and you'll be able to either watch live or stream on-demand via a smartphone, tablet, PC, connected TV or set-top box.
The next generation of Freeview arrives next month
More than ever before, Brits are using catch-up services to watch their favourite TV shows from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. YouView is already fusing those services with the traditional Freeview experience, and now, realising its potential, the brains behind Freeview are preparing a similar platform themselves. It's called Freeview Play and we've been told that it'll be launching in October on Panasonic's 2015 line-up of Viera TVs. The idea is that you'll be able to scroll back through the guide and watch an old TV show immediately -- one unified experience for browsing and discovery, rather than launching and navigating separate apps. Not all catch-up services will be integrated at launch, however. Freeview says Demand 5 will be available straight away as a standalone app, but won't support its TV guide experience until later. We suspect more TV manufacturers will launch and update their sets with Freeview Play throughout the year -- if you want to be an early adopter, just look for the "Freeview Play inside" branding on Panasonic's site.
Channel 4 will replace 4oD with new 'All 4' service on March 30th
Until now, Channel 4's streaming services have been a bit of a muddle. The renowned "4oD" platform handles all of its on-demand content, but the live channel feeds and web-centric shorts are held elsewhere. To make everything a little simpler for viewers, Channel 4 is launching a new, all-encompassing platform called "All 4" on March 30th. It'll be available for PCs, iPhones and iPads at launch, before being extended to other platforms, including Android, later in the year. The new service centers around three sections called On Demand, Now and On Soon. As the names suggest, they'll simplify where streamers can expect to find archived programmes, live broadcasts and trailers for new shows.
Channel 4 to replace 4oD with new 'All 4' service next year
Channel 4 basically pioneered online catch-up services when it launched 4oD for PCs eight years ago. Since then, 4oD has evolved and improved, most recently adding offline viewing for mobile devices and the ability to stream over 3G and 4G networks. Back in May, however, Channel 4 CEO David Abraham teased a "significant upgrade" to the service -- incidentally, the BBC pushed its iPlayer redesign out around the same time -- and today we're learning more about what that will entail. For starters, 4oD will be renamed "All 4" to reflect its comprehensive nature, with a new logo for good measure. It'll incorporate all the live channel feeds, on-demand content and Channel 4 shorts you can already find on 4oD, but packaged in a brand new user interface.
