From March 2022, Channel 4’s Hollyoaks will become the first UK soap to routinely premiere online. All new episodes will drop on All4 ahead of linear broadcasts on Channel 4 and E4.
New episodes will be available from the morning. E4 will then show the episode that evening, followed by Channel 4 a day later.
The new scheduling is part of Channel 4’s Future4 strategy outlined by its Chief Executive, Alex Mahon last year. As a result, scripted content will routinely debut on All 4 before linear broadcast.
In 2021 Hollyoaks was the most streamed scripted series and second most streamed series overall on All 4.
Other broadcasters have also experimented releasing individual soap episodes via their streaming services. No other UK soap currently does this for all episodes.
It’s not the first time soaps have been used to entice viewers to new services. Hollyoaks originally debuted a day early on E4 as a way of driving viewers to its then new portfolio of digital TV channels.
Channel 4 Head of Drama, Caroline Hollick said:
“It feels like a natural step for Hollyoaks with its youthful outlook and audience to be the first UK soap to premiere new episodes on our streaming service on an ongoing basis. Our loyal audience want to get their soap fix when they want, where they want it and the series’ continued popularity on All 4 proves that with this new ‘stream-first’ approach we are serving a much broader range of viewers, from those who want to stream, to those whose tea time ritual is kicked off with Hollyoaks each evening.”