Key Takeaways:
- Diverse Entry Points: Pricing is a broad spectrum. National peak spots may exceed £20,000, but daytime slots frequently trade between £800 and £2,200, while late-night E4 spots can drop to just £35.
The Power of Regionality: You don’t need a national budget to win. By targeting one of Channel 4’s six macro-regions, businesses can launch high-impact TV campaigns with budgets starting at just a few thousand pounds.
Precision TV Media Planning: We use Planet V and BARB data to optimize CPT (Cost Per Thousand) rates, ensuring your budget—no matter the size—delivers both immediate response and long-term brand fame.
The "Cool" Factor: Why Channel 4 is Different
In 2025, Channel 4 remains the UK’s primary destination for brands that want to shape culture rather than just sit on the sidelines. Its commercially funded, "alternative" remit attracts an audience that is younger, more urban, and more affluent than its competitors.
At One Day, we treat Channel 4 as an elastic asset. It’s no longer a "rich man's game." Whether you are a disruptive startup or an established powerhouse, the goal is to architect your spend to match specific commercial fundamentals.
Understanding the Pillars of Pricing
Channel 4 operates on a CPT (Cost Per Thousand) model. You are buying attention, not just a static 30-second block. Several levers dictate your final price:
Dayparts: Daytime (9 AM – 5:30 PM) is a frequency powerhouse, with slots often costing between £900 and £2,500. Peak time (8 PM – 11 PM)—the "Gold Dust" hours of Gogglebox—ranges from £10,000 to over £22,000.
Seasonality: Q4 is the expensive "Christmas rush." Conversely, January and August often present "bargain" windows for brands looking to stretch their media spend.
Audience Niche: Targeting a broad "Adult" demographic is cheaper than chasing specific, high-demand segments like "16-34 Men" or "Affluent Homeowners."
Linear vs. Streaming: The Total TV Approach
The evolution of Channel 4 Streaming (formerly All 4) has changed the game for smaller budgets. Using a CPM (Cost Per Mille) model ranging from £25 to £55, this is "Addressable TV."
For a business with a £5,000 budget, a highly targeted streaming campaign—served only to households matching your first-party data—often delivers a higher ROI than a single national linear spot. It provides the "big screen" authority with digital-grade precision.
The Tools of the Trade
To ensure transparency, we leverage a high-tech stack:
Planet V: The primary programmatic platform for bidding on streaming inventory in real-time.
BARB Data: The gold standard for verifying that your brand was actually seen by the right people.
Adalyser: We map spot times against website traffic spikes, turning "brand awareness" into a hard performance metric.
Why an Integrated Strategy is Essential
TV shouldn't live in a silo. We focus on Mental Availability—the "Halo Effect" of being seen alongside First Dates or The Last Leg. When a viewer sees your ad, they likely have a smartphone in hand.
As an integrated agency, we "up-weight" your Google Search bids during your peak TV slots. We ensure your TV creative is repurposed for TikTok and Instagram, making your production budget work four times as hard.
Channel 4 is one of the most versatile tools in the UK media kit. The secret to success lies in balancing the "fame" of big-ticket programming with the surgical precision of data-driven streaming.
Learn more about Channel 4 Advertising, and VOD Advertising!
