The end of an era
Popular Channel 4 show Hollyoaks is to be moved after 28 years.
Channel 4 have explained that the change has come as part of new “ambitious pioneering digital approach” to give it’s audience a new viewing experience.
Fans of the soap don’t need to fear though as Hollyoaks will still remain on your TV screens but on a new home in the shape of E4 which given it’s young audience, seems more of suitable home.
Research showed that in 2023, 64 per cent of those who watched Hollyoaks binged it online or via E4, resulting in 556 million minutes of the show being streamed in the first half of the year.
As a result, Hollyoaks will continue to be watched on E4 while new episodes will be available to stream online 24 hours earlier.
If you want to catch up all in one sitting, the Hollyoaks omnibus will still be available on Channel 4 at weekends before being uploaded to YouTube a week later for the first time.
Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer, Ian Katz said: “Hollyoaks has always been the youngest and most innovative soap so it’s fitting that it should be the first to embrace the changes in the behaviour of younger viewers and switch to a genuinely digital-led release pattern.
“It was the first UK soap to move to a stream-first model last year and this is the next phase of that evolution. We hope making Hollyoaks available on YouTube, as well as our own platforms, will introduce a whole new generation to the show.”
The new schedule is set to roll out on September 25 so keep your diaries ready for the big change.
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