Disney+ and Channel 4 sign UK content deal for early 2027

Disney and Channel 4 have signed a UK content deal that will bring Channel 4 shows and its linear channel to Disney+ in the UK and Ireland from the start of next year, according to deadline.com.

The agreement makes Channel 4's linear channel available in full on Disney+ in the UK, a first for the country. Series including Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins and the upcoming Bella Ramsey show Maya will land on the service at the start of next year.

Subscribers in the UK and Ireland will also get day-and-date access to new Channel 4 shows, plus hundreds of hours of on-demand content such as Russell T. Davies' Tip Toe and Nicola Coughlan's Big Mood.

Disney+ EMEA general manager Karl Holmes said there will be a regular tempo of new Channel 4 shows joining Disney+, without giving a figure. Channel 4 CEO Priya Dogra said the two services have little audience overlap and that the deal is complementary.

Part of a wider European push

More than a year before this deal, Disney+ began partnering with local European broadcasters through a content-swapping deal with ITV, which brought The Bear and The Kardashians to ITVX while Love Island and Mr Bates vs The Post Office went the other way. Disney later struck similar deals with Germany's ZDF and Spain's Atresmedia.

Channel 4 already licenses Disney content such as Abbott Elementary, The X Files and Scandal for its video-on-demand player. Holmes said around 40% of Disney+ viewing over the past year came from 16-34 year olds.