Channel 4 Daytime is home to a huge diversity of well-loved programming from Phil Spencer: Secret Agent, to Deal or No Deal, 1001 Things You Should Know, and Come Dine With Me.

With Countdown, and Deal or No Deal as regulars in the schedule, the slots we are currently commissioning into are early afternoon, 3.30 and 5pm.

Commissioning Slots

5pm

Our current commissioning priority is for bold and original new shows to play at 5pm. We are looking for compelling ideas with peak time ambitions and talent that feel like a treat for viewers at this time of day. These may come in the form of a quiz, fact ent or competition and may have big name talent attached.

They should be developed with the ambition to transfer into the peak time schedule and are likely to be commissioned in runs of 10 to 30 episodes. This is our priority and slots are available later in the year for the right ideas and right talent.

Secondly, 5pm is also currently the home of successful long-running shows like Come Dine With Me and Four In A Bed. We would like to build on these successes and would encourage proposals for returnable, high volume fact ent formats with a unique Channel 4 sense of mischief, fun, and scope for strong casting. Formats must feel distrinctive and fresh, rather than derivative of our current output.

In both instances, ideas can be stripped across the week, or self-contained; and we are open to 30 or 60 minute running times.

Programme subject matter must appeal to a broad audience, men as well as women, and of different ages. We would also want to avoid subjects that have featured heavily in other parts of the schedule or have been well served by other channels by 5pm.

When pitching your ideas, bear in mind that successful C4 formats at 5pm will generally be simple to describe, transofrm into shows with warmth, energy and spontaneity and will feature stand out characters or presenting talent that viewers can empathise with.

Quizzes and Gameshows

We are also looking for entertaining but challenging quizzes and gameshows to play earlier in the afternoon. Audiences must be able to play along and the pace must be suitable for this time of the day. Shows should combine strategic game play whilst also allowing the character of contestants, presenters and other on-screen talent to shine through.

We are well served with quizzes which have as their central premise, contestants playing against time, but beyond that we are looking for clear but layered quiz and gameshow propositions.

Recent commissions include 1001 Things You Should Know and Common Denominator.

Property

Property shows are the mainstay of the late morning and early afternoon slots in the schedule. Shows include Phil Spencer: Secret Agent, A Place in the Sun, and Sarah Beeny Selling Houses. However, we currently have a number of returning brands in this area and there are limited slots to commission into.

Advertiser Funded Shows

The daytime schedule also features advertiser funded programmes at lunch time (eg. Eric Lanlard's Baking Mad and What's Cooking from the Sainsbury's Kitchen) and we are open to ideas in this area as well. These will generally be food related, but we wouldn't rule out other subjects. Ideas should preferably be submitted with funding attached.

Pitching

Please send top line thoughts or proposals via email in the first instance and, where appropriate, we will then arrange meetings to develop ideas further.

The Multiplatform Commissioning Editor for Daytime is Jodie Morris, contact details can be found here.