How Channel 4 Is Winning Gen Z: Inside the Social-First Strategy Behind Channel 4.0

For a long time, TV and social media were treated as separate strategies. Different teams, different briefs, different budgets. And for a lot of broadcasters, that's still the reality.

Not at Channel 4.

At YMS LDN 2026 (Youth Marketing Strategy), a youth marketing insider event hosted by Pion, Channel 4’s Kaio Grizzelle, (Digital Commissioning Editor - Channel 4.0) and Jon Birchall, (Social Innovation & Strategy Lead - 4Studio) led the session: Altogether Different: The Next Gen of Channel 4. During this talk, they took the audience inside Channel 4.0; their social-first, creator-led content brand that's rethinking what a traditional broadcaster can look like when it builds genuinely for Gen Z.

Their message was clear: if you still think TV and social are separate worlds, you're already behind.

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Inside 4Studio: Channel 4's start-up within a broadcaster

Jon kicked things off at YMS by explaining what 4Studio actually is — and it's not your typical broadcaster unit. Think of it as a start-up sitting inside a much larger organisation, with a focused remit built around three things: create, amplify and commercialise.

The “create” piece is about the style of content and working with the right creators; “commercialise” means working closely with brands, and lastly, the amplify piece is the marketing engine — constantly evolving, building new content and finding new ways to reach audiences. Underpinning all of it is a data-led approach to creative decision making that Jon was clear about from the start:

"Start with the analysis, start with the data, and let that feed the ideation and creation."

It's a discipline that runs through everything 4Studio does. Without that data foundation, Jon argued, you're flying blind when it matters most.

"If you haven't got an initial plan fed by the data… when it goes out to the audience you'll struggle to make your mark."

The scale of what Channel 4 manages across social is significant. Over 50 YouTube channels and 75 social channels across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Threads and Snapchat — publishing around 25,000 assets per year. In 2025 alone, that generated 4.4 billion global views and 7.3 billion UK minutes watched.

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YouTube and social: two different jobs, one joined-up Gen Z content strategy

One of the sharpest parts of Jon's section was the clarity with which he separated YouTube and other short-form, social media channels; not as competing platforms, but as distinct tools doing different jobs within the same youth content strategy.

On YouTube, the focus is on streaming and full episodes. The goal is watch time — and the results back it up. Channel 4's YouTube presence clocked 5.9 billion minutes watched in 2025, up 51% year on year, with an average watch time of 13 minutes and 40 seconds across the network. Five channels average over 20 minutes per video.

The approach on social is different. Here, the focus shifts to engagement — driving reach and building communities. In 2025, Channel 4's social channels generated 1.9 billion combined UK views, 730 million of which came from TikTok alone, alongside 260 million social engagements.

The channel mix matters too. Rather than funnelling everything through a single Channel 4 account, they've built dedicated food, lifestyle and interest-led channels — reaching new communities and speaking to new audiences who might never seek out the main Channel 4 brand directly.

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Channel 4.0: the UK's creator-led destination for young audiences

Then came Kaio — and Channel 4.0.

If 4Studio is the engine, Channel 4.0 is the most visible expression of what it can build. Launched as Channel 4's creator-led channel, it's positioned as the premium destination for UK young audiences on social — sitting at the heart of youth culture and built from the ground up for Gen Z. As Kaio put it:

"There was an understanding that we needed to future-proof the Channel 4 brand and speak to younger people." Kaio Grizzelle, Digital Commissioning Editor, Channel 4.0

Channel 4.0 is built around five pillars: 

1. It's an entertainment hub of original, unscripted content
2. A socially-native programme brand
3. A platform built specifically for young audiences
4. It’s the home of the UK's best creators and digital talent
5. And lastly, a celebration of British youth culture — working with production companies across the country that embody the 'altogether different' ethos at the heart of Channel 4.

The roster of creators speaks for itself: Nella Rose, Chloe Burrows, GK Barry. Shows like Chicken Shop Date, Beta Squad and Shxtsngigs. These aren't influencers drafted in for brand deals — they're the faces of a genuine social-first content brand.

The numbers reflect it. Channel 4.0 currently has 1.5 million TikTok followers, 1.18 million on YouTube and 722,000 on Instagram.

And there's a real intention behind the creator strategy. Channel 4.0 has even partnered with Big Smoke Corporation — Skepta's agency — to ensure the platform champions the next generation of storytellers. Each year, they actively bring new creators through.

"We've been really intentional about leaning into a production style that feels premium but still YouTube-first." Kaio Grizzelle, Digital Commissioning Editor, Channel 4.0

Quality over quantity is the guiding principle — and it shows in how the content looks and feels.

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TV vs social media for Gen Z: why it's the wrong question

One of the biggest myths in youth content marketing is that TV and social compete with each other. Channel 4.0 dismantles that idea pretty effectively.

The real question isn't TV or social. It's how you build a content strategy that moves fluidly across both — using the reach and credibility of broadcast alongside the intimacy and community of social-first video. 

According to Pion's PION100 research, YouTube has already overtaken ITV as the second-most-viewed channel across all age groups in the UK, per Ofcom data. That's not a crisis for broadcasters willing to evolve. It's a signal.

Channel 4 read that signal early — and Channel 4.0 is what they built in response.

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The future of broadcasters, creators and platforms: who owns the audience?

The session closed with a question from the floor that got to the heart of where all of this is heading: as creators, platforms and broadcasters all converge, who actually owns the audience?

"All the spaces are converging… creators hold a lot of audience attention… I don't think it's going to be owned by any party. Creators aren't going anywhere… so I think at Channel 4 it's our responsibility to get as far to the front as possible of the queue and keep innovating and trying new things." Kaio Grizzelle, Digital Commissioning Editor, Channel 4.0

Jon echoed the sentiment — the answer isn't ownership, it's responsiveness.

"Being open to what our audiences are responding to and coming up with new ways of working."

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The lesson every marketer should take from Channel 4.0

Gen Z doesn't separate TV from social. They don't think about media in channels — they think about content, and whether it earns their attention or doesn't.

Channel 4.0 is what happens when a broadcaster accepts that reality and builds for it from the ground up. Data-led, creator-first, platform-native — and backed by the brand authority of one of the UK's most recognisable broadcasters.

The brands and marketers paying close attention to how it works will be the ones best placed to connect with the next generation of audiences.

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