Disney+ will carry Channel 4’s live channel in Britain and Ireland from early 2027, in a deal both companies describe as a first for the UK. Subscribers will watch the broadcaster’s main HD channel inside the streaming app, along with hundreds of hours of on-demand programming. New shows will arrive on Disney+ the moment they air, and many will cost subscribers nothing extra. Channel 4 material will sit in a branded section with the same navigation as the rest of the service.
The launch lineup leans on current hits. It includes “Maya,” the thriller starring Bella Ramsey and created by Daisy Haggard, and “Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.” Also included are “Stepping Up,” a comedy led by Denise Welch, “Big Mood,” “Tip Toe” and “24 Hours in A&E.” In the United States, “Maya” is headed to Starz.
Disney calls the arrangement one of its biggest broadcaster agreements anywhere. It is one of around ten such deals the company has signed since a content-sharing pact with ITVX last year. Others cover Spain, France, Germany and the Nordic countries. Disney executive Adam Smith said “local broadcaster partnerships are very important” to building its libraries.
Channel 4 chief executive Priya Dogra framed the deal as complementary. She said the broadcaster and Disney+ share little audience overlap, and that the agreement and a separate Paramount deal serve different goals. The Paramount arrangement brings advertising scale, she said, while the Disney pact lets Channel 4 reach people who may not currently use its services. Disney, for its part, told Deadline the Channel 4 pact is broader than its ITV agreement, and its team applied lessons from that deal. The companies already do business. Channel 4 licenses Disney titles including “Abbott Elementary,” “The X-Files” and “Scandal” for its own streaming player. That history makes the new pact a natural extension.
Not every detail is public. More terms are due “in due course.” Observers will watch how the arrangement affects Channel 4’s own streaming service, which competes for the same viewers, and whether placement on Disney+ lifts audiences for its programs. Both companies say the answer is more choice for audiences.
