Hollyoaks to move from Channel 4 to You Tube

Channel 4 will put episodes of Hollyoaks on YouTube a week after they are broadcast on E4 and streamed on its own platform.

The broadcaster previously announced that the soap, which is aimed at a young demographic, would take a streaming-first approach last year.

On Friday, the broadcaster said Hollyoaks will be available to watch on channel4.com the day before airing on the E4 channel.

Screenings on Channel 4 will no longer air the following day and instead there will be a weekly omnibus on the main station.

Episodes will also be available a week after streaming and the E4 broadcast on YouTube.

Previously, Channel 4’s on-demand service had the episodes uploaded in the morning before later screenings on E4.

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 pattern begins on September 25 as the week kicks off with a one-hour special, which focuses on a love triangle and “murder twists and turns”.

In the soap, Felix Westwood (Richard Blackwood), his girlfriend Mercedes McQueen (Jennifer Metcalfe) and best friend Warren Fox (Jamie Lomas) reach an “explosive turning point” and a secret about influencer Rayne Royce (Jemma Donovan) is revealed.

In 2022, Hollyoaks became the first UK soap to premiere its episodes on a streaming service ahead of the live television broadcast.

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