BBC Global News – the BBC’s international commercial news, sport and features arm –and Channel 4 – a publicly-owned and commercially-funded UK public service broadcaster- have signed a strategic deal to offer global advertisers access to the UK commercial broadcast marketplace.

For BBC Global News, the partnership opens up the vital UK market for its global clients, who are now able to take full advantage of 4Sales’ market-leading ad solutions across linear and VoD. The partnership offers clients the ability to reach key, young and upmarket audiences in the UK through 4Sales’ portfolio, including Channel 4’s linear family of channels, its unrivalled free UK BVOD service All 4, alongside Box Plus channels and a selection of UKTV and Discovery-owned channels.

Channel 4 is the top-converting commercial terrestrial channel in the UK for 16-34-year-old viewers and ABC1 Adults, and the deal follows last month’s announcement that BBC News now reaches a weekly audience of more than 438 million people across the world.

Errol Baran, SVP Business Development & Innovation at BBC Global News, said, “This deal is of great significance for both BBC Global News and Channel 4. There are a number of synergies between the two organisations, including our public service broadcasting remit, our high-quality editorial content, and our premium audiences. We’re delighted our relationship with Channel 4 enables us to offer clients a fully global commercial proposition.’’

Matthew Salmon, Interim Sales Director, Channel 4 said, “We’re delighted to partner with BBC Global News to open up premium UK linear and digital audiences to global clients through 4Sales’ market-leading solutions. This deal will allow us to generate new revenue for Channel 4 and plough it back into the creation of brilliant British TV content.

Rimini Street, who specialise in independent, third-party enterprise software support services, is the first to leverage the partnership. Targeting key decision-makers and C-suites, geo-focussed creative was used on BBC World News, whilst the campaign featured across Channel 4’s high-end, peak-time programming targeting ABC1 adults in the UK.

Through partnerships with Clearcast and Peach Technologies, video advertising workflow and delivery will be streamlined using cloud technologies, reducing delivery times and costs by as much as fifty percent – a benefit passed onto BBC Global News clients.