Edemol

The television production company, Edemol. The company are known for producing programmes such as Big brother, and the different versions in different countries. Edemol's most profitable show is "Deal or No Deal" which has now been sold to over 100 countries.

In 2002, the chairman of Edemol Peter Bazalgette said "Don't blame me for what the tabloids write, I think the show has been a great success. I don't know if it is the best yet, but it has got the highest ratings.", after the growing controversy over the exposure of 2002 big brother housemates in the media.

The finale of Big Brother 2002 gave Channel 4 more viewers than both BBC1 and ITV1 for the first time in 19 years history. An average 5.4m viewers watched each night, raking in Pounds 20m profit for Channel 4. A record 8.6m viewers voted in the last week, up from 6.9m the previous year.

Advertising slots during breaks for the Friday's announcement of the winner were sold for up to Pounds 100,000. A new 30million deal strucked after Kate Lawler, a desk administrator from Beckenham won 70,0000 with 3.1million votes, tied Channel 4 and Endemol to Big Brother for a further three summers. (Jane Mulkerrins, Sunday Times, Jul 28, 2002)

Managing director of 4Learning, Heather Rabbatts said: 'If Channel 4 is to make a difference in its education output we needed to find new formats that speak to and connect with the 14-19 generation. (RICHARD PRICE, Daily Mail, Oct 16, 2003)

Channel 4

The UK public service television broadcaster, Channel 4 is a self-funded using commercials instead of using TV license. The channel pays for itself with the use of air-advertising, program sponsorships and sale of their programme contents. The channel has universal coverage around the UK although they are now facing new competition with technology growing with new cable, satellite and digital services.

Channel four is known for its culture diversity by broadcasting different types of social experiments show such as "The Family". Channel four also shows many documentaries such as "Dispatches" that would have a wide audience interests, using their own programme advertisements to their advantage to increase awareness of what day and time the show will be on.

The company has expended since 1982, channel 4 has branched into many other speciallist channels such as 4 Music, which has alot of celebrity appearances which could influence the audiences opinion on song choices. An addition to the main channel, Film four screens famous blockbusters such as "Alien vs Predator". The channel usually has themed nights, showing films based on one director, or actor/actress; this may attract different audiences on different days.

Channel four also launched another channel called E4; the E stands for "entertainment". This channel is different from the main channel as this is aimed at 15-35 age groups. E4 programmes include alot of sitcoms and dramas/soaps; they show alot of US programmes such as Friends, One Tree Hill, Scrubs, 90210 but also British dramas such as Hollyoaks, Skins, Shameless and Misfits. Some of the programmes shown on E4 can be viewed exclusively a week ahead before it airs on the main channel 4.