Publicly-funded British broadcaster Channel 4 is setting its sights on expanding further into the digital landscape with a new comedy-focused Youtube channel, according to a Thursday report from Deadline’s Max Goldbert. The new channel, aptly titled A Comedy Thing, will bolster the network’s ongoing transition towards a ‘digital-first’ approach as part of their Fast Forward initiative, which the company announced amidst rounds of layoffs in early 2024 (also via Deadline).

A Comedy Thing will exist separately from Channel 4’s other Youtube channels (such as Channel 4 News and Channel 4 Entertainment), focusing on a septet of “fresh and formidable” comics from a variety of career backgrounds. In an interview with Deadline, Sacha Khari, who serves as the channel’s Head of Digital Commissioning, pitched the channel as a “Youtube proposition for modern audiences who are digital first but also love stand-up,” with an emphasis on long-form content. “If we talk about the stand-up crowd then a fair ambition is saying, ‘What does the live version of these formats look like?’,” Khari explained. “All the best creators now are selling out stadiums, they are getting people to purchase energy drinks, and buy t-shirts and hoodies.”

Khari recognizes the necessity of not overwhelming longtime Channel 4 viewers that have yet to fully acclimate to the metaverse. He stressed to Deadline that the skits performed on A Comedy Thing “feel very simple at the start because if they are too complex, then they become abstract.” With that said, he’s also eager to integrate the unique perks of the online medium to help advertise the network to newcomers, remarking that “the show starts at minus 10 seconds.”

“This is the interesting thing about behavioral commissioning,” Khari told Deadline. “Our viewers need to stay until the end. If they do then it tells the algorithm that people from their demographic are interested in the types of show we are doing and that pushes them up the newsfeed.”

A Comedy Thing constitutes Channel 4’s newest venture as part of their Fast Forward strategy, which aims to make digital revenue account for 50 percent of its total income by 2030. While the network’s newest channel will launch at an unspecified date later this month, its existing channels are available for viewing — including to audiences across the pond — now on Youtube.