As many of you noticed, there have been some quite significant changes happening over at 4oD in the last few weeks. The original application that required viewers to download Channel 4 programmes to their computers has been quietly pensioned off, while over 4,000 hours of archive content has been added to the channel4.com site, creating a brand new – and far easier to use – 4oD experience.
With so many great shows in Channel 4’s back catalogue, it would be impossible for every programme be brought over to 4oD at once. To get things started though, our new media team have chosen a selection of the most requested programmes and most popular genres and, as such, you can already watch classic episodes of much-loved series including Brookside, Father Ted, Drop the Dead Donkey, Queer as Folk, Grand Designs, Dispatches, Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out and more. And it’s all free!
So for those of you who have recently contacted either The TV Show or Channel 4’s viewer enquiries to let us know you’d been experiencing some problems with the old 4oD application, we hope you’ll find the all-new 4oD a hugely improved experience, allowing you to enjoy the best of Channel 4 at the click of a button – whether you have a PC or a Mac.
As before, any programmes that are unsuitable for younger audiences will be labeled appropriately and viewers asked to confirm their age before viewing. Parents can also choose to ‘PIN protect’ certain content on their computers, ensuring that younger viewers will only be able to watch the programmes suitable for them.
So, please have a browse around the new 4oD and let us know what you think. Many more programmes will be added throughout the year, so keep an eye on the site to see what’s new. If you have an all-time favourite that isn’t yet available, please let us know and we’ll pass your requests on to the channel4.com team – there will always be content can’t be featured due to rights and legal issues, but if there’s a particular show you’d like to see again, we’d love to hear about it.
*Update: 21 August 2009*
Some further changes have been made to 4oD since this post was written – read more about these and a range of other new media developments at Channel 4’s Platform 4 blog, where you can also leave your comments.
Comments are now closed on this blog post.
If you are still experiencing problems with 4oD service, please visit the FAQs page.
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Already missing the 4oD download application. I can barely watch a 2 minute clip on channel4.com without it being a stop start experience, never mind a whole programme.
This new 4OD is practically unusable. I can’t believe that in 2009 a company the size of Channel 4 could make a website so counter intuitive. Go onto BBCiplayer and take notes people!!!!
On the old 4OD, I could browse programs and know that I could play them all. Now I get the whole damn schedule. I have just spent half an hour trying to find something that is actually a 4OD file. I won’t be back, it’s going to be easier to fileshare programs ironically.
Where can I find the old list C4 had of all the things available, its just unbrowseable. There’s no point boasting all this content if no one can actually find it?
BBCIplayer is simple to use, ITVplayer is getting better. C4 used to be one of my faves but I will lay of it untill the next so called “upgrade”
I am finding the new site really difficult to navigate! A millimetre off and some unrelated ad pops up, also there doesn’t seem to be an easily identifiable way of browsing by category.
Hi Caroline. Here are the categories, on the right of this page: http://www.channel4.com/programmes We are working on a version for just programmes in 4oD.
Not a fan of the new service. I downloaded programmes so I could watch them away from my Internet connection, say on the train or at my mum’s house where she has neither a TV or Broadband. It’s now easier to watch them on TV or just forget about the programme altogether. Now using the BBC’s iplayer alot more.
Sorry to hear that. As only about 4% of views on the 4oD Application were downloads, we decided to prioritise streaming so Mac users and Linux users could access the service. However, your feedback is noted.
I do like the 4od service but get increasingly frustrated when it takes so long for the programme to be accessable.over 24 hours now for Wednesday evening Big Brother.Why is this?
Used to watch things on 4oD but with the new service running at a snail’s speed i’ve switched back to iPlayer.
I think the new 4od is rubbish, the website streaming is alot slower than the 4od application streaming was.
I hate the new service. I cant watch Brothers and Sisters or Desperate Housewives….. or at least if I can, I cant find them on this infuriating site. Jumping ship to the iplayer.
Hello. Sadly, we don’t have the rights to show the programmes you’ve mentioned on 4oD.
4oD is excellent and is far better than the over channels i players but why has the last three Big Brother episodes not been posted?
I am also experiencing the stop-start problems while trying to watch…unwatchable….resorting to iplayer.
Id like to congratulate Channel 4 on the briliant and very funny ‘You’ve been watching’.
Keep up the good work C4.
Sorry, Channel 4 but the old 4OD was waaaaay better than the new one….I liked it because of the clear categories. The new one just prominently shows trash… I mean programmes… I do not watch, where are the documentaries…the programmes that exercise the brain? Thank God for BBC i-player….
Hello Arin. The documentaries are here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/tags/documentaries . The ones with the 4OD logo on the right are available to watch online.
How on earth is this a service update? I can’t download programmes and have to wait much longer to stream content. All I wanted was to catch up on a 40min programme and it’s taken an hour to load the first 15 minutes…
I would love it if you put the Graham norton shows on, such as ‘So Graham Norton’. I really would like to watch thee again but you don’t have them on 4oD
Many Thanks,
Jo
Thanks Jo. Added to the list … !
i am really disappointed with the new 4od as i cant recieve it in ireland anymore very very upset
Sorry Fiona. We don’t have the rights to show some programmes on demand in Ireland and can’t currently block individual shows. However, we are planning to make this possible and thereby restore access to the remainder of the programmes.
I am also experiencing the stop-start routine. It’s ridiculous and I am very very disappointed. I hope something is done soon because I’m sure 4OD is seriously losing users. I know for sure I am going to switch iPlayer maybe, at least until 4OD has sorted itself out! The older version was a lot more precise and faster! BRING BACK THE OLD 4OD!
Hello Emily. 4oD usage has grown very dramatically since we launched the new version but we do know some people are having dificulties. We are working hard every day to try to make sure it works for everyone.
i cant click the “select” button to confirm im over the age of 16 which stops me from catching up on all my programmes so i cant watch them on tv anymore because im so many episodes behind!! i cant scroll down on the pop up to click the “select” button so i cant watch my programmes.
In order to select zoom out and the option should become available at the bottom of the page
I do like the new 4od service, but there are two problems I’ve had. One of them is a freezing picture, which unfreezes for the adverts, but then comes back onto the screen for the program, unless I close the browser, because of this problem I’ve had to watch so many adverts it’s unbelievable. The second is that to browse the programs there are too many categories, there should be broader categories so that you don’t have to read the names of 32 categories.
I used to watch 4OD all of the time using to the application. I done this via streaming and rarely experienced any problems. However, now it has moved i can’t watch a thing using 4OD online!
I don’t understand why, when i hav ebeen streaming perfectly fine from numerous catch up sites, and previously on the 4OD application.
it’s taken me two days to watch an episode of Ugly Betty! I get 3 seconds and then it stops. I care for the terminally ill and only get a couple of hours off per day. Was looking forward to spending at least one of those hours on catching up on my fave C4 programmes as there is no C4 in this complex. Can I not download the episodes?
I miss the old 4OD. Have resorted to iPlayer. No frustrations there!
Hello. No we don’t have a download option at the moment. Sorry you are having trouble with the streaming.
Always loved the desktop application and I’m shocked a how poor the new website is. Its hard to navigate, boring and seems to advertise a lot of shows you can’t actually watch. Feel like its a huge step backwards for Channel 4. I never particularly liked BBC iPlayer, but lately I find myself using it more and more.
Hello. The reason there are pages for programmes that you can’t watch online is that some people are interested in information about shows that either haven’t been on TV yet (so aren’t on 4oD) or else have been on TV but aren’t available on 4oD. For a list of just the programmes on 4oD, look here: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4od/all .
I’m waiting to watch Saturday’s episode of Big Brother but no joy – how long does it tak for an episode to appear?
Hi it is such a shame the new 4od service is so poor after the level of advertising.
I have actually been trying to watch a missed programme and it continually stop/starts. I have left it to load but it still won’t stream.
I discovered a new series on the old application got to the last episode and I am unable to view that series, plus others that are advertised.
Are the problems likely be resolved soon?
Thanks
Hi.
A small minority of people (many of them commenting on this blog!) are still experiencing problems with streaming.
There are many reasons that this could be happening, none of them strictly to do with 4oD itself (which is experiencing record levels of usage) but rather to do with PC setups / location / ISP configurations / ad server calls, to name but a few. We are constantly working to try to ensure that everyone can enjoy the service.
Sorry that you are not able to enjoy 4oD at present.
Do try contacting the help team via here: http://bit.ly/kzc8Z .
why is it that when an episode is playing on this site u can only see the top half of the video ! it is really annoying
This tends to happen for people who have installed Windows 7 in Beta.
I am trying to watch a programme on 4oD but keep getting this message: “unfortunately video content (and this video finder) is only accessible to users with javascript and flash enabled and the latest versions”. I already have javascript and flash on my computer but can find no way of downloading the latest versions on the 4oD site (or any description of what those are), and the link to the Help page just takes me to the programme listings. This is very frustrating – can you please help? Thanks.
Hi. Try uninstalling Flash and reinstalling from here: http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/ .
Why aren’t new programmes been shown of 4OD?
Hello. They are. What programme are you looking for? Have a look at the list of all programmes to see if it’s there: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4od/all .
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