Channel 4 is adding more primetime music programming

Channel 4’s primetime music programming is set to get a boost, with four new shows announced as commissioned this morning.

The station will be airing a range of new, music-focussed shows - Blink, a 30-minute music quiz show; Best Before, a show focussed on new releases; World’s Greatest Songwriters, a 30-minute show that reveals the stories behind greatest hits; and The 80s: Ten Years We Love To Hate, a follow-up to the recently-aired Turn Up… The Nineties.

In addition, they’re looking to emulate the success of the Film 4-funded Amy documentary with by increasing their biopic output. “We’ve got some really good rock docs that are working in primetime and now we’re increasingly looking for more access to music icons,” Jonny Rothery, Channel 4’s music commissioner, told Broadcast. “Not just talking heads, we’re speaking to two or three really big music icons about spending proper time with them, doing biopic by stealth, with great archive and performance. Sometimes you don’t always get the most out of them by sitting them down with a director. And we wouldn’t do it with music stars that are quite saturated: Katy Perry might not be right, but being theoretical, Noel Gallagher or Elton John might be.”

The announcement comes following the BBC’s axing of the long-running musical quiz show Never Mind The Buzzcocks earlier this year.