Channel 4’s main linear channel and a selection of its on-demand programmes will launch on Disney+ in the UK and Ireland in early 2027, extending the growing series of agreements between European broadcasters and global streaming platforms.
The deal includes Channel 4’s live HD channel, hundreds of hours of catalogue programming and multiple new shows each year available simultaneously with their release on Channel 4. Disney+ subscribers will receive the content at no additional cost.
Programming will sit within a Channel 4-branded section, using Disney+’s existing navigation and viewing experience.
Initial simultaneous releases include Maya, the witness-protection thriller starring Bella Ramsey and Daisy Haggard, comedy Stepping Up, featuring Denise Welch, and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. The wider on-demand selection will include Big Mood, Tip Toe and 24 Hours in A&E.
Priya Dogra, Chief Executive of Channel 4, said: “Channel 4 is home to some of the UK and Ireland’s most talked about and trusted programming, and this new service will help those shows reach viewers in new places. This exciting step shows how collaboration between broadcasters and streamers can create more choice and value for audiences.”
The agreement builds on a now established pattern of broadcasters placing their programming inside subscription streaming services to extend their reach.
Disney and ITV launched their reciprocal content-sharing arrangement in July 2025, introducing regularly refreshed “Taste of ITVX” and “Taste of Disney+” selections on each platform. That agreement focused on curated promotional catalogues. Channel 4’s arrangement goes further by including its main live channel and simultaneous releases of new programmes.
The ITV relationship was subsequently extended in February 2026, bringing Disney+ dramas The Stolen Girl and The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox to ITV1’s primetime schedule.
Disney+ also introduced a ZDF Films and Series collection in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in August 2025. The multi-year licensing agreement with ZDF Studios envisaged more than 3,000 episodes and films by the end of that year.
A closer parallel for the combination of live and on-demand distribution is TF1’s partnership with Netflix in France, which launched on 19 June 2026. It brought TF1, TMC, TFX, TF1 Séries Films and LCI, alongside TF1+ programming, directly into Netflix’s viewing and discovery experience.
Adam Smith, Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer at Disney Entertainment, said: “Local broadcaster partnerships are very important as we build our content libraries and serve fans around the world.”
He described the Channel 4 agreement as part of Disney’s global strategy of combining local programming with complementary audiences and personalised discovery.
Channel 4 and Disney will confirm further launch and programming details in due course. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
