Channel 4 announces social media staff team with new Leeds jobs coming up

4Studio will also be key to reaching a younger audience, the channel has said today.

The team is likely to expand later this year with more opportunities for people in the Leeds region, says the channel.

According to one report which includes an interview with Matt Risley, head of 4Studio, the team is expected to employ around 30 social producers, editors and analysts by the end of the year.

As part of a "digital acceleration strategy", it will lead the channel's short-form content publication across social media platforms and delivering on the publicly-owned broadcaster’s strategy to serve young audiences in the spaces where they like to consume and interact with media.

Mr Risley will lead the team in Leeds after the broadcaster set up national headquarters in the city.

He said: “4Studio will be the go-to resource within our business offering guidance and practical support on the creation and publication of digital social content to commissioners, producers and advertisers.

“Our Leeds-based team will specialise in platform specific analysis, tracking trends and enabling a more targeted and tailored approach to social content, commissioning and distribution, supporting our wider ambitions to super-serve young audiences on these platforms.”

4Studio will also work closely with both the digital commissioning team and a 4sales team "offering social-first branded entertainment opportunities to the advertising market".

Youth-focused factual strand True Stories is one example of original Channel 4 short-form content on social media and has amassed more than 46 million views across Facebook and YouTube since launching in February.

It will also work to ensure all digital activity aligns with the privately-funded broadcaster's wider strategy to "maximise time spent with Channel 4 across multiple platforms by performing a range of central functions".

These include the development of social media best practice and guidelines; identifying new opportunities for "branded short-form content"; supporting TV programmes by reaching new audiences on digital platforms; analysing trends; and "maximising commercial returns" from digital media.

Channel 4 reached more than 100 million Facebook users, including 81 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds and 74 per cent of 25 to 34-year-olds in the UK in the past month, it says, while achieving over 800m YouTube impressions across the same period of time.

An "impression" counts when a video thumbnail is shown to someone on YouTube for more than one second when at least 50 per cent of the thumbnail is visible on the screen, and 18 to 34-year-olds are the most engaged age group with Channel 4 on the platform.

Roles will be advertised on https://careers.channel4.com/4jobs later this year.