​Channel 4 launches on Apple Vision Pro

Channel 4 has launched its streaming app on Apple Vision Pro.

It becomes the first UK broadcaster to take advantage of the capabilities of the Apple Vision Pro.

The device enables you to view content in a high-resolution immersive virtual environment, with spatial audio.

Effectively it provides the means to stream Channel 4 programming in UHD on a large cinema-style virtual screen, within a virtual environment.

Channel 4 has rolled out a Taskmaster-themed virtual environment for the launch of its Vision Pro app.

The environment is influenced by the Taskmaster set – the red room, wallpaper, chandeliers, and throne attempt to create the feeling of being immersed in the show.

Channel 4 says it made the move to be an early adopter of the Apple Vision Pro to highlight its ambition to build new experiences to engage and reach viewers. It’s recognition of the “increasing importance of experiences around TV programming,” says the broadcaster.

Channel 4’s in-house creative agency 4creative supported the overall creation of the Taskmaster environment, while Taskmaster producer Avalon, and Channel 4’s streaming development partner, Accenture, were also heavily involved in the project.

Grace Boswood, director of technology and distribution, Channel 4, said: “The new Channel 4 Apple Vision Pro app builds on our heritage of viewer innovation, be that the first broadcaster in the world to offer a TV-based on-demand service, or the first PSB to launch an HD channel in the UK.

“We’re constantly exploring new ways to entertain viewers and engage advertisers through technology which creates remarkable experiences.”

Broadcast Tech has seen the Channel 4 app and Taskmaster environment on an Apple Vision Pro, while visiting Taskmaster Live in Canada Water, London.

It’s enjoyable streaming high quality, high-resolution content on a large cinema-size virtual screen, while sitting on a virtual Taskmaster throne, and the device is pretty comfortable to use for a significant period of time. We watched a full episode of Taskmaster without experiencing any discomfort, and were impressed by the user experience.

We caught up with Boswood at the event, who told us: “I went to Apple to see the Vision Pro about six months ago. They were really looking for content partners and brands to work with. I was quite sceptical as these things are very expensive and it’s a very different paradigm to watching TV as you’re excluding yourself from the collective experience.

“But, thinking about the ways we can experiment with the device, working with Apple and Accenture and Avalon, Taskmaster felt like a clear brand to work with. We’ve created an experience that feels very Taskmaster, and the Channel 4 app shows how we can take content created for a flat screen in the corner of your living room and make it work in these different environments.” 

Boswood admits she’s not expecting the Vision Pro app to be a mass market proposition at the moment, but Channel 4 has “learned an enormous amount about how a content brand like Taskmaster and others can work in these environments”.

A small team at Channel 4 spent 3 or 4 months working on the Vision Pro app and Taskmaster environment. It was developed from scratch for the Vision Pro with Channel 4’s core creative team doing the design and mock ups, and development teams making it into the Vision Pro environment.

“We have our native app there now, and we’re working really closely with Apple so as and when the next iteration [of the Vision Pro] becomes available, we are on the roster of people they want to work with,” adds Boswood.

Broadcast Tech also had an opportunity to ask Alex Horne for his views on Taskmaster making the transition to the Apple Vision Pro. He told us: “I’m up for experimenting in any way. Weirdly Taskmaster is quite lo-fi in the programme itself. We don’t really do a lot with technology – we use egg cups and balls of string. But I quite like the fact we’re using this high-tech product with our lo-tech show.

“We’ve just come out of the dub and grade of the latest series, and there’s so much effort put into making it look and sound brilliant. And we’re aware a lot of people are watching it on their phones, or their laptops or whatever, so it is great to have an option to watch it in all its glory.”