Channel 4 to boost free web archive

Channel 4 is to put its back catalogue online for free from July, making it the first broadcaster in the UK to do so.

Sitcoms such as Brass Eye and Father Ted will be made publicly available on 4oD, the broadcaster's catch-up service.

Other programmes which make up the channel's 4,000 hours of archived content include Shameless, Ali G, Teachers and Grand Designs.

Like the BBC's iPlayer, Channel 4 offers viewers a chance to catch up on programmes after they have been first broadcast on TV.

You don't require a TV licence to watch catch-up services, though watching live TV through the web does require you to have a licence.

The decision to release its back catalogue online is significant, as it gives viewers more options of what they want to watch and when.

Jon Gisby, the director of future media and technology at Channel 4, said: "We were the first broadcaster to launch a comprehensive video-on-demand service in 2006, and since that time 4oD has become one of the UK's most popular video-on-demand brands."

Due to licensing restrictions certain shows such as Friends will not be available. Likewise Channel 4 news, which can only transmit certain news clips up until midnight, will not be on the service.

Channel 4 revamped 4oD in April, and since then has recorded an 111 per cent month-on-month increase in viewing.

Watching videos online has become a mainstream internet activity. Hitwise, which measures internet traffic, said that YouTube, the video-sharing website, was the fifth most visited website in the UK in May.