4iP Blog

One area where 4iP can invest and make a difference is in Games. Three of our key investment regions – Scotland, West Midlands and Yorkshire all have thriving games sectors, and the opportunity to work with them is a compelling new opportunity for Channel 4.

Dundee the home of companies like Real Time Networks, Denki and Dynamo Games has a strong interactive entertainment community and was the original home of Lemmings, Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown. The talent is world class.

Yorkshire is the home of the Yorkshire Republic Games Alliance and the West Midlands has growing Serious Games Sector, with strong Higher Education support in Birmingham and Coventry.

But 4iP is not about pure gaming entertainment nor should it try to replicate or compete with the existing online or console games products. The objective is to work in territory where Channel 4 has a reputation - identifying areas of creative culture, where there is a gap or failure in the market and turning that opportunity into success.

We recently launched a ‘Bow Street Runners’ Game, which took casual gaming in an unfamiliar direction, exploring crime and urban history in 19th Century London. That’s one recent example but what about other areas that have a potential fit - strategy games, interactive educational games, and even conventional public service subjects like health.

The term ‘serious games’ needs next generational thinking and beyond the games themselves there is a challenge around the users, what communities are locked out of gaming and its traditional market positioning?

This week 4iP is providing significant new investment in the already-established games prototype festival Dare to be Digital, itself a spin-out from Dundee’s Abertay University.

4iP is not about Channel 4 entering the games market but that does not mean we cannot experiment with great innovative public content via games technologies.

I’d welcome views and opinions. 

One of 4iP’s launch ideas is to make small investments in entirely independent self-standing concepts. It is branded ‘Powered by 4’ and the idea is to break with the conventional wisdom of traditional TV broadcasting, which is largely based on ‘control’ of limited spectrum. The 4iP Fund will support up to 30 independent web sites, offering innovative or public service content to audiences.

Subjects can range widely from parenting to public health, culture to community, and from data mining to democracy.  The objective is to support independent practice on new platforms to bring more visibility, increased traffic and in some cases greater resource, by investing in cash, and/or platform prominence.  Any proposed ideas or compelling sites let me know?

I’m also keen to get feed-back on this strand of activity.Advice, comment, passion or criticism are all equally welcome. It strikes me there is a really important issue at the heart of this - how should established media organisations assist independent practice? Is it through direct funding,  marketing or maybe by keeping the hell out?

TV has a long track record of muscling in on independent activity, whether its the lives of individuals, small communities or micro-societies. But equally there is a history of media companies being a catalyst for public change too. I’d welcome views, opinion and a register of interest, however diverse.

Stuart Cosgrove
4iP Team

4iP has announced a partnership programme that should allow just about any organisation to join the 4iP network at some level, as long as it has proven itself to be ambitious, innovative and sympathetic to the principles of the 4iP fund.

If you’d like to discuss how your organisation can get involved, drop us a line at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

The four main levels of partnership are:

Global media partners: Channel 4 is already in dialogue with international platform partners (such as Google and Bebo).

Regional development partners:  to date a range of key regional partners have signed up or expressed interest, in areas such as the North East, the South West and Northern Ireland.

Strand partners: this is centred on arts, science and public service bodies that may wish to pursue a particular strand of 4iP-supported activity.

Project partners: these are either commercial companies/brands or public sector bodies that may wish to join the fund on a project-by-project basis as ideas, concepts and platforms emerge.