The Stage

Hollyoaks to launch online and mobile content

Published Tuesday 22 January 2008 at 14:10 by Matthew Hemley

Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks is to launch content created specifically for online and portable media players such as mobile phones.

The move is aimed at meeting younger audiences’ viewing demands.

Conker Media - the cross-platform production company owned by Hollyoaks producer Lime Pictures - revealed to The Stage it is looking to develop storylines that begin on television and are continued across a range of other platforms.

Head of Conker Media Lee Hardman said: “This year you’ll see more innovation around storytelling within Hollyoaks. A particular idea we have will see stories kick off in the main show that end up playing out on broadband and mobile platforms. But it won’t spoil your viewing of the main show on Channel 4.”

He added: “Audiences watch Hollyoaks on Channel 4 and then switch over to see the first look episode on E4. We want to look at how we can continue that leap on to channel4.com.”

Hardman said he wanted the additional content to “add value” to the existing programme on Channel 4 and claimed the idea was similar to Brookside: The Lost Weekend - a special video-only feature-length episode that continued the action started in a Friday evening broadcast of the soap and which linked it up with the broadcast on the following Monday.

Work on the new Hollyoaks content is expected to start in the spring and launch towards the end of the year.

In addition to its work on Hollyoaks, Conker Media has recently secured a 15-month contract with the BBC to develop multimedia projects for the Corporation’s teen strand, Switch.

The first phase of the deal will see Conker developing a drama especially for mobile platforms, including phones and portable media players. Other projects under the agreement include the development of original online dramas, which Hardman said he hoped would attract new writers who are “keen to experiment”.

The company is also developing Meet the Blogs, a comedy series that will have both an online and television presence.