This week it was announced that Jonathan Allan is to become the new sales director of Channel 4. Having never met the man I can’t personally comment on his suitability for the job (questions have been asked about his lack of sales experience), but the challenges awaiting Jonathan are plain to see. The appointment has been greeted with a mixture of criticism, applause, and surprise in the industry. It was widely expected that the role wouldn’t go to a traditional TV sales person and the appointment of an agency’s forward thinking Managing Director demonstrates the broadcasters eagerness to embrace a “new digital generation”. The plethora of excellent programming available on 4OD such as Misfits, Teachers, and Shameless, mean the online sales team have plenty to work with under his stewardship. But then there are also complex issues for Jonathan to take on, such as the delicate state of Channel 4’s ad sales contract with UKTV.

Having written a hugely optimistic blog last year ago about my excitement over the new TV drama series The Event (Clearly not enough people shared my enjoyment of the show as it was cancelled after the first series having first been moved to the early hours of Tuesday mornings) I am now trying to get excited about The Killing, which begins tonight on Channel 4. With the Danish series of The Killing (Forbrydelsen in Danish) being such a huge success, it was only a matter of time until a US version was made. If it is able to get me anywhere near as riveted as Sky Atlantic’s fantastic Game of Thrones did, I’ll be an instant fan. Centred around the murder of a young girl and the subsequent police investigation, it sounds like the sort of plot one can expect on a Monday or Tuesday drama on ITV. I’ve watched a few clips though and it certainly seems to have an edgy appeal. Just a pity Sean Bean isn’t in it.

Channel 4 has had recent ratings success with Camelot and Embarrassing Fat Bodies, but Big Brother’s move to Channel 5 this summer leaves questions over just where Channel 4 will go to for guaranteed ratings. With Friends ending its 15 year run with the broadcaster in Autumn, the schedules will be unrecognisable from last year. With ITV expecting a strong autumn thanks to the return of The X Factor, new Ant and Dec fronted show Red or Black, and The Rugby World Cup, the former Managing Director at OMD faces a tall order, and could certainly do with a new success to match the likes of Undercover Boss or 24 Hours in A&E, or a drama series to capture the publics attention. Perhaps The Killing will be just that success…I’ll hold on for a few weeks before i get too excited though.

When 24 and Lost ended earlier this year with questionable final episodes (Lost especially…what was that all about?!), I felt a certain void in my life – my US drama viewing life that is. Having invested hundreds of hours into Jack Bauer’s heroics, and the adventures of a bunch of people on an island but not on an island, dead but alive and fighting polar bears, pushing buttons and fighting against ‘others’, suddenly I was left with a vacuum. What was next? I found myself searching for the next ‘must watch’ big budget drama from America. Nothing has truly filled that void though. The rapidity with which American networks cancel under performing shows has taught me to be cautious when committing myself to a new drama – remember The Black Donnelys? The Mountain? No, thought not! I dabbled in Flash Forward and embraced Spartacus- Blood and Sand, only to find no one else was watching. Any mention of being a big True Blood fan was met with suspicion that I was into vampire porn. Yes Mad Men is brilliant, but where’s the violence and suspense or the escapism? Yes The Wire made me feel edgy, feel part of a special smug group of people for watching (much like the feeling you get when joining club iPhone), but The Wire also got me gripped then spat me out after only five series. However, something about The Event, Channel 4’s new Friday night drama, drew me in. As names go, it’s quite catchy isn’t it?!

So it was with great excitement that I prepared for the much advertised premier on 22nd October of The Event. Over in the States the show had premiered on 20th September with a promising viewing figure of 11million individuals. Of the 13 million Americans who saw the Lost finale on 24th May, It seems a fair few had been willing to give The Event a go. Back here, the first episode reached 2.3m – up from the 521,000 that Davina McCall had pulled in at the same time the week before. Big budget dramas can still be reliable to pull in the viewers evidently. However, Lost premiered on Channel 4 with 6.4m back in 2005 and was down to 1.4m in 2006 when it moved to Sky1. Its final month then attracted between 550,000 individuals and 575,000 on Sky1. It is difficult to comprehensively analyse and compare the success of such shows, what with increased audience fragmentation, the purchases of boxsets and illegal downloads being as they are.
Three episodes in and I have to confess I’m a little bit hooked. Without giving too much away – I was intrigued when I saw a plane suddenly vanish (Lost?), fascinated to see a man racing against time to evade the authorities to protect his loved ones, whilst the President of the USA takes a very hands on approach to his country’s problems (24?), and I imagine I will soon be shouting at the end of an episode “no way!” in the same way I would after an episode 18 cliffhanger from 24. As it is sponsored by BT Vision, let’s hope the British public embraces this big budget drama. I certainly have.