Hollyoaks stars Kirsty-Leigh Porter and Kieron Richardson look downcast as they depart the studio in Liverpool after it was announced the soap will leave Channel 4
The cast of Hollyoaks looked downcast as they departed the studio in Liverpool on Friday, after Channel 4 announced it will cease airing the programme.
Bosses have pulled the plug on the soap being aired on its main channel, after 28 years, with it being moved over to E4 and YouTube.
Kirsty-Leigh Porter, 34, who plays Leela Lomax on the soap, was pictured leaving in her car with her eyes shielded by a pair if sunglasses.
She was followed closely behind by fellow actor Kieron Richardson, 37, who stars as Ste Hay.
Ashley Taylor Dawson, 41, who plays Darren Osborne, was also present as he left the studio in his own car.
Sad news: The cast of Hollyoaks looked downcast as they departed the studio in Liverpool on Friday after Channel 4 announced it will cease airing the show (Kirsty-Leigh Porter pictured)
Channel 4 has announced it will stop airing individual Hollyoaks episodes on its main channel.
They hope the new digital strategy will freshen up viewing experiences with the state-owned broadcaster.
The broadcaster announced today that the new schedule pattern launches on Monday 25th September and promises viewers ‘a massive stunt week of spectacular and standout storylines’ with ‘scenes shot in sensational new locations’.
The soap, which started in 1995, will be moved to its sister channel E4 in a bid to shake-up the schedule.
Fans of the show based in a drama-filled Chester village will still be able to catch the weekly omnibus which will continue to be broadcast on Channel 4.
Episodes will also be uploaded onto Youtube to suit younger audiences, and will be made available to watch on YouTube the week after streaming and broadcast on E4.
Channel 4 has been the home to Hollyoaks for nearly three decades, and this latest change suggests an effort to keep up with a digital age, and reflects the increasing appetite for on-demand entertainment.
64 per cent of viewers watched the soap by streaming episodes or E4 this year which meant that 556 million minutes of the show being streamed in the first half of the year – signalling a shift in viewer habits.
Headed home: Bosses have pulled the plug on the soap being aired on its main channel, after 28 years, with it being moved over to E4 and YouTube (Kieron Richardson pictured)
Changes: Ashley Taylor Dawson, 41, who plays Darren Osborne, was also present as he left the studio in his own car
The broadcaster has dubbed Hollyoaks as the ‘UK’s first streaming-led soap’, by making episodes available to stream the day before they are broadcast on E4.
Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer, Ian Katz said: ‘Hollyoaks has always been the youngest and most innovative soap so it’s fitting that it should be the first to embrace the changes in the behaviour of younger viewers and switch to a genuinely digital-led release pattern.
‘It was the first UK soap to move to a stream-first model last year and this is the next phase of that evolution.
‘We hope making Hollyoaks available on YouTube, as well as our own platforms, will introduce a whole new generation to the show.’
The soap’s young fan base has propelled the broadcaster to put its demographic at the heart of its new streaming decisions, after it was discovered the number of people streaming episodes before they were aired on TV went up by 53 per cent on the equivalent period last year.
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