Channel 4+1 website (still claiming that the channel "will be available" at the time of writing!)

The launch of Channel 4+1 (no, not Channel 5) today was an interesting move as it's the first time that a mainstream channel has launched a digital-only '+1' service that repeats everything an hour later, enabling that just-missed Channel 4 programme to be viewed or alternatively just extracting even more ad revenue from the same programmes with precious little extra effort.

It's also interesting from a scheduling perspective since C4+1 places The Simpsons (usually a repeat of a repeat) at 7pm, putting it in a peak time slot that's frequently opposite a Sky One Simpsons showing, plus Hollyoaks on C4+1 is sometimes running opposite EastEnders as well as Channel 4 News on C4+1 being directly shown opposite its More4 News stablemate.

Launching Channel 4+1 at this point in time seems a strange thing to do when Channel 4 is pushing its 4oD video on demand service, but doing such a thing could conceivably further encourage viewers to seek out repeats of the channel's content from 4oD as well as exposing different programmes to casual viewing in different timeslots.

Alternatively it could just be an attempt to extract the aforementioned additional ad revenue from Channel 4 programming in general (especially with declining ad revenues across the board), though it would be interesting to find out the fluctuations in viewing figures between programmes and how they vary between C4+1 and its 'mother' channel.