C4 sets up for Rick and Morty premiere, teams up with Adult Swim

Adult Swim’s hit toon Rick and Morty is set to make an exclusive UK premiere on commercial broadcaster Channel 4 (C4), as part of a wider partnership which will include a new programming block on E4 and an Adult Swim branded channel on C4’s VOD platform All 4.

The toon’s fourth season will make its UK premiere on the network, with the first three seasons airing on E4 from February – the first time ever on free-to-air UK television.

The move is part of a brand partnership that will see hundreds of hours of Adult Swim content being made available to stream for free on All 4 in the same month.

Rick and Morty will be accompanied by the UK premiere of the Robot Chicken: The Walking Dead Special on E4. This will be the first of a regular new ‘Adult Swim hour’ block on E4, showcasing episodes from different Adult Swim shows that will be available to stream, as full series boxsets, exclusively on All 4 in the UK.

Over 300 episodes of Adult Swim content will be made available at launch, with hundreds more being added over the next three years, sitting in an Adult Swim-branded ‘Featured Channel’ alongside Vice and Walter Presents.

The first batch of programmes will include The Venture Bros., Mostly 4 Millennials, Mr. Pickles, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Time and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!,Tim & Eric’s Bedtime Stories, Squidbillies, Hot Streets and Ballmastrz 9009.

The Adult Swim channel will be available on the All 4 app across Channel 4 owned and operated platforms including iOS and Android devices, on big screens such as Amazon Fire TV, Freeview Play and Samsung TVs, as well as games consoles and online at All4.com

Ian Katz, Channel 4 director of programmes, said: “Rick and Morty is one of the most anarchic, ingenious and original shows around and the breakthrough animated hit of recent years. I’m thrilled that it’s coming to Channel 4 and E4.”

Pierre Branco, senior VP and GM, Northern Europe, for Turner, said: “We are incredibly excited to be partnering with Channel 4 to bring Adult Swim’s eclectic mix of weirdly wonderful and surreal shows to audiences here in the UK. In this unique collaboration with Channel 4, we are creating a branded destination that will reach fans, new and old, across TV and VOD, building on the huge success of Adult Swim in the US.”