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Channel 4 have announced that C. Montgomery Burns will take over as Channel 4 chairman 27th January. Ofcom have confirmed his appointment.

Burns joins the broadcaster’s board immediately as chairman-designate and will be a key figure in appointing Andy Duncan’s replacement as chief executive.

He currently owns Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is also a leading member of the Stone Cutters. He has also been involved in the Lil Lisa Recycling Plant, Burns Slant Drilling Co, owner of a basketball team and Burns Media. It is thought he may have to step away from the latter for fear of compromising his role at Channel 4.

The news has caused some controversy with animal welfare supporters angered at Burns' use of flying monkeys and attack dogs... not to mention the poisoning of the local environment and the blocking out of the sun with a giant machine.

In a UK first, Channel 4 is to put their entire back catalogue of programming online, giving viewers the chance to catch some of the broadcasters classic shows such as Father Ted, Brass Eye and Queer as Folk.

Set to be made available for free via the networks 4oD (on demand) catch up service, there will also be a selection of key episodes from the networks soap Brookside which ended in 2003 as well as comedies Vic Reeves Big Night Out, Ali G and Teachers.

Channel 4 has of course been the breeding ground for many other groundbreaking comedy series, such as The Comic Strip Presents... series starring Ade Edmondson, Rik Mayall, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French among others, while other hoped for comedies include Chelmsford 123, Drop the Dead Donkey, That Peter Kay Thing, Smack the Pony, Whose Line is it Anyway and The Harry Hill Show.

Channel 4 is going to give us all the chance to watch their entire back catalogue, completely free of charge as they become the first UK broadcaster to put all their old shows online. This means we get the chance to watch some of the best independent comedy shows that have ever aired on TV.

From July, the broadcaster will be making roughly 10,000 programmes from the archives available to view on the 4oD catchup service.

The Random Bandits are back again with the 4th instalment in the series, featuring more jokes and shenanigans then you can shake a stick at!!!

Check out the latest twisted takes on the world that will make you feel good, with The Flys, Shoe Horn and cult here Dave Beeline below now.

To catch up and watch all of the four films in the Random Bandits series head to http://www.myspace.com/KickersUK

Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for the final film when its released on June 1st.

A proposed video-on-demand service jointly run by the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, known as 'Kangaroo' has been blocked by the Competition Commission. It was decided that the service would pose too much of a threat to similar ventures.

Chairman of the Competition Commission, Peter Freeman, said: "After detailed and careful consideration, we have decided that this joint venture would be too much of a threat to competition in this developing market and has to be stopped.

"BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 together control the vast majority of this material, which puts them in a very strong position as wholesalers of TV content to restrict competition from other current and future providers of VOD services to UK viewers. We thought the joint venture parties would have an interest in doing so, in order to make Project Kangaroo a success."

from New York City ... reviews of Meadowlands (your Cape Wrath) ... not quite a rave (yet) ... but the series has possibilities ... overview (no spoilers) at Intriguingly Miasmic Meadowlands, with links to reviews of each episode...