Audi this week launches it own television channel in the UK which, if successful, could be rolled out in other countries.

The Audi Channel will run 24 hours, seven days a week and is aimed at at a mass market audience: British car owners and car enthusiasts. The launch schedule is split between product related ‘infotainment’ during the day and more general entertainment-driven material in the evenings and at weekends.

The channel is being broadcast to 7.6m UK homes over the Sky Digital satellite television platform. The channel has cost £2m to set up and Audi is committing betweeen £1m and £2m more a year to cover running costs – equivalent to annual expenditure on the Audi UK website.

Gary Savage, Audi UK’s marketing director, said: ‘In terms of advertising and marketing we have been very much following the conventional route. So we took the decision to take control of our own destiny.’