Channel 4 today announced the initial wave of advertisers to sign up to its new commercial data initiative which offers advertisers TV buying audiences on its video on demand service, 4oD, for the first time.

Released to market in February, Channel 4's opening commercial data offer harnesses valuable first party viewer registration data from its database of now over 7 million registered users.

The pioneer group of advertising partners to join the data pool comprises a number of blue chip brands including: Microsoft, Nokia, O2, Bulmers, Unilever, B&Q and McDonald's. These clients will be able to target the same audiences they buy on TV, such as 16-34s and ABC1s, on 4oD.

To run alongside the campaigns, Channel 4 has invested in a major research project to evaluate campaign efficiency and effectiveness and provide further insight into video on demand user behaviour, partnering with digital analytics company, comScore and strategic consultancy, MTM London.

Jonathan Lewis said: "We're looking forward to working directly with the first advertising clients to take advantage of this ground breaking initiative to offer demographically targeted ad packages on 4oD which will ultimately revolutionise the way we trade digital advertising. Over the next few months we will monitor the effectiveness and reach of the campaigns and will share results with the industry later this year."

This commercial data initiative builds upon the viewer engagement programme launched by David Abraham in 2011.