Channel 4 is to deliver programming through Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) consoles connected to wireless “hot spots” in a move designed to target viewers on the move, The Times has learnt.

From today Channel 4 will begin exploiting the PSP’s wireless connection facility by delivering programmes through the handheld gaming device.

Users will receive daily updates from the new series of Celebrity Big Brother, as well as Channel 4 News and music programming. The initial content is delivered in podcast form from the broadcaster’s new radio service.

Television broadcasts are expected to follow via PSPs, which are capable of playing full-length feature films.

Users are directed to a Channel 4 portal when they click on at one of 7,500 wi-fi locations, which enable people to access the internet wirelessly through handheld devices.

The wi-fi option is aimed at commuters, who can log on for internet updates at hot spots in railway stations, coffee shops and airports, which are operated by the Cloud wireless network.

Niall Murphy, co-founder of Cloud, said: “Wi-fi usage is starting to shift from business to consumer devices. Users will be demanding entertaining and unique content, which they can access on the way to and from work, university or school.”

Celebrity Big Brother, the new series of which begins today, is seen as a key brand for the young, digitally savvy audience targeted by Channel 4. Vodafone mobile is offering viewers a live stream from the Big Brother house for £1 a day.

Nathalie Schwarz, director of Channel 4 Radio, said: “Becoming the first broadcaster to make radio content available wirelessly on PSPs will help 4Radio connect with a young, mobile audience, making our programming easily available whenever and wherever they want.”

Broadcasters believe that television “on the move” will become increasingly important this year. A number of TV channels, including Channel 4, are now available live through Virgin Mobile’s Lobster handset.

A £99 Slingbox TV set-top device allows people to watch television on their phone anywhere in the world, provided they are connected to a 3G network operated by the telecoms company 3.

However, Informa Telecoms, the analyst, estimates that only 10 per cent of handsets sold globally by 2011 — about 120 million — will be able to receive television broadcasts. Broadcasters increasingly expect viewers to purchase programme downloads for video iPods or to watch live television through broadband connections.

The BBC and ITV are planning to follow Channel 4’s example this year by “simulcasting” channels online — broadcasting them live on the web. The BBC and ITV are both set to launch “catch-up” online services, allowing viewers to call up any programme broadcast in the previous seven days free.

BT is promising a living-room revolution by allowing customers to order episodes of programmes, music videos and films down the phone line through its Vision On-Demand service.

Channel 4 has become the only one of the five terrestrial channels to increase its audience share in 2006, although critics maintain that is too reliant on Big Brother.

The celebrity version of the show is expected to attract up to five million viewers each night and will be the first major challenge faced by Michael Grade, who arrives as ITV executive chairman next week.