Warner Music is to enter the British comedy market with an internet channel featuring star performers that promises to challenge television broadcasters’ grip over the industry.

John Lloyd, the producer of hits including Blackadder, Spitting Image and QI, will secure talent for the channel, which will mix weekly shows, sketches, animation and satire from new and established performers. The producers of Little Britain and The Catherine Tate Show are also believed to be in talks with Warner to provide material for the channel, called Comedybox.

With recorded music sales suffering a fresh slump, music groups are urgently seeking new revenue sources. Comedy is seen as particularly suited to the digital age – 90-second sketches are the perfect length for mobilephone downloads, while hits such as The Office sell millions in DVD form.

Comedybox will be free to view and will be funded by advertising and sponsorship. Ultimately, full-length programmes will be bundled together and sold as downloads through sites such as iTunes.

Warner will present Comedybox to an audience of comedians, agents and producers in London today. It hopes to lure talent from television broadcasters by offering them the freedom to experiment with new ideas as well, as greater financial returns for their work.

The award-winning comedy duo The Mighty Boosh, currently BBC stars, are high on Warner’s list of performers being sought to create exclusive sketches. The site will launch during the Edinburgh Festival. The opening schedule will include QI News, a topical weekly spin-off from the popular BBC Two panel show, and a spoof on celebrity culture from Channel X, the producion company behind Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.

Patrick Vien, chief executive of Warner Music International, said: “Developing concepts well beyond recorded music is now a necessity.”

Comedy represents a return to Warner’s roots. Its first No 1 was an album by Bob Newhart, the American comedian, which topped the Billboard charts for 14 weeks in 1960.

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