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Channel 4 is a public-service British television station, broadcast to all areas of the United Kingdom, which began transmissions in 1982. Though entirely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned: Originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by the Channel Four Television Corporation, a public body established in 1990 for this purpose and which came into operation in 1993, following the abolition of the IBA. The station was established to provide a fourth television service to the UK that would break the duopoly of the BBC's two established television services and the single commercial broadcasting network, ITV, then the only services broadcast there. Though having seen new competition through the subsequent availability and growth of cable, satellite and digital terrestrial stations, Channel 4 still enjoys almost universal coverage, and a significant audience share.
The preamble of the remit as per the Communications Act 2003 states that: "The public service remit for Channel 4 is the provision of a broad range of high quality and diverse programming which, in particular: The remit also involves an obligations to provide Schools Programming,[4] and a substantial amount of programming produced outside of Greater London,[5] Initially Channel 4 was not intentionally broadcast to Wales. Prior to its establishment, a significant demand for a dedicated Welsh language service for Wales lead to the creation of S4C, that is Sianel Pedwar Cymru or Channel 4 Wales, which carried Welsh spoken programmes as well as some programmes as also broadcast on Channel 4.[6] Limited frequency space meant that Channel 4 proper could not be broadcast alongside S4C, though carriage on digital cable, satellite and digital terrestrial television means that the station is now available to over 70% of Welsh viewers.[7] Consequently S4C does not carry Channel 4 programming on the digital variant of its channel.[8]
Channel Four Television Corporation
Towards the end of the 1980s, the government began a radical process of re-organisation of the commercial broadcasting industry,[11] which was written onto the statute books by means of the Broadcasting Act 1990.[12] Significantly, this meant the abolition of the IBA, and hence the Channel Four Broadcasting Company. The result lead to the creation of a corporation to own and operate the channel, which would have a greater deal of autonomy and would eventually go on establish its other operations. The new corporation, which became operational in 1993, remained publicly owned and was regulated by the new Independent Television Commission (ITC), created under the same act. The ITC and its duties were later replaced by Ofcom, which like its predecessor is responsible for appointing the Corporation's board, in agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.[2] In terms of the station's remit and other duties, the creation of the corporation meant little change, however the new corporation would have to manage its own advertising, rather than this being carried out on its behalf by the local ITV contractors (see Funding). HistoryConceptionBefore Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services: BBC1, BBC2, and ITV. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth, and Channel 4, along with its Welsh counterpart, was formally created by an Act of Parliament in 1982. After some weeks of test broadcasts, it began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982. The notion of a second commercial broadcaster in the UK had been around since the inception of ITV in 1954 and its subsequent launch in 1955; the idea of an 'ITV2' was long expected and pushed for. Indeed television sets sold throughout the 1970s and early 1980s had a spare channel called 'ITV/IBA 2'. Throughout ITV's History and until Channel 4 finally became a reality, a perennial dialogue existed between the GPO, the government, the ITV companies and other interested parties, concerning the form such an expansion of commercial broadcasting would take. It was most likely politics which had the biggest impact in leading to a delay of almost three decades before the second commercial channel became a reality.[10] With what can crudely be summed up as a clash of ideologies between an expansion of ITV's commercial ethos and a public service approach more akin to the BBC, it was ultimately somewhat of a compromise that eventually led to the formation of Channel 4 as launched in 1982. One clear benefit of the 'late arrival' of the channel was that its frequency allocations at each transmitter had already been arranged in the early 1960s, when the launch of ITV2 was highly anticipated.[10] This led to very good coverage across most of the country and few problems of interference with other UK based transmissions; a stark contrast to the problems associated with Channel 5's launch a decade and a half later. IBA Control: 1982–1993The first voice ever heard on Channel 4 was that of continuity announcer Paul Coia, who intoned, "Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be able to say to you: Welcome to Channel Four", before heading into a montage of clips from its programmes set to the station's Lord David Dundas-penned signature tune, Fourscore, which would form the basis of the station's jingles for its first decade. The first programme to air on the channel was the teatime game show Countdown, produced by Yorkshire Television; it is still running as of 2007 and is contracted until 2009. Upon its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to the existing channels, an agenda in part set out by its remit which required the provision of programming to minority groups. Its new style of programming often drew critical attention, with some, such as the self-styled public-decency campaigner Mary Whitehouse, claiming the station had overstepped the boundaries of acceptability[citation needed] whilst others argued that the new style of broadcasting had led to a liberalisation of the UK television industry.[citation needed] Programming such as the Red Triangle series, The Tube, and Network 7 often straddled the boundary between being pioneering and being tasteless.[citation needed] Image:C4logo82-96.jpg The original Channel 4 logo, used from 1982–1996 In step with its remit, the channel became well received both by minority groups and the arts and cultural worlds during this period, especially under Isaacs, where the channel gained a reputation for programmes on the contemporary arts. The channel often failed to receive mass audiences for much of this period, however, as might be expected for a station aiming at often very small groups of interest. Channel 4 also began the funding of independent films during this time. Independence: 1993–TodayImage:C4logo96-99.png The Channel 4 logo used from 1996–1999. The four circles appeared in various configurations. After control of the station passed from the Channel Four Television Company to the Channel Four Television Corporation in 1993 (see above) a shift in broadcasting style took place. Instead of aiming for the fringes of society, it began to focus on the edges of the mainstream, and the centre of the mass market itself[citation needed]. It began to show many US programmes in peak viewing time, far more than it had previously done. It premiered such shows as Friends and ER. Latterly, it began broadcasting various reality formats (including Big Brother) and obtained the right broadcast certain popular sporting events such as cricket and horse racing (the contract to broadcast Test Match Cricket ceased with the end of the Summer 2005 Ashes series). This new direction increased ratings and revenues. In addition, the Channel launched a number of new television channels through its new 4Ventures off-shoot, including Film4, At The Races, E4 and More4 (see Other Services). Partially in reaction to its new 'populist' direction, the Communications Act 2003 directed the channel to demonstrate innovation, experimentation and creativity, appeal to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society and to include programmes of an educational nature which exhibit a distinctive character.[2] Image:Ch4logo.gif The Channel 4 logo, used from 1999–2004. The white square background is part of the logo. Under the leadership of Freeview founder Andy Duncan, 2005 saw a change of direction for Channel 4's digital channels. Channel 4 made E4 'free to air' on Digital Terrestrial, and launched a new 'free to air' digital channel called More4. By October Channel 4 had joined the Freeview consortium.[13] By July 2006, Film4 had also become a 'free to air' and re-started broadcasting on Digital Terrestrial.[14] Venturing into radio broadcasting, 2005 saw Channel 4 purchase a 51 per cent of shares in the [Oneword] radio station with UBC Media holding onto the remaining shares. New programmes such as the weekly, half hour The Morning Report news programme are among some of the new content Channel 4 has provided for the station, with the name the name 4Radio being used. The futureChannel 4 has in recent years raised concerns over how it might finance its public service obligations after digital switch-over. Channel 4 has projected it will have a £100m funding gap.[citation needed] It has stated that it will need further help, possibly in the form of a slice of the licence fee in order to meet these commitments.[citation needed] On 25 April 2006 it was announced that Channel 4's digital switch-over costs would be paid for by licence fee revenues.[15] As a possible insight into its future broadcasting methods, Channel 4 has been a trial broadcaster for the FreeviewHD HDTV trial in London using MPEG-4 compression. Programmes such as Lost and Desperate Housewives were used for the experiment, as US broadcasters such as ABC already have an HDTV back catalogue. It has also been rumoured that Channel 4 have ambitions to launch further Channels at some point in the future[citation needed]. In September 2004, Channel 4 spent £55m reserving space for up to 14 channels on SES Astra's Astra 2D satellite.[citation needed] However, some of this capacity may be used by Channel 4's existing channels when more expensive encryption contracts with BSkyB expire in 2008.[citation needed] Furthermore, the announcement by media regulator Ofcom, that it was looking into creating a new public-service broadcasting licence[citation needed] may be good news for Channel 4. It has been widely suggested in the media[citation needed] that Channel 4 would be the most likely candidate to run the new three hours per day channel dedicated to factual and current affairs programming.[citation needed] Ofcom has suggested that, if the channel is approved, it could be funded from general taxation or by "top-slicing" of the licence fee.[16] CarriageChannel 4 was carried from its beginning on analogue terrestrial (except in Wales), which was practically the only means of television broadcast in the UK at the time. It will continue to be broadcast through these means until the UK's analogue television services are closed down over the course of the next decade. Since 1998, it has been universally available on digital terrestrial, and the Sky Digital platform (encrypted, though free of charge) as well as having been available from various times in various areas, on analogue and digital cable networks. Due to its special status as a public service broadcaster with a specific remit, it is afforded free carriage on the terrestrial platforms,[17] in contrast with other broadcasters such as ITV.[18] Channel 4 is also available overseas: Some viewers in the Republic of Ireland and parts of the European mainland, have been able to receive terrestrial transmissions from Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and some overseas cable networks, especially in the RoI, have carried the service. From 4 December 2006 Channel 4 was officially available to Sky viewers in the Republic of Ireland; some programmes, mainly imports, are not aired on this channel variant, due to Channel 4 not owning the relevant broadcast rights within the country. From June 2006, Channel 4 allowed Internet users in the United Kingdom to watch Channel 4 live on the Internet. However, for legal reasons all adverts have been removed and some programmes (mostly international imports) are not shown. Channel 4 is also provided by Virgin Mobile's DAB mobile TV service which has the same restrictions as the internet live stream. Channel 4 also makes some of its programming available 'on demand' via cable and the internet (see 4oD). FundingChannel 4 has never received any public funding. During the station's formative years, funding came from the ITV companies in return for their right to sell advertisements in their region on the fourth channel. Nowadays it pays for itself in much the same way as most privately run commercial stations, i.e. through the sale of on-air advertising, programme sponsorship, and the sale of any programme content and merchandising rights it owns, such as overseas sales and video sales. It also has the ability to subsidise the main network through any profits made on the corporation's other endeavours, which have in the past included subscription fees from stations such as E4 and Film4 (now no longer subscription services) and its 'video-on-demand' sales. In practice, however, these other activities are loss-making, and are subsidised by the main network. According to Channel 4's last published accounts, for 2005, the extent of this cross-subsidy was some £30 million. [2] The change in funding method came about by the Broadcasting Act 1990 when the new corporation was afforded the ability to fund itself. Originally this arrangement left a 'safety net' guaranteed minimum income should the revenue fall too low, funded by large insurance payments made to the ITV companies. Such a subsidy was never required, however, and these premiums were phased out by government in 1998. After the link with ITV was cut, the cross-promotion which had existed between ITV and Channel 4 also ended. ProgrammingChannel 4 was one of the first "publisher-broadcaster" stations in the world. All of its programming is produced by other companies; it exists only to fund, broadcast and distribute its programmes — a stipulation which is included in its licence to broadcast.[4] It was also one of the first broadcasters to put its name on the introduction or end credits of programmes that it did not produce, a practice that is now widespread. More significantly, it also began a trend of owning the copyright and distribution rights of the programmes it aired, in a manner that is similar to the major Hollywood studios' ownership of television programs that they did not directly produce. Thus, although Channel 4 does not produce programmes, many are seen as belonging to it. Channel 4 also pioneered the concept of stranded programming, where seasons of programmes following a common theme would be aired and promoted together; the 4 Mation season, for example, showed innovative animation. FactualChannel 4 also has a strong reputation for history programmes and real-life documentaries. It has also courted controversy, for example by broadcasting live the first public autopsy to be carried out in the UK for 170 years, carried out by Gunther von Hagens in 2002, or the 2003 one-off stunt Derren Brown Plays Russian Roulette Live. Its critically acclaimed news service, Channel 4 News, is supplied by ITN whilst its long-standing investigative documentary, Dispatches, causes perennial media attention. When the television chef Jamie Oliver could not reach a deal with the BBC after his contract with them expired in December, 2002, Channel 4 took him up. Since this happened, Jamie Oliver has created a number of documentaries such as Jamie's Kitchen, Jamie's School Dinners, which was broadcast to coincide with his campaign to improve the quality of school dinners, and Jamie's Great Escape. FourDocsFourDocs is an online service from Channel 4. FourDocs is a broadband documentary "channel" that celebrates all aspects of the documentary genre. It allows users to upload their own documentaries to the website for others to watch. The videos need to be 4 minutes long. EntertainmentChannel 4 pioneered the concept of 'after the pub' television, with series such as Who Dares Wins, Tonight with Jonathan Ross, Friday Night Live and The Word broadcast in the 10–11pm slot. Channel 4 is also noted for the screening of Big Brother. Based on the original Dutch format, the UK version has attracted massive press attention as well as various degrees of criticism for each of its series from 2000 to date. In October 2005, Channel 4 began broadcasting the UK version of Endemol's worldwide smash game show Deal or No Deal. Despite being broadcast at a relatively slow time slot — 4.15pm weekdays and originally 4.25pm Saturdays — the show, presented by Noel Edmonds, on some occasions has been the most-watched show on the channel. The Saturday edition of the show has had a spell in a prime-time slot, and in June 2006 the show's popularity led to "Double Deal Week" where a second show at 8pm was broadcast each day for a week. The highest audience ever attained by Channel 4 was 13.8 million for the final part of the mini-series A Woman of Substance, broadcast on 4 January 1985. Since then, and excluding films, the channel's highest rating was 10 million viewers for the final of the third series of Big Brother on 27 July 2002. The channel's daily share of viewing on that date was 22.8%, then the highest recorded by the station. This record was beaten on Monday 12 September, 2005, the final day of the 2005 Ashes, when the channel's daily share of viewing in UK homes was recorded as 23.2%. This was also the first time that Channel 4 had been the highest-rating UK television station across a 24-hour period. ComedyChannel 4 has traditional had a good reputation for its comedy programming. The early days saw screenings of The Comic Strip Presents, a highly innovative series of short one-off comedy films produced by a rotating line-up of alternative comedians, such as Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Peter Cook, Peter Richardson, and Alexei Sayle. The Tube and Friday Night Live also launched the careers of a number of alternative comedians. More recently, Channel 4 has aired such comedy shows as Brass Eye, The Mark Thomas Product, Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, That Peter Kay Thing, Drop the Dead Donkey, Desmond's, Green Wing, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, Smack the Pony, Max and Paddy's Road To Nowhere, So Graham Norton, South Park, Black Books, Bo' Selecta, [[My Name is Earl, The IT Crowd, and Father Ted. For years, Channel 4 has also broadcast episodes of the most popular situation comedies from the United States on Friday nights. In 2004, Friday-night sitcoms on Channel 4 included Friends, Sex and the City, and Will & Grace. Since 5 November 2004, Channel 4 has had the British terrestrial rights to show new-to-terrestrial episodes of The Simpsons, in addition to several of the classic seasons, rights that had previously been held by the BBC since the show started airing on British terrestrial (1996). This was considered a major scoop for Channel 4, which was reported to have paid £700,000 for each episode and which began promoting The Simpsons nearly a month in advance, using 18-frame teasers for the show (made up of various characters' faces being created using different-coloured Channel 4 logos) to lead into commercial breaks from October 8 onward. When it began airing in November 2004, seasons 2–5 of the show were repeated weekdays at 6pm, with new and newer episodes from seasons 11 and 12 on Fridays at 9pm. From January 2006, C4 lost the rights to seasons 2 and 3 to Sky, but showed Season 6 in November 2005. More new episodes were scheduled to begin airing in the post-watershed slot (Season 13) from 25 August 2006. However, it has been criticised heavily for its slight censorship of the programme during its 6:00pm slot, such as removing some swear words and even cutting scenes with mild sexual activity. In January 2005, Channel 4 gained the rights to show the hugely popular U.S. comedy Desperate Housewives. It became a ratings landslide, with six million viewers and third place in the ratings. In 2006, Channel 4 gained rights to various new American TV shows like The Class, and in 2007 it gained rights to Ugly Betty.
Friday Nights have traditionally been used by the station for airing much of its popular comedy, with the time-slot becoming synonymous with the stations' comedy output, with Channel 4 Friday Comedy being promoted as a brand, and most of the above programming being premiered on this slot. Some of the much advertised programmes The Friday Night Project and 18 Stone of Idiot were not successful with the ratings with 18 Stone of Idiot being not being recommissioned for a second series but Johnny Vegas wanted it not be recommissioned and is working with further projects with Channel 4. Another show is Balls Of Steel in which comedians do a range of pranks on the public and celebrities including the famous soaking of Tom Cruise and Sharon Osbourne, both of them not seeing that funny with Sharon Osbourne throwing a bucket of water over the cameraman and damaging the video camera. Channel 4 has been criticised over the years for repeating too many American sitcoms as the channel was notorious for showing far too many repeats of Friends on a terrestrial channel rather than producing new British sitcoms as Friends was shown in the 9.00pm slot for nearly 10 years and always slated in Dead Ringers on BBC Two. DramaOn 4 November 2003, Channel 4 screened its final episode of Brookside, a soap opera which had run for the 21 years since the channel started. American drama is a key part of Channel 4's portfolio, initially with NYPD Blue and ER. These were followed by Without a Trace, The Sopranos, The West Wing and Six Feet Under. Many of these programmes are shown (and notably edited) for their Sunday morning T4 slot. In August 2005, Channel 4 started showing the US TV show Lost after a lengthy advertising campaign that included a 60-second commercial shot by David LaChapelle, that featured the cast and cost over £1 million becoming the most expensive advertisement produced in the UK. This gamble seems to have paid off, however; the pilot episode was watched by over 6 million viewers, placing it second in the overall ratings for the channel for that year, Big Brother securing the top spot. However, in October 2006 Channel 4 suffered a blow when BSkyB acquired the rights to the third and fourth seasons of Lost. T4T4 is a separately identified strand carried on Channel 4 (and briefly on E4 until 2002). It consists of programming in the mornings seven days a week for an age range of around 16–25. Music, soaps and US comedy shows all feature as part of the schedule on T4. Famous programmes include the Hollyoaks Omnibus, The OC, One Tree Hill, Will & Grace and Friends, with popular US animation Futurama airing weekend mornings too (although Futurama is heavily edited to fit the allocated timeslot). The final season of the hit US drama show Charmed was showing on T4 every Sunday, repeats were shown on the following Saturday, after five lost in a bidding war with Channel 4.[19]. The most recent American import Ugly Betty even though episodes premiere on a Wednesday night on E4 at 9pm and premiere on Analogue television on a Friday night at 9pm. These are repeated on T4 on a Sunday beginning between 3.30pm and 4.00pm Schools ProgrammingChannel 4 is obliged to carry schools programming as part of its remit and licence.[4] ITV Schools on Channel 4Since 1957 ITV had produced schools programming which became an obligation.[20] In 1987, five years after the new minority station was launched, the IBA afforded ITV free carriage of these programmes during Channel 4's, then largely unused, daytime hours. This arrangement allowed the ITV companies to fulfil their obligation to provide schools programming, whilst being able to use ITV proper to air more popular programming, which unlike schools programmes would provide advertising revenue. During the times in which schools programmes were aired, Channel 4 was effectively operated by ITV, with Central Television providing most of the continuity, and play-out originating from Birmingham.[21] Thus ITV Schools on Channel 4 was effectively a separate station broadcasting on Channel 4's frequencies. Even some regional schools programming was aired, in contrast with Channel 4's lack of any regional variations to its programming. See Also: List of 'ITV Schools on Channel 4' programmes. Channel 4 Schools / 4LearningAfter the re-structuring of the station in 1993, ITV's obligations to provide such programming on Channel 4's airtime passed to Channel 4 itself, and the new service became Channel 4 Schools, with the new corporation administering the service and commissioning its programmes, some still from ITV, others from independent producers.[22] In 2000, the service was renamed 4Learning and as of today the service has diversified into pre-school and adult programmes, with much of its content also available in text and video form via the internet, or through DVD sales. Its programming runs to around 400 hours per annum. One of its well known programmes is The Hoobs. See Also: 4Learning site. FilmThe channel has established a tradition of broadcasting the animated film of Raymond Briggs's picture book The Snowman, which in 1982 was the new channel's first major animated commission, every Christmas. From 2002, the film was controversially cropped from its original 4:3 picture format to the current widescreen standard of 16:9. The Channel also commissioned early work by Nick Park and Aardman Animation. In March 2005, Channel 4 screened uncut Lars von Trier film The Idiots that includes unsimulated sexual intercourse, making it the first UK terrestrial channel to do so. The Channel had screened before other films with similar material but censored and with warnings. The broadcast after midnight only raised one complaint and has been taken as an indication of how far audience values have changed since the Channel began. Notable FailuresChannel 4 has for a long time struggled in the breakfast slot. In 1989 the Channel launched a breakfast television slot produced by Mentorn Films, called the Channel 4 Daily. In 1992 this was replaced by The Big Breakfast, which briefly outrated the ITV breakfast broadcast, GMTV, after the closure of TV-am. The Big Breakfast was axed in March 2002. It was replaced by RI:SE, which rated terribly. With the demise of RI:SE, Channel 4 withdrew from original programming in the breakfast TV slot. Now T4 runs the early morning slots on weekdays showing repeats of popular shows such as Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond and Just Shoot Me. (This was temporarily interrupted in early 2006 with the show Morning Glory, designed to keep the audience following the early morning transmission of Big Brother's Little Breakfast). 4Talent4Talent is a branch of Channel 4's commissioning wing which co-ordinates Channel 4's various talent recruitment schemes for Film, Television, Radio, New Media et cetera, in association with its content providers. As well as being a means of recruitment, it also offers information and advice for new-comers and serves as a showcasing platform. It has offices in London, the West Midlands, Scotland and Northern Ireland. See also; 4Talent. TEN4TEN4 is the quarterly creative industries magazine from 4Talent, which launched in 2005. ControversiesChannel 4 and its associated channels do not cut programmes or movies for commercial timing purposes, however some imported shows have been known to be edited (Channel 4's broadcasts of animated sci-fi comedy Futurama is heavily edited in comparison to the episodes broadcast on rival channel Sky One). Other ServicesNovember 1998 saw Channel 4 expand beyond its remit of providing the 'fourth service' in a significant way, with the launch of FilmFour. Since then the corporation has been involved in a range of other activities, all in some way associated with the main channel, and mainly using the '4' brand. 4VenturesIn 2001 4Ventures was created as the parent body of its other activities, which at the time were run as commercial businesses, rather than public-service obligations, with the intent of making profit which would serve to subsidise the main Channel 4. 4Ventures has subsequently been run-down, with its television stations (listed below) moving from a largely subscription based profit-making model, to being widely available free-to-view services, available on most platforms. TelevisionFilm4Channel 4 has had a long record of success in funding the production of films through Channel Four Films, renamed FilmFour in 1998 to coincide with the launch of its digital channel of the same name. Notable successes include The Madness of King George, The Crying Game and Four Weddings and a Funeral. However, this dedicated film-making wing was scaled back in 2002 as a cost-cutting measure in the face of substantial losses. Channel 4 launched a subscription film channel, FilmFour, in November 1998. It is available on digital satellite television and digital cable. Companion services, such as FilmFour+1, FilmFour World and FilmFour Extreme were also available on some digital services. In 2003 Extreme and World were discontinued, and replaced with FilmFour Weekly. FilmFour Weekly closed in July 2006, when the main, newly named Film4 channel went free-to-view and became available on Digital Terrestrial. The switchover to Digital Terrestrial was heavily advertised. The adverts featured Lucy Liu, Christian Slater, Ewan McGregor, Judi Dench, Gael García Bernal, Willem Dafoe, Mackenzie Crook, Rhys Ifans and Ray Winstone declaring "Film4 is now free" in various situations across London. In 2002, Channel 4's film financing division (Film4 Productions) was seriously scaled back, due to massive losses, although total closure was averted. It had however had various successes, most notably Four Weddings and a Funeral and Trainspotting. In 1994, BAFTA/LA (the Los Angeles branch of the British Academy of Film & Television Arts) presented a full-length film festival in Los Angeles in conjunction with the American Cinematheque (the US equivalent of Britain's National Film Theatre that saluted the considerable contributions to British film of Channel 4's film division since its inception. The festival presented many of the most celebrated Channel 4 films, and also featured panel discussions about Channel 4's role between Channel 4 chief executive Michael Grade, US TV producer Norman Lear and the festival's producer - BAFTA/LA chairman Martin Lewis. When Channel 4 had the rights to broadcast test match cricket in England, the FilmFour channel was sometimes used to broadcast parts of a match when the main channel was committed elsewhere, usually to racing. At these times FilmFour was available free-to-air. At The RacesIn 2000, Channel 4 launched a dedicated horse racing channel, At the Races. However, for a combination of financial and legal reasons[citation needed] the channel ceased broadcasting in 2003. It was subsequently bought by BSkyB and relaunched in June 2004. Channel 4 no longer has any involvement with At the Races. The Channel 4 programmes, also named At the Races, returned to their original name of Channel 4 Racing when the channel left involvement with At The Races. E4E4, a digital entertainment channel previously available on the Internet, was launched in January 2001. It features premieres of US imports and supplementary footage for programs on its main channel (most notably extended Big Brother coverage). In 2005 it launched on Digital Terrestrial. E4 now has as much coverage as other services available on Cable, Satellite and Digital Terrestrial like ITV2 and BBC Three. It is a very successful channel with a first look or sneak peek, with the next episode of some series, such as Hollyoaks and Desperate Housewives appearing on E4 immediately after the show on Channel 4 has finished. Also they have "Second Chance Sunday" which allows you to see programmes you have missed during the week on a Sunday. New show Skins appears on E4 every Thursday at 10pm and has been a huge hit on E4. During Big Brother, E4 plays host to live coverage of the show, subject to a delay. Until 2006, programmes on the channel did not air until 14.00 GMT, but in February 2006 the widely-advertised E4 Music airs from 06.00 until 14.00 GMT, with various music shows and videos being showcased. E4 is widely available in the Republic of Ireland in close to 70% of homes. It is carried on the NTL / Chorus cable networks and also on Sky Digital. The channel operates a separate advertising opt-out in the Republic allowing advertisers to directly target Irish audiences. This has been a highly successful commercial operation and all airtime sales are handled on the channels behalf by Medialink in Dublin. More4More4 is a channel aimed at those aged 35–60. Launched on 10 October 2005, it channel carries news and nightly discussion programmes, such as More4 News, an extension of Channel 4 News that attempts to look "beyond the headlines", giving in-depth analysis. Advertising before the launch of the channel flaunted such HBO shows as Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Sopranos, as well as NBC's The West Wing. Its conception has met conflicting responses; many people believe the programmes shown to be of great quality, while others see it as an excuse to free up more room for a deluge of property programmes or less respectable programmes (see Fat Pets) in all other free slots on Channel 4. Quiz CallChannel 4 previously owned Ostrich Media Limited, a company which run the participation television statio, Quiz Call. In November 2006, Channel 4 confirmed that it had sold Ostrich Media Limited to iTouch.[23] Channel 4 cited the fact that strong competition in the UK participation television market had meant that it was no longer easy to make profits from participation TV as the reason for selling. The space occupied by QuizCall on Freeview was not included as part of the sale. Consequently, the channel left Channel 4's space on Freeview on 15 November 2006, and was replaced in the short term by Film4+1.[24] Channel 4 director of television, Kevin Lygo, confirmed the plan to launch a new channel in the longer term. However, he was reported not to be satisfied with the first round of ideas submitted to him (a US acquisitions channel, a comedy channel and a T4 youth brand channel) and is now canvassing further options.[23] Radio - DAB BidIn March 2007, A consortium lead by Channel 4, under the name 4 Digital Group which includes EMAP, UTV and SMG as partners, submitted a bid for the second national DAB radio licence. National Grid Wireless submitted a rival bid at the same time, and are expected to be the only other competitor. If succesfull, several radio stations operated by Channel 4 are expected to be included, along side contributions by Disney and BSkyB. The winner is expected to be announced in July.[25] 4radioIn June 2006 they launched 4radio[26], offering audio programmes in the shape of podcasts aimed at introducing new public service radio services informed by C4’s values of creativity and innovation. Coupled with their strategy of becoming a truly multimedia company, there are shows that tie in with their flagship TV hits including Big Brother, Lost, and Channel 4 News. But they are also looking to introduce opportunities for new music, comedy, speech and drama production from independents to invigorate the commercial radio sector and give the BBC some real competition. The successful multiplex consortium will not be expected to launch until 2008. However a taste of Channel 4 Radio's audio output is already available [27] including a revival of the Channel's The Tube [28] music programme and a very small amount of 4radio branded content can be heard on OneWord. OnewordOneword is a digital radio station featuring the spoken word. In early 2005 Channel 4 purchased a minority stake in it, later that year buying a majority one. It has been rumoured that the station will be relaunched with a format featuring greater integration with Channel 4's other properties. Channel4.comThe station's website is channel4.com. The site offers detailed programme information, highlights, and chats with actors and presenters of all Channel 4 channels. It also has in-depth sections including news, film, homes, sport, and more. Its learning sections are often used by many for educational needs. 4oDImage:4od.jpg 4oD Logo Launched towards the end of 2006, 4oD stands for "4 on Demand", a service which allows some internet and Virgin Media users to view programming recently shown on Channel 4, E4 or More4, or from their archives.[29] The cable version is operated through an appropriate set top box whilst the internet variant requires the installation of a free piece of software, which allows users to download the programmes to a computer for viewing. The services are limited to UK and Republic of Ireland viewers only, and the internet version is at present further limited to Windows XP, PC users only.[29] This is due to the propriety Microsoft DRM system chosen for the service, being only available to that platform at this time. Channel 4 state that this choice of system is at the stipulation of many of the content owners, thus such a limitation is unavoidable if their content is to be made available in this way.[29] Image:4od ss.jpg Screen shot of 4oD Browser Most content is charged for, on a per-download basis, typically at around 99p per standard programme, and £1.99 per film, though there is also free content available. Video can be viewed multiple times, for up to forty-eight hours after the first time it was played, or for a month unplayed where downloaded. The video on the internet service is advertised as being 'DVD quality', and estimates download time to be around twice the programme length on an average broadband connection, though speeds vary dramatically dependent on ISP, connection speed and other factors, and may be less or more than this. The 4oD internet service uses exactly the same technology (Kontiki Delivery Manager[3] and Microsoft DRM) as the BBC iPlayer test service that was successfully trailed at the end of 2005, (and is currently awaiting launch approval from the BBC Trust). The BBC service made no charge for watching recently aired programmes during its trial. Corporate StructureManagementChannel 4 is run by a chief executive, whose role is similar to that of the Director-General of the BBC. The chief executive is appointed by the chairman, which is a part-time position appointed by Ofcom. Chairmen
Chief executives
Financial informationChannel 4's total revenue for the year to 31 December 2005 was £894.3 million, of which £735.2 million was generated by its main channel, and the remainder by its subsidiaries channels, sales of programming rights to other broadcasters, Film Four and "new media". Operating profits for the year were £56.9 million. [4] Headquarters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
