This is a timeline of the history of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

1970s

*1977 **3 February – The Annan Committee on the future of broadcasting makes its recommendations. They include the establishment of a fourth independent television channel, the establishment of Broadcasting Complaints Commission and an increase in independent production. *1978 **No events. *1979 **With the approach of the 1979 general election both the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

include plans for a fourth channel in their election manifestos. Labour favours an "Open Broadcasting Authority" community service aimed at minority groups, while the Conservatives plan is for the channel to be given to ITV. Both main parties also pledge to launch a separate

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

television service for Wales.

1980s

* 1980 **September –

Edmund Dell Edmund Emanuel Dell (15 August 1921 – 1 November 1999) was a British politician and businessman. Early life Dell was born in London, the son of a Jewish manufacturer. In the Second World War he served in the Royal Artillery, reaching the r ...

is appointed Chairman of Channel 4, and

Jeremy Isaacs Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs (born 28 September 1932) is a Scottish television producer and executive, opera manager, and a recipient of many British Academy Television Awards and International Emmy Awards. He won the British Film Institute Fellow ...

becomes its chief executive. **13 November – The Broadcasting Act 1980 paves the way for a fourth television channel in the UK. **The channel is established as a subsidiary of the

Independent Broadcasting Authority The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television ( ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Author ...

(IBA). A subscription is levied on the ITV companies to pay for the channel; they sell Channel 4's airtime in return. *1981 **1 January – The Channel Four Television Company is established to provide the fourth channel service for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland – Wales' fourth channel will be a Welsh language service called S4C although it will broadcast some Channel 4 programmes during off-peak hours. Channel 4 logo 1982

* 1982 **2 August – Test broadcasts commence. These mainly consist of showing the IBA's testcard ETP-1 between 9am and 8pm. **2 November – Channel 4 launches across most of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland – Wales' fourth channel, S4C, had launched the previous evening. However, some areas are unable to receive the fourth channel at launch because the required engineering at many relay transmitters had not been carried out and it wasn't until later in the decade that all transmitters were carrying the fourth channel. *** 4:40pm: Continuity announcer

Paul Coia Paul Coia (born 19 June 1955 in Glasgow) is a Scottish television presenter and continuity announcer who was the first voice to be heard on Channel 4 on its launch in 1982. His career originally began in the late 1970s as a DJ and in the early 19 ...

launches the channel with the words "Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be able to say to you: Welcome to Channel 4". *** 4:45pm: The first programme airs. It is the gameshow ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' and presenter

Richard Whiteley John Richard Whiteley (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005) was an English presenter, and journalist, best known for his twenty-three years as host of the game show ''Countdown''. ''Countdown'' was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:4 ...

starts by saying "as the countdown to a brand new channel ends, a brand new countdown begins." It remains on the air to this day. ***7pm: The first edition of ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

'', the UK's first hour-long news programme. *** 8pm: The first edition of Channel 4's soap opera ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

'' is broadcast and would run until 2003. ***10:15pm:

The Comic Strip Presents The Comic Strip are a group of British comedians who came to prominence in the 1980s. They are known for their television series ''The Comic Strip Presents...'', which was labelled as a pioneering example of the alternative comedy scene. The c ...

...Five Go Mad In Dorset, first of six comedies parodying the Famous Four and their dog doing some detective work while on holiday in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...

, is broadcast. It captured the

Broadcasting Press Guild The Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) is a British association of journalists dedicated to the topic of general media issues. History The Guild was established in 1974 as a breakaway of The Critics' Circle. Currently it groups over 100 staff and f ...

prize for 'best comedy'. **5 November – The first edition of music programme '' The Tube'' is broadcast. **7 November – Coverage of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

is shown for the first time on Channel 4, beginning the channel's long association with the sport. **8 November – Channel 4 shows live sport for the first time when it broadcasts coverage of a match from Division One of the National Basketball League. It shows highlights of the first half of the game and live coverage of the second half Coverage of both sports is part of Channel 4's remit to showcase so-called minority sports which do not get coverage on the BBC or ITV. **14 November – The viewer complaints programme ''

Right to Reply ''Right to Reply'' (sometimes called ''R2R'') is a British television series shown on Channel 4 from 1982 until 2001, which allowed viewers to voice their complaints or concerns about TV programmes. It featured reports, usually presented by a v ...

'' launches. It is the only programme that Channel 4 produces in-house. **26 December – Premiere of ''

The Snowman ''The Snowman'' is a 1982 British animated television film based on Raymond Briggs's 1978 picture book '' The Snowman.'' It was directed by Dianne Jackson for Channel 4. It was first shown on 26 December 1982, and was an immediate success. It ...

'' on Channel 4. **27 December – Channel 4 airs its first theme night, ''Fifties to the Fore''. The evening includes episodes of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and ATV shows such as ''

Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Canad ...

'' and '' Oh Boy!''. * 1983 **30 January – Channel 4 becomes the first broadcaster in the UK to screen the Super Bowl live. **18 March – Channel 4 broadcasts in-vision teletext pages for the first time. Two magazines are shown, ''

4-Tel on View Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service i ...

'' and '' Oracle on View'' – and in fifteen-minute bursts which are repeated several times each day prior to the start of each day's transmissions. Teletext pages are only shown on weekdays. **24 May – Channel 4 (and S4C in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

) become the new home of ''

Engineering Announcements ''Engineering Announcements for the Radio and Television Trade'', sometimes abbreviated to ''Engineering Announcements'', was a weekly magazine of news and information intended for technicians and salespeople in the United Kingdom, produced and ...

''. They had previously been broadcast on ITV. * 1984 **22 March – Horse racing coverage is broadcast on Channel 4 for the first time, resulting in the launch '' Channel 4 Racing''. **15 October – Weekday afternoon broadcasting starts at 2:30pm, instead of 5pm. and weekend programming begins an hour earlier at 1pm. **November – Two years after going on the air, Channel 4 is now available from all 51 ‘main’ transmitters. * 1985 **2–4 January – Channel 4 airs '' A Woman of Substance'' and secures an audience of 13.8 million, its largest to date. **5 October – The first weekend horse racing is shown on Channel 4 when ITV transfers coverage of horse racing to Channel 4 ahead of the end of '' World of Sport''. * 1986 **The Peacock Report recommends that the channel should be given the option to sell its own airtime. **Viewers' campaigner Mary Whitehouse lobbies advertisers to boycott the channel over its content, with some success. **February – For the first time, animated graphics are seen during teletext transmissions. This is made possible by transmitting ''

'' from a disc rather than live. **19 September – Channel 4 begins to show a red triangle at the start of and during films with adult themes. After lobbying from newspapers and pressure groups this method of identifying such material was phased out within a year. **18 October – Channel 4 starts weekend morning broadcasting with weekend transmissions now beginning at around 9:30am. * 1987 **Sir Richard Attenborough replaces

as Chairman of Channel 4. **23 April – Channel 4 starts broadcasting into the early hours on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights when it launches ''Nightime''. One of the programmes is the discussion show '' After Dark'' which was broadcast live and with no scheduled end time. **24 April – Music show '' The Tube'' is shown for the final time. **3 May – The first of two series of groundbreaking youth television show ''

Network 7 ''Network 7'' was a short-lived but influential youth music and current affairs programme screened on Channel 4 over two series in 1987 and 1988. The series was created by Jane Hewland and Janet Street-Porter, who was also editor of the first s ...

'' starts. The programme is shown live at Sunday lunchtime. **14 September –

ITV Schools ITV Schools (full name: Independent Television for Schools and Colleges) was the educational television service set up in 1957 by the Independent Television Authority, broadcasting learning programmes for children ages 5 to 18 across ITV-affil ...

programmes transfer to Channel 4 resulting in an expansion of the channel's weekday broadcasting hours. The programmes are broadcast in the same 9:30am to midday slot. **21 September ***As part of the expansion of programme hours, a new weekday lunchtime schedule is introduced. The first edition of a weekday business and financial news programme ''

Business Daily The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

'' is broadcast and this is followed by a new children's slot called ''Just4Fun''. ***At 1pm, a one-hour block of programmes from the newly formed Open College begins. **30 October – The first edition of Channel 4's flagship current affairs documentary series '' Dispatches'' is broadcast. **December – The IBA completes its roll-out of Channel 4 and the fourth channel is now available from all of the UK transmitter network. * 1988 **11 January – The first episode of the long-running quiz show ''

Fifteen to One ''Fifteen to One'' is a British general knowledge quiz show broadcast on Channel 4. It originally ran from 11 January 1988 to 19 December 2003 and had a reputation for being one of the toughest quizzes on TV. Throughout the show's original run ...

'' is broadcast. **15 February – Channel 4 starts broadcasting into the early hours every night, closing down between 2am and 3am. Previously, Channel 4 had closed down between midnight and 1am. **17 September–2 October – Channel 4's only broadcast of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

takes place when it broadcasts the overnight and breakfast coverage of the

1988 Olympic Games 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul ...

. ITV shows the daytime coverage. * 1989 **February – Channel 4 begins broadcasting in Nicam digital stereo, initially from the

Crystal Palace transmitter The Crystal Palace transmitting station, officially known as Arqiva Crystal Palace, is a broadcasting and telecommunications site in the Crystal Palace area of the London Borough of Bromley, England (). It is located on the site of the former t ...

, prior to a national transmitter-by-transmitter rollout during 1990. **31 March – The last '' Oracle on View'' transmission takes place. **3 April – Channel 4 launches its breakfast television service ''

The Channel Four Daily ''The Channel Four Daily'' (or ''Channel 4 Daily'') is a breakfast television news magazine, which was produced by Independent Television News, in collaboration with other independent production companies for Channel 4. The programme was Channel ...

''. From this date, ''

'' is shown in a single 40-minute block rather than in 15-minute bursts. It is also shown at the weekend for the first time.

1990s

* 1990 **The

Broadcasting Act 1990 The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...

maintains Channel 4's status as a publicly owned entity, but allows it to sell its own airtime from 1993. It also sets out the remit of its funding formula with ITV from 1993, with ITV agreeing to fund Channel 4 if it falls below 14% of total TV advertising revenue. **19 February – The first edition of Channel 4's documentary series '' Cutting Edge'' is broadcast. **31 July – The final edition of ''

'' is shown at 5:45am. * 1991 **17 January – ''Midnight Special'' is launched to provide extended coverage and analysis of the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

. It ends when the War concludes but the format is resurrected for future major events, including for the duration of the 1992 General Election campaign. **8 April –

's three-week Banned season features a series of films and programmes which had previously been banned from British television or cinema. The season includes network television showings of '' Scum'', ''

Monty Python's Life of Brian ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin). It ...

'' and ''

Sebastiane ''Sebastiane'' is a 1976 Latin-language British historical film directed by Derek Jarman and Paul Humfress and written by Jarman, Humfress and James Whaley. It portrays the events of the life of Saint Sebastian, including his iconic martyrdom by ...

''. There is also a second broadcast of the controversial 1988

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

documentary ''

Death on the Rock "Death on the Rock" was a British television documentary, part of Thames Television's current affairs series '' This Week''. It was broadcast in 1988. The programme examined the deaths of three Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) members in ...

'' which investigated the shooting of three members of the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

by the SAS in

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. The season proves to be controversial and Channel 4 is investigated by the Obscene Publications Squad and referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. * 1992 **Sir Michael Bishop succeeds Sir Richard Attenborough as Chairman of Channel 4. **25 June – The final edition of ''

'' is broadcast although the early morning business news bulletins continue to be aired for another three months, until the end of ''

''. **6 September – The first edition of ''

Football Italia ''Football Italia'' was a television programme in the United Kingdom, showing Italian football, that ran from 1992 to 2002 on Channel 4, and continued until 2008 on other channels. It was known as ''Football Italiano'' in its final season. The ...

'' is broadcast as part of Channel 4's deal to show

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

, with live coverage of

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. The channel continues to show Italian football for the next ten years. **25 September – The final edition of ''

'' is broadcast. **28 September – The first edition of ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4. Originally presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, the show was latterly presented by Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu. The p ...

'' is broadcast. **2 November – The FourScore theme used in the idents is replaced. **31 December – Channel 4's testcard ETP-1 is shown for the final time. * 1993 **1 January – Channel 4 becomes an independent statutory corporation. **Instead of fully closing down, ''

'' is shown throughout the channel's overnight downtime. **The channel makes a payment of £38 million to ITV under terms of its funding formula. **28 June – The final

programmes are broadcast. **20 September – Schools programmes continue to be shown on Channel 4 under the branding of ''Channel 4 Schools''. **25 December –

airs its first " Alternative Christmas message". The broadcast features a contemporary, often controversial celebrity, delivering a message in the manner of

The Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

. The first alternative message is delivered by

Quentin Crisp Quentin Crisp (born Denis Charles Pratt; – ) was an English raconteur, whose work in the public eye included a memoir of his life and various media appearances. Before becoming well-known, he was an artist's model, hence the title of ...

. * 1994 **16 January – The first edition of archeology series ''

Time Team ''Time Team'' is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'' is broadcast. **6 July – The channel moves into its new headquarters at

124 Horseferry Road 124 Horseferry Road is the headquarters for the British television broadcaster, Channel 4. It is located in the City of Westminster, London and includes 100 residential apartments. The building was opened on 6 July 1994 and was designed by Richa ...

, London. **

Michael Grade Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 (1 ...

launches a campaign for an early review of Channel 4's funding arrangements with ITV. * 1995 **23 October – The first episode of the soap opera ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

'' is broadcast. Channel 4 logo 1996

* 1996 **The Broadcasting Act 1996 maintains Channel 4's public status. **Channel 4 signs a home video deal with

Video Collection International 2 Entertain (stylized as 2 , entertain) is a British video and music publisher founded in September 2004 by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004. Under CEO Richard Green, the company operated as a joint venture b ...

to handle retail sales of the FilmFour catalogue on VHS, while FilmFour themselves would handle rentals. **11 October – After nearly 14 years, Channel 4 unveils a new presentation package. Gone were the original multi-coloured blocks, instead the familiar logo would be placed in one of four circles against different backgrounds. This look would last for just three years. * 1997 **

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

is appointed chief executive of Channel 4. ** Chris Smith, the

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strateg ...

, announces that Channel 4's funding formula with ITV will be abolished from 1998. **6 January – Channel 4 starts 24-hour broadcasting, resulting in the end of ''

''. **29 October & 15 November – Channel 4 shows the first and second legs of the 1998 FIFA World Cup Playoff between Italy and Russia. * 1998 ** Vanni Treves succeeds Sir Michael Bishop as Chairman of Channel 4. ** Channel 4 extends its distribution deal with

, with both companies agreeing to a three-year sales, marketing and distribution agreement for Channel 4 Video. **28 February – The 1998 Africa Cup of Nations Final between South Africa and Egypt is shown live. This is the first time that the tournament has been shown in the UK. **25 October – The T4 strand is broadcast for the first time. Channel 4 logo 1999

**1 November – FilmFour launches as a subscription channel. * 1999 **2 April – Channel 4 launches a new presentation package. Gone were the circles, instead the logo was placed inside a square with coloured lines scrolling across the screen against different backgrounds. This look would last for five years. **1 July – Channel 4 starts broadcasting cricket following the channel sensationally obtaining the rights from the BBC the previous year.

2000s

* 2000 **18 July – The reality show '' Big Brother'' is first broadcast. * 2001 **18 January – E4 launches as a pay channel. **7 April – FilmFour launches sister channels FilmFour World and FilmFour Extreme. The two stations are available to FilmFour subscribers at no additional cost and share a single broadcast frequency: World (4–10pm) broadcasts international cinema and Extreme (10pm – 4am) carries controversial and cutting-edge movies. A +1 hour

timeshift channel A timeshift channel (sometimes referred to as a +1 channel) is a television channel carrying time-delayed reruns of its "parent" channel's programming. This channel runs alongside their parent: the term "timeshift" does not refer to a network br ...

of the main FilmFour is launched at the same time. The new channels are carried on satellite and cable; ONdigital/ITV Digital subscribers continued to receive only the core FilmFour. **20 April – Channel 4 scraps ''

''. It had been on air since its launch in 1982 and was the only programme that they produced in-house. **24 September – ''Countdown'' introduces its new 15-round format and 45-minute runtime which is still in use to this day. **26 November – The first edition of ''

Richard & Judy ''Richard & Judy'' (also known as ''Richard & Judy's New Position'') is a British television chat show presented by the married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The show originally aired on Channel 4 from 26 November 2001 to 22 Augus ...

'' is broadcast, a new live teatime chat show hosted by Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, following the couple's move from ITV earlier in the year. * 2002 **1 January – An updated set of idents are launched. **19 January – Channel 4 begins airing highlights from the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

, after securing the rights from the BBC. **March – Mark Thompson succeeds

as chief executive of Channel 4. **29 March – The final edition of ''

'' is broadcast. **29 April – The first edition of Channel 4's third breakfast television programme '' RI:SE'' is broadcast. **1 May –

ITV Digital ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada plc, owners ...

stops broadcasting which means that E4 and FilmFour are temporarily no longer available on digital terrestrial television. * 2003 **21 April – Channel 4 airs the 1000th episode of ''

''. **1 May – At The Races launches. **5 May – FilmFour spin-off channels ''FilmFour Extreme'' and ''FilmFour World'' stop broadcasting. They are replaced by ''FilmFour Weekly''. **13 September – The first edition of ''Smash Hits!'' is aired as part of the T4 strand and takes over from

Five 5 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 5, five or number 5 may also refer to: * AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era * 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era Literature * ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram * ''5'' (comics), an awa ...

. **4 November – After 2,915 episodes and 21 years on the air, the final episode of ''

'' is broadcast. **9 November – Channel 4's coverage of the World Rally Championship ends after two years with live coverage of the final stage from

Wales Rally GB Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calen ...

, the rights are transferred over to ITV from 2004. **16 December – Channel 4's

Teletext A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...

service was renamed from ''FourText'' to ''

Teletext on 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

'' **19 December ***The final edition of the short-lived breakfast programme '' RI:SE'' is broadcast. ***The original run of ''

'' ends after 2,265 episodes and 15 years on the air. It would be revived a decade later. * 2004 Channel 4 logo 2004

**27 February – Reports emerge of discussions between

and

aimed at a merger between the two channels. **29 March – At the Races closes down due to financial problems. It relaunched on 11 June without any involvement from Channel 4. **1 July – Andy Duncan succeeds Mark Thompson as chief executive of Channel 4. **5 November – Channel 4 begins airing the long-running American animated comedy series ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

'' after gaining the terrestrial broadcast rights to the show from the BBC. **17 November – It is reported that merger talks between Channel 4 and Five have been called off after complexities arose between the public broadcaster Channel 4 and its commercial counterpart. **31 December – Channel 4's idents and presentation are revamped with the logo forming from different items in various settings, five years after the last major change. *2005 **27 May – E4 becomes a free-to-air channel and joins the

Freeview Freeview may refer to: * Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia * Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), ...

platform although it had been available on digital terrestrial TV for the past year as part of the pay service

Top Up TV Top Up TV was a pay TV service in the United Kingdom which launched in March 2004, operating on the digital terrestrial television platform. The aim of the service was to "top up" Freeview customers by providing additional content and service ...

. **June – Following Video Collection International's merger with BBC Video to form

2 Entertain 2 Entertain (stylized as 2 , entertain) is a British video and music publisher founded in September 2004 by the merger of BBC Video and Video Collection International in 2004. Under CEO Richard Green, the company operated as a joint venture b ...

, Channel 4 revokes its distribution deal with the company and instead decides to take over distribution in-house by forming 4DVD, with releases under the Channel 4 DVD and FilmFour brands. **26 June – ''

''s original presenter

dies aged 61, Channel 4 postpones the broadcast of the programme the day after his death as a mark of respect with his final episode shown on 1 July and is then placed on hiatus until the end of October. **August – E4 begins regular daytime broadcasting and fills the daytime hours with a new music stand ''E4 Music''. **September – Cricket is shown on Channel 4 for the final time until 2019. **10 October –

More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content When ...

launches. **31 October – The first episode of ''

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch '' Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a. ...

'' is broadcast. * 2006 **27 March – ''

The Paul O'Grady Show ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Paul O'Grady, first shown on 11 October 2004. The programme is a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances, a ...

'' moves to Channel 4, following a contract dispute with ITV and begins sharing the channel's 5 pm teatime slot with ''

'' on a three-month rotation. **3 July – Channel 4 announces that FilmFour would relaunch as a free-to-air network on 23 July, and be renamed Film4 as it launches on

. **19 July – The subscription version of FilmFour closes down for the final time to prepare for the relaunch. Sister channel ''FilmFour Weekly'' closes down permanently to make way for the relaunch as well. **23 July – the relaunched Film4 launches at 9pm, with the UK free-to-air premiere of '' Lost in Translation'' as its first film. Its broadcasting hours change to 12:45pm – 8:45am and commercial breaks are shown during films for the first time. **16 November – Channel 4 launches its on demand service

4oD All 4 is a video on demand service from the Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—require ...

. **10 December – Channel 4 launches an HD service. **December –

4 Digital Group 4 Digital Group was a media consortium in the United Kingdom. In July 2007, the group won the licence to operate the second national DAB radio multiplex. The consortium, led by Channel 4 Radio, was a combination of existing commercial radio op ...

is awarded the licence to operate the second national DAB multiplex. * 2007 ** 13 July – Channel 4 announces to purchase of a 50% stake in Emap plc's

Box Television The Box Plus Network (formerly Video Jukebox Network International Ltd and Box Television Ltd) was a British television company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation, it specialised in music programming. On 2 April 2013, all The Box Pl ...

and its seven owned channels and take over television operations. **23 July – The Box Television stake sale is completed, with Emap and Channel 4 each holding 50%. **November –

celebrates its 25th anniversary with a number of special programmes. **2 November – Channel 4 marks the exact date of its 25th anniversary by bringing back its original idents from 1982 for a single day. There is also a repeat of the first-ever episode of ''Countdown'', along with a special 25th birthday episode airing immediately afterwards and later that evening, Jimmy Carr hosts ''The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz''. **10 December – Channel 4 launches a

high-definition television High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simulta ...

of Channel 4 on

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

's digital satellite platform, after they agreed to contribute toward the channel's satellite distribution costs. * 2008 ** 20 February – Box Television announces that

The Hits The Hits was a music video channel broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland, owned by Box Television. On 15 August 2008 it was rebranded as 4Music. Overview and availability The channel showcased a range of pop centred on chart hits and cur ...

would be replaced with a Channel 4-branded music channel called

4Music 4Music is a British music television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. The original incarnation was launched on 15 August 2008, and until 29 June 2022, showed a mix of music and entertainment programming. I ...

. The transition would begin with a block that would air on Sundays from March, and the full relaunch would occur before the end of the year. ** 24 June – Box Television officially announces that 4Music would launch in August to coincide with the 2008 V Festival. **15 August – The Hits is officially replaced with

. **22 August – The final edition of ''Richard & Judy'' is broadcast, ahead of its move to UKTV in October. **October –

Channel Four Television Corporation Channel Four Television Corporation is a British state-owned media company headquartered in London. Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 4. The company was founded in 1982 as the Channel Four T ...

announced that it was abandoning its digital radio plans. Subsequently, the licence was returned to Ofcom. **30 October – Channel 4's

teletext A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...

service ''Teletext on 4'' closes. * 2009 **23 May –

Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, i ...

's broadcasting hours are changed to 11am – 4am. Previously, the channel had been on air for 20 hours a day. **4 June – ''E4 Music'' airs for the final time. Its hours had been cut back in recent times as the amount of scripted comedy and drama screened in daytime increased. **14 December – E4 HD launches. **18 December – The final edition of ''The Paul O'Grady Show'' is broadcast, with him leaving the network to pursue new projects.

2010s

*2010 **31 March – For the first time, Channel 4 is available to all viewers in

when the country completes its

digital switchover The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is conv ...

. Consequently, S4C stops broadcasting programming in English, thereby becoming a full-time Welsh language service. **20 July – Film4 HD launches, but only on

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

. It does not appear on Sky Digital until September 2013. **10 September – The final edition of '' Big Brother'' is broadcast on Channel 4 after a decade on the air, the programme is snapped up by Channel 5 the following year. **1 November –

Film4oD Film4oD was a UK based video on demand service for Film4, from Channel Four Television Corporation and FilmFlex. Film4oD officially launched on 1 November 2010, following two years of development by FilmFlex, with more than 500 films available ...

launches. *2011 **26 August – Channel 4's repeats of the American sitcom '' Friends'' are shown for the final time, bringing the show's 16-year run on the channel to an end with E4 ceasing their repeats the following Sunday. The broadcast rights to the series subsequently moved to

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programmin ...

. *2012 **23 January – More4 adopts a new logo and on-air branding. It is repositioned to show more lifestyle content and a move away from documentaries and arts. To coincide with the change, a new logo and on-air branding is introduced. **27 January – Channel 4 announces the launch of a new catch-up channel under the codename of "Project Shuffle", with a launch aiming for June. **8 March – Project Shuffle is officially named as 4Seven. **16 April – More4 +2 launches on Sky Digital, broadcasting between 7:45pm and 11pm. This temporary channel was launched on Sky to secure a spot for 4Seven on the EPG. **18 April – The ETP-1

test card A test card, also known as a test pattern or start-up/closedown test, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast (often at sign-on and sign-off). Used since the ea ...

makes one final appearance on

to announce the loss of

analogue television Analog television is the original television technology that uses analog signals to transmit video and audio. In an analog television broadcast, the brightness, colors and sound are represented by amplitude, phase and frequency of an analog s ...

services in the London region. The card is shown from the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

transmitter only and is the last thing broadcast by analogue Channel 4 before the signal it is switched off. **22 May – Channel 4 announces that 4Seven will officially launch on 4 July. ** 23 May – Box Television announces that Q would be replaced on 4 July with a channel branded after the

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

magazine. **26 June – More4 +2 closes to make way for 4Seven. **4 July –

4seven 4seven (commonly stylised as 47) is a British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 4 July 2012 at 7.00 pm. According to Channel 4, it was created in response to its viewers demanding Channel 4 to broadcast old programming ...

and

launch. **29 August–9 September – Channel 4 broadcasts live coverage of the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

. **29 December – After more than 14 years, the T4 programming strand is shown for the final time. *2013 **4 February – More4 HD launches. **2 April – All Box Television networks go free-to-air on satellite, while 4Music becomes Free-to-View. *2014 **7–16 March – Channel 4 broadcasts live coverage of the

2014 Winter Paralympics The 2014 Winter Paralympics (russian: Зимние Паралимпийские игры 2014, Zimniye Paralimpiyskiye igry 2014), the 11th Paralympic Winter Games, and also more generally known as the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, were a ...

. This is the first time that the

Winter Paralympic Games The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. ...

has ever been seen on British television. **5 April – After a successful one-off broadcast the previous year, ''

'' returns on a permanent basis, albeit with a few changes to the format. **1 July –

HD launches. **7 September – After more than 20 years on the air and 280 episodes, the final edition of ''

'' is broadcast. *2015 Channel 4 logo 2015

** 5 February – Box Television is renamed

The Box Plus Network The Box Plus Network (formerly Video Jukebox Network International Ltd and Box Television Ltd) was a British television company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation, it specialised in music programming. On 2 April 2013, all The Box Pl ...

. **30 March – Channel 4's on-demand service is renamed

All 4 All 4 is a video on demand service from the Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—requir ...

. **29 September – Channel 4 launches a new set of idents and presentation package, 11 years since the last change which sees the Channel 4 blocks being discovered in various places. *2016 **18 March – Channel 4 shows

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

motor racing for the first time. This comes about following the BBC's decision to end its deal with Formula One three years early. ** 19 May – The Box Plus Network announce a refresh to the "Box" brand, with the addition of the rebranding of

and Smash Hits! as "Box Upfront" and "Box Hits" respectively, alongside the addition of a digital network, "BeBox". ** 25 May – The rebranding of Heat and Smash Hits into Box Upfront and Box Hits occurs. **7–18 September – Channel 4 broadcasts live coverage of the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fro ...

. **23 December – After 3,003 episodes and 11 years on the air, the final episode of ''Deal or No Deal'' is broadcast. **27 December – '' Channel 4 Racing'' comes to an end after more than 32 years. From 1 January 2017, coverage of the sport transfers back to ITV. *2017 **7 January – Channel 4 broadcasts darts for the first time when it shows live coverage of the

2017 BDO World Darts Championship The 2017 Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship was the 40th World Championship organised by the British Darts Organisation, and the 32nd staging at the Lakeside Country Club at Frimley Green. Format and qualifiers The cutoff for qualif ...

. Channel 4 also shows the 2018 event. **16 July — Channel 4,

as well as Channel 4's website, screen live coverage of

UEFA Women's Euro 2017 The 2017 UEFA European Women's Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2017, was the 12th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UEFA for the women's national tea ...

, including all of England's matches and the final. **29 August – Channel 4 airs its first episode of ''

The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...

'', after controversially poaching it from the BBC. **31 October – Channel 4 launches a new set of idents after rebranding its presentation in June of the same year featuring a giant figure made of the Channel 4 blocks in a variety of situations set to an acoustic guitar version of the FourScore theme. *2018 **16 April –

is reconfigured into an entertainment-led channel. **2 June – Channel 4 shows live rugby union for the first time when it broadcasts live coverage of Wales' Summer tour. Later in the year Channel 4 begins showing one match from each round from the Heineken Cup. **27 September – E4,

and

are all rebranded with new logos based around the corporate Channel 4 logo. The idents on these channels are all either updated or revamped. **31 October – Channel 4 announces that its headquarters will be relocated to the city of

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

. *2019 **8 January – Channel 4 takes full control of

from

Bauer Media Heinrich Bauer Publishing (german: Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG), trading as Bauer Media Group, is a German multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Hamburg. It operates worldwide and owns more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 ra ...

. **16 March – Channel 4 begins its new Formula One contract, in which it broadcasts extended highlights of qualifying and races from every round in the championship, along with full live coverage of the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...

at Silverstone in July, its joint broadcasting partner

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...

continues to show every race from the championship live. Previously, it had been able to broadcast up to half of the races live in each season. **28 June – ''

'' ends for a second time after five years on the air. **14 July – Channel 4 shows live coverage of the

2019 Cricket World Cup Final The 2019 Cricket World Cup Final was a One Day International cricket match played at Lord's in London, England, on 14 July 2019 to determine the winner of the 2019 Cricket World Cup. It was contested by the runners-up from the previous tournament ...

. This is the first time since 2005 that live cricket has been shown on terrestrial television. Channel 4 had the rights to show highlights of the tournament.

had the live rights to the tournament but had agreed to make the final available on free-to-air television if

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

made the final. **29 July – Channel 4 integrates The Box Plus Network into its own operations.

2020s

*2020 **9 January –

Box Upfront Box Upfront was a British music video television channel owned by The Box Plus Network. It launched on 3 July 2012 as Heat and was originally based on the Heat (magazine), magazine of the same name. The channel replaced Q TV, Q. The channel f ...

ceases broadcast. **25 March – Channel 4 puts the "Stay at Home" digital on-screen graphic on the 4, E4, More4 and 4seven TV channels to tell viewers to stay at home during the coronavirus pandemic. This continued until 13 May when it is replaced with "Stay Safe", reminding viewers to safe following the easing of some lockdown restrictions. **30 March – Channel 4 shows a live weekday daytime magazine show for the first time when it broadcasts the first edition of '' The Steph Show''. It returns in September on a permanent basis and is renamed as ''

Steph's Packed Lunch ''Steph's Packed Lunch'' (formerly aired as ''The Steph Show'') is a daytime television programme in the UK that is broadcast on Channel 4 each weekday afternoon. The show is presented by English journalist and broadcaster Steph McGovern. The s ...

''. *2021 **5 February – Test cricket returns to Channel 4 and free-to-air television, after an absence of more than 15 years when it begins showing England's test series against India. **9 April – Channel 4 receives criticism for not cancelling most of its scheduled programmes following the death of Prince Philip. Some shows are cancelled in favour of news coverage and special programming paying tribute to the Prince but apart from that, it announces its intention to still show ''

'', ''

Gogglebox ''Gogglebox'' is a British reality television series created by Stephen Lambert, Tania Alexander and Tim Harcourt, and broadcast on Channel 4. The series documents families and groups of friends around the United Kingdom who are filmed for thei ...

'' and the final of '' The Circle''. **24 August–5 September – The 2021 Summer Paralympics are shown live on Channel 4 and sister channel

. **6 September – Channel 4 opens its new

headquarters. **11 September – Channel 4 does a last-minute deal with rights-holder Amazon Prime to show live coverage of the final of the

2021 US Open – Women's Singles Emma Raducanu defeated Leylah Fernandez in the final, 6–4, 6–3 to win the women's singles tennis title at the 2021 US Open. She became the first qualifier to reach and win a major final, as well as the first singles qualifier to reach the ...

after Britain's

Emma Raducanu Emma Raducanu (born 13 November 2002) is a British professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 10 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on 11 July 2022, and is the current British No. 1. Raducanu is the first British ...

reaches the final. This is the first time since the late 1980s that tennis has been shown on Channel 4. This is the second time in 2021 that Channel 4 pulled off a surprise sports rights purchase. **25 September – Channel 4 and its sister channels are taken off air for multiple hours during primetime, and experience further issues after returning. This is blamed on the activation of fire suppression systems at playout provider

Red Bee Media Red Bee Media, formerly Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services (EBMS), is an international broadcasting and media services company and the largest access provider in Europe. Red Bee has its headquarters in London, England, with branch offices in ...

's White City location causing a pressure wave and destroying hard drives which power critical systems. Other major broadcasters such as the BBC and Channel 5 use services at this location, and are also affected, but to a lesser extent. Several issues at both Channel 4 and Channel 5 persist into the next month, leaving Channel 4 with no access services, no live continuity announcements and intermittent glitches whilst both broadcasters operate in a ' disaster recovery' state. Channel 4's music channels are also simulcasting each other at points during this period. **19 October – Following over 500 complaints to Ofcom, Channel 4 releases a statement on access services. These have been unavailable for almost a month since the incident on 25 September, leaving some viewers in distress and include subtitles, audio description and sign language support. Channel 4 reveal that they are building a brand new system, but that this could come with up to a further month of disruption. Channel 4 2022

*2022 **12 February – Live Super League matches are broadcast on free-to-air television for the first time when

shows the first of ten matches each season for the next two years. This is the first time in its 40-year history that they have broadcast rugby league. However, the coverage will only last for these two seasons as, from 2024, the BBC took over as free-to-air broadcaster of 12 live matches per season. **4 June – Channel 4 will show live coverage of the

England football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

for the first time as part of a two-year deal which will see Channel 4 broadcast England’s matches in the UEFA Nations League, European Qualifiers to

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, will be the 17th edition of the UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football cham ...

and International Friendlies.**The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...