Channel 4
British free-to-air television channel / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its own commercial activities, including publicity.[1] It began its transmission in 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in the United Kingdom. At the time, the only other channels were the licence-funded BBC1 and BBC2, and a single commercial broadcasting network ITV.
![]() Green version of the 2022 logo, used since 2023 | |
Country | United Kingdom |
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Broadcast area |
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Headquarters |
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Programming | |
Language(s) | English |
Picture format | 1080i/1080p HDTV[lower-alpha 1] (downscaled to 576i for the SDTV feed) |
Timeshift service | Channel 4 +1 |
Ownership | |
Owner | Channel Four Television Corporation |
Sister channels | |
History | |
Launched | 2 November 1982; 41 years ago (1982-11-02) |
Links | |
Website | channel4.com |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
Freeview |
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Streaming media | |
Channel 4 | Watch live |
TVPlayer | Watch live (UK only) |
Sky Go | Watch live (UK and Ireland only) |
Virgin TV Anywhere |
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Originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA),[2] the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport,[3] which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. Until 2010, Channel 4 did not broadcast in Wales, but many of its programmes were re-broadcast there by the Welsh fourth channel S4C. In 2010, Channel 4 extended service into Wales and became a nationwide television channel. The network's headquarters are in London and Leeds, with creative hubs in Glasgow and Bristol.[4]
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