Channel Four Television Corporation

**Channel Four Television Corporation** (informally Channel 4) is a publicly owned media company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 4.

The company was founded in 1982 as **Channel Four Television Company Limited**, a wholly owned subsidiary of the IBA, and became an independent statutory corporation in 1993. November 1998 saw Channel Four 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.

## History

*Main article: History of Channel 4*
Towards the end of the 1980s, the government began a radical process of re-organisation of the commercial broadcasting industry, which was written onto the statute books by means of the Broadcasting Act 1990. Significantly, this meant the abolition of the IBA, and hence the Channel Four Television Company. The result led to the creation of a corporation to own and operate the channel, which would have greater autonomy and would eventually go on to establish its other operations. The new corporation, which became operational in 1993, was the Channel Four Television Corporation, and was created to replace the former broadcasting operations of the Channel Four Television Company. It 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.

In terms of the station's remit and other duties, the creation of the corporation meant little change; the new corporation would have to manage its own advertising, rather than this being carried out on its behalf by the local ITV contractors.

In March 2010, Channel Four Television Corporation and its Chief Executive were criticised by the Culture, Media and Sport select committee for breaking service commitments, a lack of transparency in accounting for digital channels, poor governance and failed investments.

In 2014, the Government drew up proposals to privatise the Channel Four Television Corporation. However, the proposal was rejected by the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable.

## Current operations

### Television services

#### Channel 4

*Main article: Channel 4*
Channel 4 is a national public-service television channel in the United Kingdom which began working on 2 November 1982.

The channel was established to provide a fourth television service to the United Kingdom in addition to the television licence-funded BBC's two services and the single commercial broadcasting network, ITV.

Channel 4 is largely commercially self-funded. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became an entirely UK-wide TV channel for the first time.

#### E4

*Main article: E4 (TV channel)*
E4, a digital entertainment channel previously available on the Internet, with a target age-range of 16-34, was launched on 18 January 2001. It features premières of US imports and supplementary footage for programmes 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* was a massive success for E4, peaking at the 2 million mark - one of the most viewed premières in digital TV history. There has, however, been some criticism that E4 (like many other digital channels), relies on seemingly endless repeats of a small selection of shows (notably *Friends*), with further suggestion that it is often the same *season* of a particular show that is endlessly repeated.

During the time Channel 4 held the rights to *Big Brother*, E4 played host to live coverage from the house, subject to a delay. Until 2005, programmes on the channel did not air until 14:00, but on 12 August 2005 the widely advertised E4 Music aired from 06:00 until 10:00, with various music shows and videos being showcased. This however was rested during *Big Brother*. Transmission of E4 Music since declined and was replaced with repeats of popular E4 shows. It had been declared that E4 Music had been moved permanently to the new 4Music channel. Since 2008, live coverage of *Big Brother* had been shortened during the day, until coming to a close in 2010.

#### Film4

*Main article: Film4*
Channel Four launched a subscription film channel, FilmFour, on 1 November 1998. It was 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. It remains the only film channel available free on digital terrestrial television.

When Channel 4 had the rights to broadcast test match cricket in England, the downtime of the FilmFour channel was often used to broadcast uninterrupted coverage of a match when the main channel was committed elsewhere, usually to racing. At these times FilmFour was available unencrypted and free-to-air.

#### More4

*Main article: More4*
More4 is a channel aimed at those aged 35–60. Launched on 10 October 2005, it 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.

## Corporate affairs

### Senior management

Channel Four is run by a chief executive, whose role can be compared 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

* Edmund Dell (1982–1987)
* Richard Attenborough (1987–1992)
* Michael Bishop (1993–1997)
* Vanni Treves (1998–2003)
* Luke Johnson (2004–2010)
* Terry Burns (2010–2016)
* Charles Gurassa (2016–Present)

#### Deputy Chairmen

* Richard Attenborough (1982–1987)
* David Puttnam

#### Chief Executives

* Jeremy Isaacs (1981–1987)
* Michael Grade (1988–1997)
* Michael Jackson (1997–2002)
* Mark Thompson (March 2002 – June 2004)
* Andy Duncan (July 2004 – November 2009)
* Anne Bulford (Interim) (November 2009 – January 2010)
* David Abraham (January 2010 – November 2017)
* Alex Mahon (November 2017-)

### Financial information

Channel Four'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 to 31 December 2006 fell 70% to £14.5 million from £56.9 million in 2005. More recent financial statements are available in the company's 2014 annual report.

### Headquarters

*Main article: 124 Horseferry Road*

Channel Four was originally based at 60 Charlotte Street in the West End of London. Since 1994 the company has occupied distinctive, purpose-built headquarters at 124 Horseferry Road, Westminster. Designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership with structural engineering by Ove Arup & Partners, its 15,000 square metres architecture follows on from - but is more restrained than - the Lloyd's building in the City of London, and was constructed between 1990 and 1994. Twin four-storey office blocks arranged in an L shape are connected by a curved front with a dramatic concave glazed wall.

Despite nearly all Channel 4 programmes being commissioned from independent production companies, the Channel 4 headquarters originally contained a studio and post-production facility, marketed as 124 Facilities. The studio was used for Channel 4 programmes (such as T4 continuity), and other channels' programmes such as Channel 5's football coverage. The studio was closed at the end of October 2007 and only the post-production operation remains, though it is now managed by Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services.

#### Big 4

*Main article: Big 4 (sculpture)*

The Big 4 is a 50-foot-tall statue of the Channel 4 logo which was constructed outside the building. The Big 4 is designed by FreeState. The structure replicates the channel's 2004–2015 idents, in which the "4" logo is formed only when viewed from a particular angle. Also, the Big 4 is adapted into masterpieces created by artists such as British photographer Nick Knight, installation artist Stephanie Imbeau, fashion designer Hannah Gourlay, and most recently disabled artist Tony Heaton.

## External links

* channel4.com/info/corporate

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