¡Channel 4 is a public service british television Station, which broadcasts to the Uk, and Ireland.
¡It first started broadcasting in 1982, unlike the BBC, it isn't funded and is financed through its commercial activities.
¡The station was established to provide a fourth service throughout the UK, and even though there is a growth of many other channels on cable, satellite and now digital, it still remains one of the most popular channels watched throughout the Uk.
¡Originally owned by the Independant Broadcasting Authority, (IBA), It is now owned by the Channel 4 Television Coopertion following the abolition of IBA in 1993.
The purpose of the creation of channel 4 was to create a channel that :
Appealled to the tast of a culterally Diverse Audience
Exhibits a distinctive character
Include programmes of an educational and informative nature, aswell as entertain.
Members
Chairmen
Edmund Dell (1982–87)
Richard Attenborough (1987–92)
Michael Bishop (1993–97)
Vanni Treves (January 1998 – December 2003)
Luke Johnson (January 2004– )
[edit] Chief executives
Jeremy Isaacs (1981–87)
Michael Grade (1988–97)
Michael Jackson (1997–2001)
Mark Thompson (March 2002 – June 2004)
Andy Duncan (July 2004– ) #
Financial Info...
The channels total earnings in the year of Sept 1995 was £894.3 million.
The Channel has become poplar over the years and now has Many 'Sister Channels', such as E4, More 4, Film 4 and Channel 4 +1, which are available on cable, Satelite and Freeview.
The channel itsself Has Adapted to its time, my converting itself into other mediums, such as Radio and Its website. This means Channel 4 isnt onkly an institution that we can acces on Tv, we can also acces it through Internet, Digital Radio and Freeview.
The Texts It Produces....
Channel 4 is well Known for not only appealing to older audiences for its Documentaries, but for younger and more culterally diverse audiences with shows from america and its entertainment shows, and its wide variety of comedy, drama, music, games and Film.
Here are some examples of Documentaries that are shown on Channel 4 :
Born to be different
Dispatches
Unreported World
Bringing up Baby
Millionnaires Missions
These documentaries are designed for older audiences, and their main purpose is to educate and inform.
Here are some examples of some of the many Entertainment programmes that Channel 4 shows:
American:
Friends
Scrubs
My Name is Earl
Ugly Betty
Desparate Housewives
British:
Skins
The I.T crowd
Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights
Deal or No Deal
T4
These shows are not only targetted for the older audiences but for the teenage generation, as many of these shows contain humour, and with a show such as skins ,teenagers of about 16 or over (not too late as it contains scenes of a sexual nature and is ahown after watershed) can relate to it as the characters are all at a young age.
Channel 4 also has a variety of Lifestyle programmes, such as Jamie at home, Come dine with me, A Place In The sun.... desgned for the more sophisticated and eduacted audiences of Channel 4.
Channel 4's biggest year was in 1985 with the Launch of Teen Soap Hollyoaks.
The Channel has become poplar over the years and now has Many 'Sister Channels', such as E4, More 4, Film 4 and Channel 4 +1, which are available on cable, Satelite and Freeview. Channel 4 has spread to other types of Media Such as Radio and the internet, which makes The channel easier to access.
Film 4
Channel 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.
It was launched in November 1998, and was Available on Satelite and Digital Cable.
At The Races
Channel 4 dedicated a whole channel to Racing, howver for Financial and Legal reasons the Channel Ceased broadcating in 2003, however was relaunched in June 2004 but with no relation to Channel 4 cooperation.
E4
Starting out on the Internet, this channel was launched in January 2001, with a target audience of 16 - 30. This channel features most shows from the US and is famous for its BB live coverage. However the channel has been critisezed for showing endlless repeats of shows such as Friends.
More 4
This is a channel aimed at the 35 - 60 age group. It launched in October 2005 and with shows such as More 4 News and Channel 4 wich provides deep coverage and is an informative channel.
Radio
4 digital Group, 4 radio, One world
4OD
Launched in November 2005, 4oD stands for "4 on Demand", a service which allows some internet, Virgin Media, Tiscali and BT Vision users to view programming recently shown on Channel 4, E4 or More4, or from their archives. 4oD also includes a selection of films and content from the National Geographic Channel.[31] 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.
