E4 (TV channel)

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This article is about the British digital television channel of Channel 4. For other uses, see E4.

E4
E4 logo 2018.svg
Go Guilt Free
CountryUnited Kingdom
Broadcast areaUnited Kingdom and Ireland
Programming
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Timeshift serviceE4 +1
Ownership
OwnerChannel Four Television Corporation
Sister channelsChannel 4
4seven
Film4
More4
4Music
The Box
Box Hits
Kerrang!
Kiss
Magic
History
Launched18 January 2001 (18 January 2001)
16 December 2004 (16 December 2004) (as a free to air channel)
2018 (2018) (restart)
Links
Websitewww.channel4.com/e4
Availability
Terrestrial
FreeviewChannel 13
Channel 30 (+1)
Cable
Virgin MediaChannel 106
Channel 145 (HD)
Channel 146 (+1)
Virgin Media Ireland (Horizon and older boxes)Channel 112
Channel 113 (+1)
Channel 162 (HD)
Virgin Media Ireland (TV 360)Channel 112 (HD)
Channel 512 (+1)
Channel 712
Cablecom
(Switzerland)		Channel 164/181
WightFibreChannel 12
Channel 13 (+1)
Satellite
FreesatChannel 122
Channel 123 (+1)
Sky (UK)Channel 135 (SD/HD)
Channel 235 (+1)
Channel 830 (SD)
Sky (Ireland)Channel 136
Channel 236 (+1)
Channel 345 (HD)
Astra 2E10714 H 22000 5/6
10936 V 22000 5/6 (+1)
IPTV
SwisscomTV
(Switzerland)		Channel arbitrary
Eir VisionChannel 216
Channel 217 (+1)
Sky GlassChannel 126 (SD/HD)
Streaming media
All 4Watch live
FilmOnWatch live
Sky GoWatch live (UK and Ireland only)

E4 is a British free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. The "E" stands for entertainment and the channel is primarily aimed at the 16/18–34 age group. Programmes currently shown on the channel include Hollyoaks,[1] Made in Chelsea,[2] Coach Trip (and its Halloween spin-off Celebrity Ghost Trip),[3] Celebs Go Dating[4] and various versions of Married At First Sight.[5] The most successful broadcast of the channel to date was on 11 October 2010 when an episode of The Inbetweeners received over 3.7 million viewers.[6]

History[]

E4 logo used from 18 January 2001 to 26 September 2018

E4 launched as a pay television companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. On 16 December 2004, Channel 4 announced that the subscription channel would become a free-to-air television channel by launching on the digital terrestrial television system. E4 launched a Ireland service in June 2002, which has become the second most popular non-terrestrial channel in Ireland with 1.1% of the audience; Sky One is the most popular.[7] On 14 July 2003, E4 launched a timeshift service, E4 +1. E4 +1 is a 1-hour timeshift.[8]

In August 2005, following the close of that year's Big Brother, E4 introduced the E4 Music programming block. The slot initially ran through much of the morning/daytime schedule, though was later reduced to mornings only, with the amount of scripted comedy and drama screened in daytime increased. Prior to the launch of E4 Music, E4 was off-air during daytime for much of the year, only going on air in daytime for rolling coverage of reality series such as Big Brother. In 2008, the launch of 4Music as a channel led to questions being asked about the future of E4 Music. However, E4 retained its commitment to music content, stating that E4 Music had been commissioned to run until at least the start of Big Brother in 2009.[9] At 10 am on Thursday 4 June 2009, the day before the launch of the 2009 Big Brother series, E4 Music ceased broadcasting.

In July 2007, it was announced Channel 4 would be launching E4 Radio, the first of a network of channels to be broadcast on DAB radio. The station was planned for launch in July 2008 and aimed at a similar demographic to its television channel,[10] however this launch date was later delayed. In October 2008, Channel 4 announced it was abandoning its plans for digital radio, and thus scrapping the E4 Radio proposal.

On 14 December 2009, a high-definition simulcast of E4 launched on Sky+ HD channel 215, it was later added to Virgin Media on 1 April 2010.[11][12] On 31 October 2013, E4 premiered a refreshed look as part of the channel's rebranding. This coincided with the debut of the seventh series of The Big Bang Theory, as well as the debut of original comedy Drifters.[13]

On 27 September 2018, E4 was rebranded with a logo and identity, marking the first major rebrand since its launch in 2001.[14] On 14 January 2019, it was announced that Channel 4 had partnered up with the American programming block Adult Swim, to air Adult Swim shows.[15]

On 25 September 2021, transmission of channels operated by Channel 4 was impacted by the activation of a fire suppressant system at the premises of Red Bee Media.[16] This resulted in music channel The Box being simulcast on Freeview in the place of 4Music (a channel known for repeating comedy and reality shows previously shown on E4) and E4+1 remaining off air for a number of days.[17] E4+1 came back on air on 30 September 2021, in time for the series 6 finale of Married At First Sight to be broadcast. However the ongoing technical problems prevented this episode being shown, with a repeat of the previous episode being broadcast instead. The final episode was rescheduled for 1 October 2021 at 9pm on E4, taking over the Friday night film slot, with Married at First Sight: Afters scheduled for 10pm.[18][19]

Programming[]

Main article: List of programmes broadcast by E4

Current programming[]

As of 2021, the channel has moved many of its acquired US shows such as Harley Quinn, Batwoman, The Goldbergs, Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist[20] and Duncanville[21] out of peak and put them in a daytime or a late night slot to continue their seasons. In their place, the channel has decided to strip a number of reality and dating series such as Married At First Sight UK,[22] which has brought in audiences of around 2 million people each night to the channel. Married At First Sight UK is part of a franchise which also includes the imported Married at First Sight Australia and spin-off Married at First Sight UK: Afters with AJ Odudu.[23] Other reality TV and dating shows on the channel include Coach Trip, Celebs Go Dating, Made in Chelsea, Naked Attraction and repeats of The Great British Bake Off.

In November 2021, Channel Four Television Corp. revived GamesMaster after 23 years (a format Flextech also used for Challenge? TV in the 2000s) with Sir Trevor McDonald taking on the title role from the original "Games Master", Sir Patrick Moore.[24][25] It also revealed that another one of its former primetime imports, The 100, will end its run by having the final season put out by E4 each night around 3:25am from Saturday 27 November 2021.[26]

Even though E4 has decided to move a lot of its acquired US programmes to overnight slots, the channel is still broadcasting repeats of The Big Bang Theory alongside new episodes of Rick and Morty and Young Sheldon in primetime slots,[27] while repeats of Mike and Molly and Brooklyn Nine-Nine fill up the daytime schedule.[28][29]

After hosting repeats of the weekly Channel 4 satire panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats with Jimmy Carr, Sean Lock and Jon Richardson for many years, the production was adapted to become a title which debuted new episodes on E4 in 2017 (as the parent channel focused on its spin-off ...Cats Does Countdown).[30] The version on E4 dispensed with the topical news questioning of later Channel 4 series and went back to being a show about random statistics and opinion polls, with Jimmy Carr[31] continuing as host, alongside Rob Beckett and Aisling Bea as the team captains (replacing Lock and Richardson, who continued with the spin-off).

As of October 2021, titles such as The Inbetweeners[32][33] still get repeated in a regular peaktime slot, alongside repeats of Channel 4's Taskmaster, a show which was acquired by the channel from UKTV's rival channel Dave.

Past programmes[]

In the past, the channel was known for US imports in primetime such as The O.C., Smallville, Veronica Mars, Everwood, What About Brian, Desperate Housewives, How I Met Your Mother, 90210, Gotham, Celebrity Gogglebox USA, RuPaul's Drag Race, 2 Broke Girls, Scream Queens, Wife Swap USA and Friends (now on Comedy Central and Channel 5).

British comedy and drama programmes shown on the channel since its launch have included Skins, Misfits, The Inbetweeners, Drifters, Shameless, Fonejacker and Hollyoaks.

Most watched programmes[]

The following is a list of the ten most watched shows on E4, based on Live +7 data supplied by BARB up to 11 November 2018.[6] The number of viewers does not include repeats or airings on E4+1.

Rank Series Episode Viewers Date
1 The Inbetweeners 3.05 – "Home Alone" 3,721,000 11 October 2010
2 3.06 – "The Camping Trip" 3,704,000 18 October 2010
3 3.04 – "The Trip to Warwick" 3,619,000 4 October 2010
4 3.03 – "Will's Dilemma" 3,572,000 27 September 2010
5 3.01 – "The Fashion Show" 3,456,000 13 September 2010
6 3.02 – "The Gig and the Girlfriend" 3,336,000 20 September 2010
7 The Big Bang Theory 6.01 – "The Date Night Variable" 2,803,000 15 November 2012
8 9.05 – "The Perspiration Implementation" 2,728,000 26 November 2015
9 9.12 – "The Sales Call Sublimination" 2,688,000 24 March 2016
10 12.04 – "The Tam Turbulence" 2,661,500 8 November 2018

Big Brother coverage[]

Between 2001 and 2010 when the reality series Big Brother (and Celebrity Big Brother) were being transmitted on Channel 4, E4 devoted much of its schedule to live coverage from inside the Big Brother house; interactive features that gave access to additional camera angles have also been transmitted.[34] The channel also had Big Brother voting options, Big Brother spin-off shows such as Big Brother Live, Big Brother's Little Brother, Big Brother's Big Mouth, Diary Room Uncut and Big Brother highlights repeats.[35] In June 2020, to mark the 20th anniversary of Big Brother's inception, E4 aired select episodes from both the civilian and celebrity programmes, in a series titled Big Brother: Best Shows Ever. Hosted by Davina McCall and Rylan Clark-Neal, the first episode of the series received one million viewers.[36]

See also[]

  • List of television stations in the United Kingdom

References[]

  1. ^ Alexander, Susannah. "Hollyoaks confirms schedule shake-up - here's when you can watch it this week". Digital Spy. (Hearst Magazines UK). Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  2. ^ "Made in Chelsea Season 22".
  3. ^ "Celebrity Ghost Trip Season 1".
  4. ^ "Celebs Go Dating to return to E4 in 2022". Channel 4. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Married at First Sight: Week 3 | 7-Day Ratings (E4)". 27 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b BARB, via [1]
  7. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 October 2006. Retrieved 17 August 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ "E4 +1 launch, on 14 July 2003". Digital Spy. Retrieved 22 August 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ "Q&A: Neil McCallum, Head of 4Music". Digital Spy. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  10. ^ "BBC NEWS - Business - E4 Radio to be first new network". bbc.co.uk. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  11. ^ "High Definition Gloriousness". E4. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 7 December 2009.
  12. ^ "E4 HD to launch on Sky". British Sky Broadcasting. 9 December 2009.
  13. ^ Alex Fletcher (30 October 2013). "E4 gets first channel refresh in 6 years: First ident pictures, videos". Digital Spy.
  14. ^ "Channel 4 airs 'eclectic, unpredictable' rebrand across all of its channels". The Drum. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  15. ^ "Rick and Morty comes to E4 for the first time this evening". JOE.CO.UK. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  16. ^ Televisual.com, 2021-09-27
  17. ^ "Sustaining service for Box Plus Network". 27 September 2021.
  18. ^ "Married at First Sight UK confirms final episode air date". Digital Spy. October 2021.
  19. ^ "E4 sorry for broadcasting wrong Married At First Sight episode". BBC News. October 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  20. ^ "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist Season 2".
  21. ^ "Duncanville (TV Series)".
  22. ^ Sep 23 (12 September 2021). "7-Day Ratings Breakdown | 06-12 September 2021". Tvzoneuk.com. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Married at First Sight UK: Afters - All 4".
  24. ^ "The hosts talk 'GamesMaster' revival: "Sir Trevor McDonald is not being sassy on Twitch, is he?"". NME. 24 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Get me that golden joystick! The miraculous return of GamesMaster". TheGuardian.com. 24 November 2021.
  26. ^ "E4 Sets UK Premiere Date for 'The 100' Season 7". 14 November 2021.
  27. ^ "TV listings guide".
  28. ^ "Mike & Molly Season 2".
  29. ^ "TV listings guide".
  30. ^ "8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown - All 4".
  31. ^ "8 Out of 10 Cats - All 4".
  32. ^ "The Inbetweeners (TV Series)".
  33. ^ "The Inbetweeners Season 1".
  34. ^ "Big Brother proves bore on E4". The Guardian. 4 June 2003. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  35. ^ "Channel 4 to Launch E4 on Freeview". Channel 4. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  36. ^ "Four-screen dashboard". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 22 June 2020.

Further reading[]

External links[]

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