ITV4 is aBritishfree-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned byITV plc.
The channel focuses primarily on general entertainment programming targeting amale audience, includingaction series and films,gameshows,reality television, andsports. It is the mainlinear television outlet for ITV Sport, carrying much of its football, cycling, darts, motorsport, horse racing, rugby, and snooker coverage (withITV1 used primarily for marquee events).
It was expected that ITV4 would replace the existingMen & Motors channel (which was replaced byITV HD), in the same way Granada Plus was rebranded into ITV3, until ITV plc stated that the two channels would run alongside each other, forcing the ITV News Channel on Freeview to timeshare with ITV4. ITV replaced the failing News Channel with CITV. Both channels were on Freeview until ITV plc took Men & Motors off Freeview (although it remained on other platforms for some time until April 2010) and replaced it with the live quiz channelITV Play. Some programming from Men & Motors was transferred to ITV4.
ITV4 was the first channel to use the new on-screen look that was rolled out across the rest of ITV plc's channels on 16 January 2006.Red Bee Media designed the new logos and presentation for the entire corporation that saw the end of the yellow and blue squared look designed forITV,ITV2 and the cube look forITV3. An ITV 2005 interim results presentation revealed that an old style logo was designed for the channel but was never used on air.[1]
The channel initially broadcast early in the evenings, but had its hours extended to cover daytime programming in February 2008, following previous trials where CITV handed over to ITV4 early in the weekends, closing at 12.30pm instead of the usual 6pm handover.
ITV4 was launched onUPC Ireland in Ireland on 4 January 2010, marking the first time the channel has been officially available in the country. The channel had already been (and remains) available to Irish viewers onfree-to-air satellite for some time, but it has not been listed in theSkyelectronic programme guide since its removal on 25 January 2006. On 1 April 2011, ITV4 was removed from UPC Ireland along with ITV2 and ITV3 due to the expiry of a carriage agreement between UPC and ITV.[2] UPC Ireland claim that ITV is not in a position to renegotiate the deal because ITV had struck a deal with another channel provider to provide it with exclusive rights to air certain content from the channels. Conversely, UPC Ireland also claims to have been in discussions right up to the last moment in order to continue broadcasting the channels.[3] ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 were restored to the UPC Ireland line-up on 20 December 2011.Virgin Media One and its sister channelVirgin Media Two already hold carriage agreement to air certain ITV content within the Republic of Ireland,[4] alternativelyUTV is available within the Republic. ITV2 is available along with ITV3 and ITV4 within Switzerland, all three channels are available onSwisscomTV andUPC Cablecom. ITV4 is registered to broadcast within the European Union/EEA through ALIA in Luxembourg.[5][6]
ITV4's launch night was on Freeview channel 30. Although it was broadcast on theAstra 2D satellite used by Sky, so users could manually tune it in. It was launched on Sky channel 120, afterITV2 andITV3 in the listings, on 1 November. Prior to this date, some sporting content was simulcast onMen & Motors in anITV4 on M&M strand. It officially launched withReal Betis vChelsea in theUEFA Champions League (Liverpool vAnderlecht was on ITV1 at the same time), the UK premiere ofKojak, and the filmCarlito's Way.
In late October 2008, it was announced that atimeshifted (+1) version of ITV4 would be launched by the end of the year.[7] ITV4 +1 was launched on Sky on 1 December 2008, on Freesat on 9 December 2008 and on Virgin Media on 25 March 2010. It was delisted from Sky on 11 January 2011, due to the launch ofITV1 +1 taking up space on the EPG; the channel is still available on Freesat and Virgin. The channel was restored on 1 June 2012.
On 1 November 2022, in the lead up to the launch of ITVX and as part of the 18th anniversary of ITV3 and 17th anniversary of ITV4, the encryption was dropped on ITV4 HD at around 11am that day and so became free to air.[14] Later that day,Freesat data had been added to ITV4 HD, indicating that the channel will be made available on Freesat soon. On 8 November 2022 the HD version replaced the SD version on Freesat channel 117. In January 2023, As part of a EPG clean up for HD Channels, Virgin Media moved ITV4 HD from channel 176 to channel 118 to make the channel free to all Virgin Customers.
In line with the corporate rebranding of ITV, ITV4 received a new look on 14 January 2013. The channel received a "slate-grey" logo and became the "home of sport and cult classics". Channel promotion includes pub factoids and idents featuring viewer nominated "dreams come true".[15]
ITV4 received its first revamp in nine years in November 2022 as part of a redesign of all of ITV's main channels, being carried out in tandem with the launch of the streaming serviceITVX.[16] The idents launched on 15 November 2022. The logo is now coloured green and uses idents that are cross-used across ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, and ITVBe with different views which reflect the channel's image and programming output.
International Friendlies, Qualifiers and Play-Offs (2010–2018, from 2014 to 2018 at least one qualifier live per matchday not involving a UK Home Nation, shared with Sky Sports)
Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland National Team Highlights (2014–2018, live on Sky Sports and highlights on BBC NI, BBC Scotland & BBC Wales)
England National Team Highlights and Re-runs (2008–present,Nations League and in-season friendlies live, plus highlights also on Sky Sports)
UEFA Champions League (2nd exclusive match on ITV4 from 2005 to 2008 and delayed matches and highlights from 2008 to 2018, now on TNT Sport)
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