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13 November – The Broadcasting Act 1980 paves the way for a fourth television channel in the UK. The channel is established as a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA). A subscription is levied on the ITV companies to pay for the channel; they sell Channel 4's airtime in return. 1981.
Before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services: BBC1, BBC2, and ITV, with BBC2 the last to launch in 1964. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth; Channel 4 was formally created, along with its Welsh counterpart, by an act of Parliament in 1982.
Since Channel 4 was created in 1982, it has been at the centre of national conversations and a catalyst for the creation of a world-beating production sector in the UK.
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.
Dr Simon Cross, Nottingham Trent University, looks back at the impetus behind the creation of Channel 4, namely to widen the register of public discourse by extending the range and diversity of voices on British TV.
The vision of the channel moved on again when Jeremy Isaacs, later to become the first CEO of Channel 4 for seven rather glorious years, gave the MacTaggart Lecture at Edinburgh in 1979.
Aug 2, 2021 · November 1982 marked an exciting and important milestone in British broadcasting when Channel 4 and its corresponding service in Wales, Sianel 4 Cymru (S4C), began transmitting programmes in all the ITV regions: the first new and distinctive television service in the United Kingdom for nearly twenty years.
