ITV4

ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that includes sport, police shows, Bond films and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action series of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

ITV4
CountryUnited Kingdom
SloganThe home of sport and cult classics
Programming
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Timeshift serviceITV4 +1
Ownership
OwnerITV Digital Channels
(ITV plc)
Sister channelsITV
ITV2
ITV3
ITVBe
CITV
History
Launched1 November 2005 (2005-11-01)
ReplacedITV News Channel
Links
Websitewww.itv.com/hub/itv4
Availability
Terrestrial
FreeviewChannel 25
Channel 59 (+1)
Cable
Virgin MediaChannel 118 (SD)
Channel 175 (+1)
Channel 178 (HD)
Virgin Media IrelandChannel 132
UPC
(Switzerland)		Channel 208
Citycable
(Switzerland)		Channel 408
WightFibreChannel 8
Satellite
FreesatChannel 117
Channel 154 (+1)
SkyChannel 120 (HD)
Channel 220 (+1)
Channel 818 (SD)
Astra 2E (28.2°E)10758 V 22000 5/6
Astra 2G (28.2°E)11097 V 23000 3/4 (HD)
IPTV
SwisscomTV
(Switzerland)		Channel arbitrary
FL1
(Liechtenstein)		Channel 116
Streaming media
ITV HubWatch live (UK only)
TVPlayerWatch live (UK only)
Virgin TV AnywhereWatch live (UK only)
Watch live (Ireland only)
Sky GoWatch live
(UK only)

History

It was expected that ITV4 would replace the existing Men & Motors channel 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 channel ITV 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 for ITV, ITV2 and the cube look for ITV3. An ITV annual report revealed that an old style logo was designed for the channel but was never used on air.

ITV4 was launched on UPC Ireland in the Republic of 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 on free-to-air satellite for some time, but it has not been listed in the Sky electronic 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.[1] 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.[2] ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 were restored to the UPC Ireland line-up on 20 December 2011. TV3 and its sister channel 3e already hold carriage agreement to air certain ITV content within the Republic of Ireland,[3] alternatively UTV is available within the Republic. ITV2 is available along with ITV3 and ITV4 within Switzerland, all three channels are available on SwisscomTV and UPC Cablecom.

Launch

ITV4's launch night was on Freeview channel 30. Although it was broadcast on the Astra 2D satellite used by Sky, so users could manually tune it in. It was launched on Sky channel 120, after ITV2 and ITV3 in the listings, on 7 November. Prior to this date, some sporting content was simulcast on Men & Motors in an ITV4 on M&M strand. It officially launched with Real Betis v Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League (Liverpool v Anderlecht was on ITV1 at the same time), the UKTV premiere of Kojak, and the film Carlito's Way.

Subsidiary channels

ITV4 +1

In late October 2008, it was announced that a timeshifted (+1) version of ITV4 would be launched by the end of the year.[4] 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 removed from Sky on 11 January 2011, due to the launch of ITV +1 taking up space on the EPG; the channel continued to be available on Freesat and Virgin. The channel was restored on 1 June 2012.

ITV4 HD

A high-definition simulcast of ITV4, ITV4 HD, was launched on 15 November 2010 on Sky.[5][6] The channel was initially available through Sky's pay subscription service in a non-exclusive deal,[7][8] before being added to Virgin Media's service on 14 March 2013.[9] ITV4 HD's high definition content includes films, and sports events such as the British Touring Car Championship,[10] 2010–11 Ashes Series, Tour de France, Players Championship Finals, UEFA Europa League, and Indian Premier League Cricket.[11]

Branding

2013 rebranding

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".[12]

Programming

Original programming
  • Take the Tower (2018–present)
  • Football Genius (2018–present)
  • Speed Freaks (2019–present)

Sports coverage

Before ITV4's launch in 2005, ITV's digital sports coverage was on ITV2, but after its launch all sports coverage moved to ITV4. In its first week, it had coverage of the aforementioned Real Betis v Chelsea game in the UEFA Champions League, and also had coverage of Middlesbrough v Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the UEFA Cup on the Thursday, and Amir Khan's fight against Steve Gethin from the Braehead Arena in Glasgow on the Saturday.

Current coverage

Football

  • England National Team Highlights and Re-runs (2008–present, Nations League and in-season friendlies live, plus highlights also on Sky Sports)
  • Audi Cup (2009–present, shared with LFC TV)
  • La Liga (2019–present)[13][14]

Cycling

Rugby union

Horse racing

  • Weekly Saturday Afternoon Horse Racing, 40 days of big meetings such as Grand National on ITV with 60 days of horse racing on ITV4 (2017–present)

Motorsport

  • Isle of Man TT (from 2009–present)
  • Ulster Grand Prix (highlights on ITV4, live coverage and highlights on BBC Sport Northern Ireland)
  • British Touring Car Championship (from 2005–present, live until 2022 with highlights on ITV)
  • British Superbikes (live from 2005–2007 and highlights from 2009–present, live on British Eurosport)
  • Superbike World Championship (highlights from 2016–present, live on British Eurosport)
  • Motorsport UK (highlights from 2005–present)
  • Goodwood Festival of Speed (highlights on ITV, shared with Sky Sports F1)
  • BRDC Formula 3 Highlights[18]

Darts

  • European Championship (2008, 2011, 2013–present)[19]
  • Players Championship Finals (2009–2010, 2011–present)
  • The PDC Masters (2013–present: New PDC tournament, not to be confused with the BDO Winmau World Masters with ITV covered from 1974–1988)
  • UK Open (2014–present, previously on Sky Sports)
  • World Series of Darts Finals (2015–present)
  • World Series of Darts (6 tournaments with live or delayed coverage on ITV4 from 2015–present)

Tennis

Snooker

Boxing

Wrestling

Former coverage

Football

  • International Friendlies, Qualifiers and Play-Offs (2010–2018, from 2014–2018 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)
  • UEFA Champions League (2nd exclusive match on ITV4 from 2005–2008 and delayed matches and highlights from 2008–2018, now on BT Sport)
  • UEFA Europa League (highlights from 2015–2018, live on BT Sport)[21]
  • UEFA Super Cup Highlights (2008–2014, on ITV4 if a British club is involved & highlights from 2015–2018)
  • FA Cup Replays (2009–2010, now on BBC Sport)
  • FA Community Shield Highlights (2008–2014, now on BT Sport & BBC Sport)
  • FA Trophy Final (2009, now on BT Sport)
  • 2006 FIFA World Cup (live and highlights)
  • Euro 2008 (live and highlights)
  • 2010 FIFA World Cup (live and highlights)
  • Euro 2012 (live and highlights)
  • FA Cup Live, Highlights & Replays (2008–2014, rights transferring to BBC Sport)
  • World Cup (Brazil 2014) (live and highlights, all major tournaments alongside BBC Sport)
  • European Championships (France 2016) (live on BBC Sport & ITV Sport, selected games & highlights on ITV4)
  • African Cup of Nations (2012–2015, live coverage & highlights. Now on Eurosport)
  • Bundesliga (weekly highlights from 2012–2017)

Boat race

Boxing

  • Frank Warren fights (2006–2008, now on BoxNation and BT Sport)
  • Hennessey fights (2008–2010)
  • Undercard of main fight (usually shown on ITV4 with main event on ITV with all fights from 2008–2010 on ITV4)
  • Carl Frampton Live: Undercard live on ITV4, Frampton Live on ITV & highlights on ITV4

Cricket

  • Ashes Cricket (highlights from 2010–2011)
  • IPL Cricket (2010–2014, now on BT Sport)
  • Cricket World Cup Highlights (2015, live on Sky Sports with highlights on ITV & ITV4)

Snooker

Darts

Motorsport

  • Formula One (highlights and re-runs from 2006–2008, now on Channel 4 and Sky Sports F1)
  • GP2 Series (live and highlights from 2006–2008, now on Sky Sports F1)
  • DTM (highlights from 2012–)
  • Formula E (2014–2016, now on BBC, Quest, and BT Sport)
  • World Rally Championship (2006–2008 & 2013–2015, coverage moved to Dave in 2008 and Channel 5 in 2015)
  • MotoGP (highlights from 2014–2016, now on Quest)

Cycling

Rugby Union

Tennis

  • Masters Tennis from the Royal Albert Hall (2010–2014)

History of ITV4 on air identity
  • Proposed ITV4 logo, never used
  • First ITV4 logo, used from 1 November 2005 to 13 January 2013
  • Second and current ITV4 logo used since 14 January 2013

References
  1. "Bad news for fans of Poirot: UPC is losing ITV2, 3 and 4". Business ETC. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  2. "ITV2, ITV3, & ITV4 channels are no longer available". UPC Ireland. 1 April 2011. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015.
  3. "UPC lose ITV's digital channels". TheAirwaves. 1 April 2011. Archived from the original on 6 September 2011.
  4. "Itv4 +1 Live Stream". Live TV Online. 31 May 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  5. "ITV plc 2010 Interim Results & Sky deal". ITV plc. 3 August 2010. Archived from the original on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  6. Laughlin, Andrew (15 November 2010). "ITV3 HD and ITV4 HD go live on Sky". Tech News. Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  7. Sweney, Mark (2 March 2011). "ITV earmarks £12m to hire new talent to break international hit drought". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  8. Sweney, Mark (3 August 2010). "ITV unveils pay-TV push". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  9. "Virgin Media introduces HDelightful ITV channels". Virgin Media. 14 March 2013. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  10. Laughlin, Andrew (11 October 2010). "ITV to air British Touring Cars in HD". Media News. Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  11. Brenkley, Stephen (5 March 2010). "ITV4 to broadcast Indian Premier League". Sport > Cricket. The Independent. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  12. Laughlin, Andrew (16 November 2012). "ITV1 to become 'ITV' in major corporate rebrand". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  13. Watch La Liga live on ITV4 every week until the end of the season starting with Levante's clash with giants Real Madrid ITV. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  14. La Liga: ITV win rights to air three live matches of new season BBC Sport. 15 August 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2019.
  15. Jessica Hodgson (30 July 2001). "ITV pays £5m for Tour de France". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  16. Kate McMahon (2008). "ITV4 secures Tour De France to 2013". Broadcast Now. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
  17. "ITV lands new Tour de France deal". itv.com. 9 September 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  18. "Television Coverage". BRDC Formula 4. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  19. "European Championship On ITV4". PDC. 24 June 2011. Archived from the original on 27 June 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
  20. AEW ANNOUNCES UK BROADCAST DETAILS, PRE-SHOW FOR DOUBLE OR NOTHING F4wonline. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  21. Sweney, Mark (17 October 2011). "ITV snatches Europa League from Channel 5". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
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