Timeline of sport on Channel 4

This is a timeline of sports coverage on Channel 4.

1980s
  • 1982
    • 2 November – Channel 4 launches with a remit to cover sports which are not generally shown on ITV and the BBC.
    • 7 November – Coverage of American football is shown for the first time, beginning the channel's long association with the sport.[1]
    • 8 November – Channel 4 shows live sport for the first time when it broadcasts coverage of a match from Division One of the National Basketball League. It shows highlights of the first half of the game and live coverage of the second half [1]
  • 1983
    • No events.
  • 1984
    • 22 March – Horse racing coverage is broadcast on Channel 4 for the first time, resulting in the launch Channel 4 Racing.
  • 1985
    • ITV takes over as broadcaster of UK athletics meetings. It also begins to cover European meetings in addition to the major international athletics events. Some of the coverage is shown on Channel 4, especially for midweek European meetings whereby Channel 4 shows the second hour of coverage.
    • 5 October – The first weekend horse racing is shown on Channel 4 when ITV transfers coverage of horse racing to Channel 4 ahead of the end of World of Sport.
  • 1986
    • No events
  • 1987
    • No events
  • 1988
    • 17 September–2 October – Channel 4's only broadcast of the Olympic Games takes place when Channel 4 shows the overnight and breakfast coverage of the 1988 Olympic Games. ITV shows the daytime coverage.
  • 1989
    • No events.

1990s
  • 1990
    • No events.
  • 1991
    • No events.
  • 1992
    • 6 September – The first edition of Football Italia is broadcast as part of Channel 4's deal to show Serie A. The channel continues to show Italian football for the next ten years.[2]
  • 1993
    • No events.
  • 1994
    • No events.
  • 1996
    • No events.
  • 1997
    • 26 January – Channel 4 ends its coverage of American Football when it shows Super Bowl XXXI. This ends a relationship with the sport that had existed since its first week on air.
    • Channel 4 takes over as broadcaster of domestic athletics, doing so for this season and the following season before the rights move to the BBC in 1999. Channel 4 had previously shown athletics during the 1980s, in conjunction with ITV.
  • 1998
  • 1999
    • 1 July – Channel 4 starts broadcasting cricket following the channel sensationally obtaining the rights from the BBC the previous year.[3] with the final domestic live action being shown on the BBC at around this time.

2000s
  • 2000
    • 10 June – Channel 4 shows the The Derby for the final time for more than the next decade as the contract for Epsom transfers to the BBC. Channel 4 had shown the event since 1986, and exclusively since 1989. It will return to the channel in 2013 for three more years.
  • 2001
    • July – Having shown the event since the station’s launch, Channel 4 shows the Tour de France for the final time.
  • 2003
    • No events.
  • 2004
    • 29 March – At the Races closes down due to financial problems.[6] It relaunches on June 11 without any involvement from Channel 4.[7]
    • 9 November – Channel 4's coverage of the World Rally Championship ends after two years with live coverage of the final stage from Wales Rally GB.
  • 2005
    • September – Cricket is shown on Channel 4 for the final time until 2019.
  • 2006
    • No events.
  • 2007
    • August – Glorious Goodwood is the latest horse racing event to transfer to Channel 4 from the BBC.
  • 2008
    • No events.
  • 2009
    • No events.

2010s
  • 2010
    • No events.
  • 2011
    • 27 August-4 September – Channel 4 shows live coverage of the 2011 World Championships in Athletics but due to the broadcaster's decision to focus on Paralympic Sports, Channel 4 decides not to show the 2013 event even though it had bought the rights to the 2013 championships.
  • 2012
    • 29 August-9 September – Channel 4 broadcasts live coverage of the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[8] This is the first time that the event has been shown in full and Channel 4 broadcasts more than 150 hours of coverage on the main channel and on sister channel More4.
  • 2013
    • 1 January – Channel 4 takes over as the exclusive terrestrial TV home of all horse racing in the UK.[9] The BBC had scaled back its horse racing in recent years, gradually losing more and more events to Channel 4. Consequently, races such as The Grand National are shown by Channel 4 for the first time.
  • 2015
    • No events.
  • 2016
    • 18 March – Channel 4 shows Formula One motor racing for the first time. This comes about following the BBC's decision to end its deal with Formula One early.[11] For the next three seasons, Channel 4 shows roughly half of the races live. The coverage is broadcast under the title of Channel 4 F1 and broadcasts live coverage of ten selected races live without advertisements and every race (even live) is shown as highlights, including the British Grand Prix and final race weekend.
    • 7-18 September – Channel 4 continues its coverage of Paralympic Sports when it shows live coverage of the 2016 Summer Paralympics.[12]
    • 27 December – Channel 4 Racing comes to an end after more than 32 years ahead of the transfer of all terrestrial television coverage of the sport to ITV.[13]
  • 2018
    • 2 June – Channel 4 shows live rugby union for the first time when it broadcasts live coverage of Wales' summer tour.[15]
    • October – Channel 4 expands its rugby union coverage when it begins showing one match from each round from the Heineken Cup.[16] It also replaces Sky Sports as broadcaster of Ireland's Autumn internationals.
  • 2019
    • 17 March – Sky Sports becomes the exclusive broadcaster of all Formula One races, apart from the British Grand Prix which continues to be shown on Channel 4. Channel 4 also broadcasts highlights of all the other races.[17]
    • 14 July – Channel 4 shows live coverage of the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final. This is the first time since 2005 that live cricket has been shown on terrestrial television. Channel 4 had the rights to show highlights of the tournament.[18] Sky Sports had the live rights to the tournament but had agreed to make the final available on free-to-air television if England made the final.[19]

2020s
  • 2021
    • 5 February – Channel 4 begins showing England’s cricket tour to India. This is the first time that an overseas tour has been seen in full on free-to-air television and is the first test cricket broadcast on free-to-air television, and Channel 4, since 2005.[23]

References
  1. "Part One (1982–1992): "Suddenly The Refrigerator Was a Bigger Name Than Gary Lineker" : Off The Telly". Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  2. Arrivederci, James, and thanks for the memories Ingle, James. The Guardian. 20 December 2006. Accessed 16 September 2011
  3. "Channel 4 wins rights to home Tests". BBC News. BBC. 16 October 1998.
  4. Wood, Greg (2003-02-13). "Attheraces fights for future". Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  5. Campbell, Denis (12 August 2001). "Time called on Italian Sundays: Channel 4 to abandon live Serie A coverage". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  6. Wood, Greg (2004-03-25). "Atthereaces reaches end of the road". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  7. Shelley, Darren (2004-05-21). "Attheraces to relaunch in June". Digital Spy. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  8. "Channel 4 lands 2012 Paralympics". BBC Sport. 8 January 2010. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
  9. Greg Wood. "Channel 4 confirms takeover of Derby, Grand National and Royal Ascot". the Guardian.
  10. "Channel 4 secures 2014 and 2016 Paralympic Games rights". International Paralympic Committee. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
  11. "BBC to end F1 contract". BBC. BBC. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
  12. "Channel 4 pays £7m to screen 2014 and 2016 Paralympic Games". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  13. "ITV announce Horse Racing Deal". ITV Press Centre. ITV. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  14. "Channel 4 agrees two-year deal to broadcast BDO World Darts Championships". Darts TV. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  15. Channel 4 to show Wales summer rugby union tour
  16. Channel 4 secures free-to-air European Champions Cup rights
  17. "British Grand Prix to be shown live on Channel 4 and Sky in 2019". BBC Sport. 2018-09-12. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  18. "ICC Cricket World Cup 2019: TV Guide". sportonthebox.com. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  19. "Thursday 11 July: Sky & Channel 4 to share Cricket World Cup Final". sportonthebox.com. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  20. Potts, Michael (5 June 2020). "When is 1966 World Cup final on Channel 4?". Radio Times. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  21. "Channel 4 to air 1966 World Cup Final". Advanced Television. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
  22. SOTB (2020-09-11). "Prime Video & Channel 4 to screen Autumn Nations Cup". Sport On The Box. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  23. Channel 4 confirms India v England Test TV rights
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