Channel Four Television Corporation

This article is about the publicly owned media company. For the television station operated by the company, see Channel 4.
Channel Four Television Corporation
FormerlyChannel Four Television Company Limited (1982–1993)
Company typeStatutory corporation
IndustryMass media
Founded2 November 1982; 42 years ago (1982-11-02)
Headquarters124 Horseferry Road,
London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
United Kingdom
Isle of Man
Guernsey
Jersey
Ireland
Key people
Ian Cheshire
(Chairman)
Alex Mahon
(Chief Executive)
Revenue
  • Decrease£934 million (2020)
  • £985 million (2019)
  • Increase£74 million (2020)
  • −£26 million (2019)
  • Increase£69 million (2020)
  • −£25 million (2019)
Total assets
  • Increase£943 million (2020)
  • £805 million (2019)
Total equity
  • Increase£452 million (2020)
  • £385 million (2019)
OwnerUK Government Investments
Number of employees
992 (2020)
ParentDepartment for Culture, Media and Sport[1]
Websitechannel4.com/corporate
Footnotes / references
[2]
Channel 4
Channel 4 Logo
Television channels
Former channels
Online services
Other

Channel Four Television Corporation is a British state-owned media company which runs 12 television channels and a streaming service.[3] Unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is instead funded entirely by its own commercial activities.[4] Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 4.

The company was founded in 1982 as the Channel Four Television Company Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the IBA, and became an independent statutory corporation in 1993.[5][6][7] November 1998 saw Channel Four expand beyond its remit of providing the 'fourth service' in a significant way, with the launch of Film4. Since then the corporation has been involved in a range of other activities, all in some way associated with the main channel, and mainly using the '4' brand. The company also owned The Box Plus Network, a music-focused company with a network of six music television channels. They were folded into the corporation in 2019.

  1. ^ "Channel 4". GOV.UK. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  2. ^ "Channel Four Television Corporation Report and Financial Statements 2020" (PDF). Channel Four Television Corporation. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Privatising Channel 4: What could new ownership mean and who might buy it?". BBC News. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  4. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions | Channel 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
  5. ^ "Annual Report 1990" (PDF). Channel 4. p. 20. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 September 2014. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  6. ^ "National Assets Register of the Department of Culture Media & Sport" (PDF). pp. Page 42. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  7. ^ Russ J Graham (11 September 2005). "Yes it's no". seefour by Electromusications from Transdiffusion. Archived from the original on 24 January 2007. Retrieved 23 March 2007.