. for the film production company see film4 productions . for the on demand service see film4od . film4 launched 1 november 1998 owned by channel four television corporation picture format 576i sdtv 16 9 1080i hdtv audience share 1.23 % 0.24 % 1 september 2015 2015 09 barb slogan great films for free country united kingdom formerly called filmfour 1998 2006 sister channel s 4seven channel 4 e4 more4 4music box upfront the box box hits kerrang kiss magic website www.film4.com availability terrestrial freeview channel 15 channel 45 1 satellite freesat channel 300 channel 301 1 sky channel 315 sd hd channel 316 1 channel 342 sd astra 2e 10714 h 22000 5 6 10714 h 22000 5 6 1 cable virgin media channel 428 channel 429 hd channel 430 1 virgin media ireland channel 323 channel 324 1 upc cablecom switzerland channel 166 ch d naxoo switzerland channel 226 wightfibre channel 29 channel 30 1 iptv bt programmes available on demand swisscomtv switzerland channel arbitrary streaming media all 4 watch live filmon watch live sky go watch live uk and ireland only film4 is a british digital television channel available in the united kingdom owned and operated by the channel four television corporation that screens films . it offers films in standard definition free of charge . to access the high definition version of the channel viewers must have a paid subscription with virgin media or sky . the channel is also available in the republic of ireland on virgin media sky and eir vision and in switzerland on upc cablecom and swisscom . contents 1 history 2 programming 3 spin off channels 3.1 film4 1 3.2 film4 hd 4 relaunch advertising campaign 5 viewing share 6 see also 7 references 8 external links history edit filmfour logo 1998 2006 film4 was started in 1982 as film4 productions a film production company owned by channel four television corporation and has been responsible for backing a large number of films made in the united kingdom and around the world . the company s first production was walter directed by stephen frears which was released in 1982 . in 1998 the outfit was re branded as filmfour to coincide with the launch of a new digital tv channel of the same name . film4 was originally known as filmfour and became channel 4 s second channel after channel 4 itself . it was a subscription only service available on satellite television via the sky platform digital terrestrial via itv digital until the platform went into administration in 2002 and most uk cable services . it cost 5.99 a month eventually rising to 7 . the launch night which was also broadcast on channel 4 was hosted by johnny vaughan and the first film to be shown was what s eating gilbert grape . channel 4 cut its budget from 30 to 10 million and 50 staff in 2002 due to mounting losses and re integrated filmfour as a division of its tv operation to continue to invest in new films . the cuts were a consequence of filmfour s unsuccessful attempts to compete with hollywood . david thompson head of bbc films described it as a very sad day for the british film industry . the british film industry needs confidence right now and this doesn t inspire confidence 1 2 3 in 2004 tessa ross became head of both film4 and channel 4 drama . 4 the name film4 productions was introduced in 2006 to tie in with the relaunch of the filmfour broadcast channel as film4 . filmfour weekly ceased broadcasting on 19 july 2006 when the subscription service ended . the subscription service ended on 19 july 2006 and the channel re launched under the slightly modified name of film4 as a free to air service a few days later on 23 july . when the channel became free it also returned to digital terrestrial as part of the freeview brand and became completely free to air on satellite television . due to the change the channel s availability increased from 300 000 subscribers to 18 million households . it also changed its broadcasting hours to 12 45 08 45 and commercial breaks were included during films for the first time . the first film broadcast under the new format was the british non subscription television premiere of lost in translation . prior to the arrivals of movie mix and movies4men on the freeview platform film4 was the only free film channel available on digital terrestrial television . from 23 may 2009 the broadcasting hours were changed to 11 00am 04 00am with it broadcasting teleshopping or an animated caption stating it will return at 11 00 during the downtime hours . on 1 november 2010 film4 partnered with filmflex to launch film4od . 5 on 2 september 2014 film 4 debuted a new on air look designed by man vs. machine . 6 there are 15 new idents in the series which run alongside a new on screen presentation . 7 programming edit film4 did not originally broadcast many blockbusters but nowadays broadcasts many mainstream hollywood films . the channel frequently has themed nights or seasons in which a number of films centred on one genre director actor or studio are shown . as channel 4 also owns a film production company film4 productions it shows many of its in house productions . occasional non film but film related programmes are also shown . wherever possible films are shown in their correct aspect ratio . citation needed no dogs are superimposed . under uk broadcasting rules it was able to screen most films unedited and in earlier timeslots when it was a subscription channel but these concessions were lost when it became free to air and more adult material is now when shown only after the 9pm watershed . some films are now edited to make them suitable for pre watershed screenings a decision which was criticised by viewers on the channel s now defunct internet forum . spin off channels edit film4 1 edit logo of timeshifted version ; film4 1 prior to 20 august 2007 film4 operated a one hour timeshift channel film4 1 on satellite cable and freeview . this channel was dropped on freeview to make way for channel 4 1 but returned on 27 august 2013 8 it continues to be broadcast on sky virgin and freesat services . 9 as of november 2014 film4 1 became available via freeview hd services only . 10 later additional channels were added filmfour world and filmfour extreme which operated on a timeshare and the timeshift channel filmfour 1 . filmfour world and extreme were discontinued in 2003 and replaced by filmfour weekly which screened four films across the week at the same time each day to make it easier to catch a film at least once . 11 filmfour weekly ceased broadcasting on 19 july 2006 when the subscription service ended . the channel offers an online video on demand service film4od . film4 hd edit logo of high definition version ; film4 hd on 20 july 2010 film4 hd launched exclusively on virgin media s cable television platform on channel 429 . 12 13 film4 hd launched on sky on 2 september 2013 . 14 relaunch advertising campaign edit to alert the public to it going free to air film4 launched a massive campaign directed by kevin spacey featuring major celebrities advertising film4 in odd ways . the slogan of the campaign was films for free . examples include judi dench in a lobster costume operatically singing the words film four lucy liu in a banner plane insulting ray winstone and christian slater who have incorrectly erected a film4 is free sign whilst her own banner is displayed upside down . ewan mcgregor in a tomato costume talking to judi dench about whether he is a fruit or a vegetable . gael garc a bernal putting leaflets advertising film4 onto cars and setting off their alarms . to which he then throws the remaining leaflets in the air . willem dafoe saying to one of the advertising campaigners played by mackenzie crook first day it ll get better . rhys ifans advertising the channel door to door but often having a door slammed in his face . sky movies now sky cinema parodied this campaign with the slogan films ad free referring to the commercial breaks during films . viewing share edit film4 share of viewing 1998 2007 barb figures see also edit list of television stations in the united kingdom 50 films to see before you die london frightfest film festival references edit filmfour closure what does it mean for the uk film industry . bbc news . 2002 07 11 . retrieved 2013 08 30 . filmfour failure is sad day . bbc news . 2002 07 09 . retrieved 2013 08 30 . malcolm derek 2002 07 12 . where does british film go from here . the guardian . retrieved 2013 08 30 . gibson owen 2006 02 06 . interview tessa ross . the guardian . retrieved 2013 08 30 . laughlin andrew 2010 11 01 . channel 4 launches film4 on demand . digital spy . retrieved 2013 08 30 . http www.thedrum.com news 2014 09 02 film4 reflects its passion and commitment film new ident series http www.creativereview.co.uk cr blog 2014 september film4 rebrand news new travel channel film 4 and film 4 1 . freeview . 2013 08 01 . retrieved 2013 08 30 . tryhorn chris 2007 07 05 . channel 4 launches 1 timeshift service . the guardian . retrieved 2007 07 05 . 4viewers . transmission technical information howdo i get film4 1 . channel4 . 2014 . retrieved 26 november 2014 . filmfour moves mainstream . bbc news . 2003 03 31 . retrieved 2013 08 30 . film4 hd to launch exclusively on virgin media . virgin media . 2010 03 08 . retrieved 2013 08 30 . film4 hd . film4 . retrieved 2010 07 07 . sky adds channel 4 s 4od to create the uk s most complete catch up tv service . bskyb . 2013 03 15 . retrieved 2013 08 30 . external links edit listen to this article info dl this audio file was created from a revision of the film4 article dated 2006 08 02 and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article . audio help more spoken articles official website v t e channel four television corporation television channels wholly owned channel 4 fourtext1 programming t41 film4 e4 more4 4seven the box plus network2 4music box upfront the box box hits kerrang tv kiss tv magic online services all 4 film4od . walter presents channel4.com radio1 4 digital group 4radio e4 radio other film4 productions itv schools1 s4c ukib channel 4 f1 1defunct 2joint venture between channel four television corporation 50 % and bauer media group 50 % category commons v t e media in the united kingdom newspapers magazines and other periodicals newspapers history national berliner the guardian the observer broadsheet financial times the daily telegraph the sunday telegraph the sunday times compact i the times middle market daily express daily mail the mail on sunday tabloid daily mirror sunday mirror morning star the sunday people daily star daily star sunday the sun sunday sport magazines and other periodicals list of magazines by circulation radio national stations bbc analogue digital radio 1 radio 2 radio 3 radio 4 radio 5 live digital radio 1xtra radio 4 extra radio 5 live sports extra radio 6 music asian network bbc national dab multiplex commercial analogue digital absolute radio classic fm talksport digital absolute 80s absolute radio 90s absolute radio extra amazing radio bfbs radio digital one multiplex jazz fm planet rock premier christian radio sound digital multiplex smooth radio uk ucb uk regional and local stations bbc list of bbc local