Who was the first person to be seen on Channel 4?
"headed into a montage of clips from its programmes set to the station's signature tune, ""Fourscore"", written by David Dundas, which would form the basis of the station's jingles for its first decade. The first programme to air on the channel was the teatime game show ""Countdown"", at 16:45 produced by Yorkshire Television. The first person to be seen on Channel 4 was Richard Whiteley with Ted Moult being the second. The first woman on the channel, contrary to popular belief, was not Whiteley's ""Countdown"" co-host Carol Vorderman but a lexicographer only ever identified as Mary. Whiteley opened the show"
"Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became a UK-wide TV channel for the first time. The channel was"
"space meant that Channel 4 could not be broadcast alongside S4C, though some Channel 4 programmes would be aired at less popular times on the Welsh variant, a practice that carried on up until the closure of S4C's analogue transmissions in 2010 when S4C became a fully Welsh channel. Since then, carriage on digital cable, satellite and digital terrestrial has introduced Channel 4 to Welsh homes where it is now universally available. The first voice heard on Channel 4's opening day of Tuesday 2 November 1982 was that of continuity announcer Paul Coia who said: Following the announcement, the channel"
"television opera ""Perfect Lives"", which it premiered over several episodes in 1984. The channel often did not receive mass audiences for much of this period, however, as might be expected for a station focusing on minority interest. Channel 4 also began the funding of independent films, such as the Merchant-Ivory docudrama ""The Courtesans of Bombay"", during this time. In 1992, Channel 4 also faced its first libel case by Jani Allan, a South African journalist, who objected to her representation in Nick Broomfield's documentary ""The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife"". In September 1993, the channel broadcast the direct-to-TV"
"Channel 4 in the UK and on Cinemax in 1986 with introductory comments by Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis. The show was shown on Channel 4 on January 1, 1986. Perkins performed 16 songs, with two encores, in an extraordinary performance. Perkins and his friends ended the session by singing his most famous song, 30 years after its writing, which brought Perkins to tears. The concert is a memorable highlight of Carl Perkins' later career and has been highly praised by fans for the spirited performances delivered by Perkins and his famous guests. It was the first"
"They have two daughters, Annalie and Luisa. He has a twin brother Gerard. Paul Coia Paul Coia (born 19 June 1955 in Glasgow) is a Scottish television presenter and continuity announcer who was the first voice to be heard on Channel 4 on its launch in 1982. Coia was educated at Merrylee Convent, John Ogilvie Hall and St Aloysius' College and then at the University of Glasgow before going into hospital radio and eventually getting a job as a disc jockey at Radio Clyde. He and his twin Gerard were born in 1955, and had two younger siblings, Martin and"
"the same. The first continuity announcer was Zeb Soanes. When the channel first started airing, it used the slogan ""Everyone Needs A Place To Think"", but the BBC stopped using this several months after the launch. However the BBC Four logo and above slogan can be found, engraved on benches along the South Bank in London, between the London Eye and Waterloo Bridge. On 10 September 2005, the channel began showing new idents comprising a central BBC Four logo surrounded by four quadrants which show different stages of the same footage thus making for a sort of optical illusion; for"
"carried out on its behalf by the local ITV contractors (see Funding). In March 2010, Channel Four Television Corporation and its Chief Executive were criticised by the Culture, Media and Sport select committee for breaking service commitments, a lack of transparency in accounting for digital channels, poor governance and failed investments. In 2014, the Government drew up proposals to privatise the Channel Four Television Corporation. However, the proposal was rejected by the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable. Channel 4 is a national public-service television channel in the United Kingdom which began transmission on 2 November 1982. The channel was"
"Paul Coia Paul Coia (born 19 June 1955 in Glasgow) is a Scottish television presenter and continuity announcer who was the first voice to be heard on Channel 4 on its launch in 1982. Coia was educated at Merrylee Convent, John Ogilvie Hall and St Aloysius' College and then at the University of Glasgow before going into hospital radio and eventually getting a job as a disc jockey at Radio Clyde. He and his twin Gerard were born in 1955, and had two younger siblings, Martin and Denise. His ambition was to become a dentist but it remained unrealised as"
"of the channel was one of the first to be rendered in 3D, realised by mathematics and computer graphics legend John Vince, and showed a '4' comprising blocks exploding and coming together again. It was very popular with viewers and, while previously television presentation was largely transparent to viewers, the launch of Channel 4 almost made it a talking point. The channel still uses the same logo, albeit in a slightly different form. There have been several examples of television presentation choices less popular with viewers. In 2002, the new controller of BBC One, Lorraine Heggessey, deemed the package which"
"disabled artist Tony Heaton. Channel Four Television Corporation Channel Four Television Corporation is a publicly owned media company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 4. The company was founded in 1982 as Channel Four Television Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the IBA, and became an independent statutory corporation in 1993. November 1998 saw Channel Four expand beyond its remit of providing the 'fourth service' in a significant way, with the launch of FilmFour. Since then the corporation has been involved in a range of other activities, all"
"Film4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by the Channel Four Television Corporation, that broadcasts films. It was launched in 1 November 1998. While its standard-definition channel is available as a FTA network, its high-definition variant is offered as a pay television service. 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 late"
"Channel 4 on 2 October 2009 at 9 pm, and later made available on the channel's catch-up service, 4oD; it ran for one hour, including three advertising breaks. According to BARB, the special was viewed by 2.18 million people. After the broadcast, Derren Brown said on his blog that he was ""still reeling from tonight's escapade"", but that ""I called Ben as soon as I could and he doesn't hate me"". Several days later, Brown posted a video on YouTube in which he impersonated ""Family Guy""s Stewie Griffin and self-deprecatingly called the ending an ""epic fail"", saying that he ""fucked"
"Channel 4 in 2015 created by the film-maker Jonathan Glazer. In June 2017, it was announced that Abraham would leave later that year and would be succeeded by Alex Mahon as the CEO of Channel 4. Mahon formally took over the role in October 2017. In April 2018, Abraham announced the launch of a new company, Wonderhood Studios. The stated aims of the business are to forge a new model in the creative industries by bringing together skills and capabilities that until now have operated separately. The new company will be structured in the form of adjacent studios: one will"
"diverse society and to include programmes of an educational nature which exhibit a distinctive character. On 31 December 2004, Channel 4 launched a new look and new idents in which the logo is disguised as different objects and the 4 can be seen in an angle. Under the leadership of Freeview founder Andy Duncan, 2005 saw a change of direction for Channel 4's digital channels. Channel 4 made E4 free-to-air on digital terrestrial television, and launched a new free-to-air digital channel called More4. By October, Channel 4 had joined the Freeview consortium. By July 2006, Film4 had also become a"
"was given to Channel 5 instead. Channel 4 has since acquired a 50% stake in EMAP's TV business for a reported £28 million. Channel 4 was considered for privatisation by the governments of Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair. the future of the channel was again being looked into by the government, with analysts suggesting several options for the channel's future. In June 2017, it was announced that Alex Mahon would be the next chief executive, and would take over from David Abraham, who left in November 2017. Channel 4 was established with, and continues to hold, a remit"
"Fourth UK television service In the 1960s and 1970s, an envisioned fourth UK television service was popularly referred to as ITV-2, before the launch of Channel 4 and its Welsh counterpart, Sianel Pedwar Cymru (or S4C for short). Plans for independent television to consist of two or more channels in a given area were first discussed during its inception, where ways of allowing the composite companies to compete directly with one another were considered. When the first broadcasts went on the air on 22 September 1955, there was not enough frequency space allocated for television, leading to the approach whereby"
"Channel 4 as a six-part series in 1990. The show quickly attained a cult following. A New Year's Eve special bridging 1990/91 followed (in which Kim Wilde made an appearance). This was followed by a second eight-part series in 1991. In addition to Reeves and Mortimer, the other mainstay of the programme was Les (played by Fred Aylward), Vic's bald, lab coat-clad assistant who never spoke, loved spirit levels and had a fear of chives. Other established characters in the TV series included The Man with the Stick, who wore a paper helmet (daubed with drawings of what he had"
"established to provide a fourth television service to the United Kingdom in addition to the two BBC services funded from the television licence, and the single commercial broadcasting network, ITV. Channel 4 is largely commercially self-funded. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became a UK-wide TV channel for the first time. 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"
"Alex Mahon Alexandra Rose Mahon (born October 1973) is a British businesswoman, the chief executive of Channel 4 since October 2017, succeeding David Abraham and the first female CEO of a major UK broadcaster. Alexandra Rose Mahon was born in October 1973 in London, or in Scotland. Aged five, she moved to Edinburgh, and grew up there with her mother and stepfather. She was educated at St Margaret's School, Edinburgh. She has a PhD in medical physics from Imperial College London. In 2005, when working for Talkback Thames, ""Management Today"" included Mahon in their top 35 women under 35 in"
"a giant creature made of the ""4"" blocks (made to look almost like a person) interacting with everyday life, sometimes shouting the ""Fourscore"" theme as a foghorn. Channel 4 has, since its inception, broadcast identical programmes and continuity throughout the United Kingdom (excluding Wales where it did not operate on analogue transmitters). At launch this made it unique, as both the BBC and ITV had long established traditions of providing regional variations in their programming in different areas of the country. Since the launch of subsequent British television channels, Channel 4 has become typical in its lack of regional programming"
"after the collapse of ITV Digital. To the surprise of many, Freeview became a fast-growing brand and in twenty months reached four million homes. It is now the UK's biggest digital TV platform and is in over 20 million homes. Duncan played a key role in the success of Freeview. . He was named Marketer of the Year in 2003. On 1 July 2004 Duncan was appointed chief executive of Channel 4. He took up the job on 19 July 2004. During his time there he oversaw the company's emergence as a genuine multi-platform media business. Channel 4 was first"
"platforms, in contrast with other broadcasters such as ITV. Channel 4 is also seen outside the United Kingdom where it is widely available in Ireland, Switzerland and Belgium. Here viewers receive the channel either on basic cable subscription services or premium services. Channel 4 has been available in large parts of Ireland, especially border counties which have been able to receive terrestrial transmissions from Northern Ireland. Channel 4 has been carried on Irish cable networks since the station went on the air in 1982. From 4 December 2006 Channel 4 was officially available to Sky viewers in Ireland; some programmes,"
"Channel Four Television Corporation Channel Four Television Corporation is a publicly owned media company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 4. The company was founded in 1982 as Channel Four Television Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the IBA, and became an independent statutory corporation in 1993. November 1998 saw Channel Four expand beyond its remit of providing the 'fourth service' in a significant way, with the launch of FilmFour. Since then the corporation has been involved in a range of other activities, all in some way associated"
"established to provide a fourth television service to the United Kingdom in addition to the licence-funded BBC One and BBC Two, and the single commercial broadcasting network ITV. Before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services: BBC1, BBC2, and ITV. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth, and Channel 4, along with its Welsh counterpart, was formally created by an Act of Parliament in 1982. After some months of test broadcasts, it began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982. The notion of a second commercial broadcaster in the United Kingdom had been around"
"channel 4. The FCC awarded the license and permit for channel 4 to Plains Radio Broadcasting on October 8, 1952; the group subsequently requested and received approval to assign KGNC-TV (for Globe-News Company) as the television station's call letters. The station first signed on the air on March 18, 1953. KGNC-TV was the first television station to sign on in the Amarillo market, debuting two weeks before KFDA-TV (channel 10) signed on as the market's CBS affiliate on April 4. Channel 4 has been an NBC television affiliate since its debut, inheriting those rights through KGNC radio's longtime relationship with"
"4 broadcasts consists of host Clive Anderson along with two guests and the two regular contestants, Stephen Fry and John Sessions. Clive Anderson stayed on as host when the show moved to television, with John Sessions resuming his role as the only regular in the first series. He subsequently became a rotating regular in the second and third series. However he appears only twice in the third series, these being his final appearances. Stephen Fry appears only occasionally on the television series. Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie first appear in the second and third series respectively; they each gradually increase"
"channel 4 in January 1994. Kelly Lange, Stu Nahan, John Schubeck, Tritia Toyota, Jess Marlow, David Sheehan, John Beard and Nick Clooney are other notables who have worked on KNBC's newscasts in the past. Another KNBC alum of note is consumer reporter David Horowitz, whose long-running syndicated series, ""Fight Back!"", began on channel 4 and was produced and distributed by NBC and Group W. In 1987 during an afternoon newscast, a gun-wielding mental patient gained access to NBC Studios, and took Horowitz hostage live on-air. With the gun pressed to his side, Horowitz calmly read the gunman's statements on camera."
"with the words: On its first day, Channel 4 also broadcast controversial soap opera ""Brookside"", which ran until 2003. On its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to the existing channels, an agenda in part set out by its remit which required the provision of programming to minority groups. In step with its remit, the channel became well received both by minority groups and the arts and cultural worlds during this period, especially under founding chief executive Jeremy Isaacs, where the channel gained a reputation for programmes on the contemporary arts. Channel 4 co-commissioned Robert Ashley's ground-breaking"
"provide content to minority groups not necessarily catered for by the BBC or ITV proper. The resultant service, Channel 4 (for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well in the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands), and a variant for Wales, S4C (""Sianel Pedwar Cymru"" in Welsh, ""Channel Four Wales"" in English), began in November 1982. It could be said that this service was the long-awaited 'ITV-2' in all but name, as it was operated and regulated by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), was funded by the rest of ITV and (then) had a substantial amount of content produced"
"Channel 4's news department began operations along with the station on June 6, 1949, originally consisting of 10-minute-long newscasts at sign-on and sign-off, using wire copies of local news headlines read by anchors over still newspaper photographs. Bruce Palmer, the station's first news director, wanted to provide more immediacy to news coverage; he believed the restrictions placed on television news would result in broadcasts detailing only a limited number of stories at a time, outside of weather reports, and foresaw that television news would concentrate on films or photographs to help tell the story. The television station's news department utilized"
"broadcaster in the world to put its entire schedule online with the launch of its 4OD on-demand service in 2006. In addition, Channel 4's share of Total UK TV viewing grew from 10% to 12% and its share of the TV advertising market increased every year to a record 25% in 2009. Duncan presided over the ""Celebrity Big Brother"" racism débacle, which provoked a record number of 45,000 complaints to Ofcom, the UK television watchdog. Ofcom found that Channel 4 had made ""serious editorial misjudgements"" in its handling of incidents involving Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. Labour MP Keith Vaz, who"
"next few years, Channel 4's programmes included ""24 Hours in A&E"", ""The 2012 Paralympic Games"", ""The Grand National"", ""Black Mirror"", ""Gogglebox"", ""The Last Leg"", ""Humans"", ""The Undateables"", ""Educating Yorkshire"", ""The Island"", ""Indian Summers"", ""Southcliffe"", ""UKIP; The First 100 Days"", ""Sri Lanka's Killing Fields"", ""Benefits Street"", ""Big Fat Gypsy Weddings"" and ""MPs For Hire"". In 2010 and 2014, Channel 4 was named Channel of the Year at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, and by ""Broadcast"" magazine in 2016. In late 2015, Abraham and Hunt struck a three-year deal with Bernie Ecclestone to broadcast Formula One on Channel 4. In early 2015,"