Launch of Channel 4

Date: November 2, 1982 • Location: London, United Kingdom

Channel 4, the British free-to-air public broadcast television channel funded by its commercial activities, starts broadcasting.

Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its commercial activities, including advertising. It began its transmission in 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in the United Kingdom. At the time, the only other channels were the licence-funded BBC1 and BBC2, and a single commercial broadcasting network, ITV.