More4 is a digital television channel produced by United Kingdom broadcaster Channel 4 that launched on October 10th 2005. It is on Freeview, and also carried on UK satellite broadcaster Sky Digital (Timeshift will be available on Sky Digital from Monday 17th October 2005) and on UK and Republic of Ireland cable networks.
| File:Logo | |
| Ownership | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Channel 4 Television Corporation |
| History | |
| Replaced | blank |
More4 centres around lifestyle, documentary, and arts programming, and will compete with the BBC's similar offering, BBC4. More4 will air from the late afternoon (starting at 4 pm) until 6 am the following morning. The channel's annual budget is £33 million, of which £20 million is earmarked for original programming. Peter Dale, Channel 4's current head of documentary events and the new channel's chief said it would be "television that restarts the conversation"
To encourage new viewers to try the new service, Channel 4 plans to move its first-run showing of The West Wing (long the staple of Channel 4's autumn schedule) to More4. The channel will also carry other American imports such as The Daily Show, the fourth series of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and repeats of Channel 4 programmes including reality TV show Brat Camp, investigative series Dispatches, and the controversial Body Shock. A half-hour long news programme, hosted by current Channel 4 News presenter Sarah Smith, will show on weekdays at 8pm.
The station will also carry Morgan Spurlock's reality TV show 30 Days, American police drama The Closer, and discussion programme The Last Word (hosted by Stanley Johnson, Mark Dolan, Hardeep Singh Kohli and David Mitchell). On its first night, the channel led with the satirical drama A Very Social Secretary, about the affair between David Blunkett (the former British Home Secretary) and Kimberly Quinn.
In September 2005 Channel 4 began running teaser trailers for the new station (although the name is neither mentioned nor seen in the adverts). Showing neon lettering, the teasers hinted at "adult entertainment". Indeed, many people have been confused by the double-meaning of these trailers and have mistakenly presumed that the new channel will be of a pornographic nature.
Despite initial advertising and official internet communication that it would be free-to-air on satellite television, More4 is encrypted and is only available via a Sky Digital subscription. It is, however, free-to-air on Freeview. Channel 4 blame the encryption on BSkyB, Sky Digital's operator, and not themselves.
More 4 is available to viewers in the Republic of Ireland via Sky Digital and NTL Ireland's digital service . This has led to further specualation that Channel 4 may eventually launch on Sky Digital in the Republic of Ireland . C4 has already made its other flagship channels: E4, E4+1, FilmFour, FilmFour+1 and FilmFour Weekly available in Ireland via Sky Digital, NTL and Chorus digital TV providers. Channel 4 itself is available on almost all Irish cable and MMDS systems (a very small number of Chorus towns in Wicklow and Wexford carry S4C instead).
Space was reserved on Freeview multiplex C for the channel. However, despite Channel 4 saying that the channel would appear on multiplex C, the Channel has appeared on multiplex 2. The capacity on multiplex C may be used for the time shift service More 4 + 1. A place holder appeared on the Freeview EPG at number 13 on the September 13th.