Editing Channel 4 (section)

=== Since 2006 ===
[[File:The Majestic (Channel 4).jpg|thumb|right|In 2020, Channel 4 opened a new national headquarters in the redeveloped [[Majestic, Leeds|Majestic Building]] on [[City Square, Leeds|City Square]], Leeds.]]

Before [[Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom|the digital switchover]], Channel 4 raised concerns over how it might finance its public service obligations afterward. In April 2006, it was announced that Channel 4's digital switch-over costs would be paid for by licence fee revenues.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/apr/25/citynews.broadcasting1 |title=Media registration promo |access-date=3 April 2007 |work=The Guardian |location=London |first=John |last=Plunkett |date=26 April 2006 |archive-date=17 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417090804/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2006/apr/25/citynews.broadcasting1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In July 2007, Channel 4 paid £28{{Nbsp}}million for a 50% stake in the TV business of British media company [[EMAP]], which had seven music video channels.<ref>{{cite web |author=Neil Wilkes |date=23 July 2007 |title=Channel 4 takes 50% stake in Emap TV |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/media/a67199/channel-4-takes-50-stake-in-emap-tv/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015213407/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/news/a67199/channel-4-takes-50-percent-stake-in-emap-tv.html |archive-date=15 October 2015 |access-date=8 June 2022 |website=[[Digital Spy]]}}</ref> On 15 August 2008, [[4Music]] was launched across the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.4music.com/ |title=The Box Plus Network |first=The Box Plus |last=Network |website=4Music |access-date=10 February 2013 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111221016/http://www.4music.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Channel 4 announced interest in launching a high-definition version of Film4 on Freeview, to coincide with the launch of Channel 4 HD,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2007/music/news/channel-4-maps-music-presence-1117962004/ |title=Channel 4 maps music presence |access-date=7 May 2007 |first=Steve |last=Clarke |date=28 March 2007 |work=Variety |archive-date=7 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307220612/https://variety.com/2007/music/news/channel-4-maps-music-presence-1117962004/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ukfree.tv/fullstory.php?storyid=1107051220 |title=Channel 4 to join YouTube and add music channel to – ukfree.tv |access-date=7 May 2007 |archive-date=13 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213020743/http://www.ukfree.tv/fullstory.php?storyid=1107051220 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but the fourth HD slot was given to Channel 5 instead.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/tech/a159413/five-awarded-freeview-hd-licence/ |title=Five awarded Freeview HD licence |date=11 June 2009 |website=Digital Spy |access-date=8 June 2022|archive-date=15 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015213407/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a159413/five-awarded-freeview-hd-licence.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 2 November 2007, the station celebrated its 25th birthday. It showed the first episode of ''Countdown'', an anniversary ''Countdown'' special, and [[The Big Fat Quiz of the Year#The Big Fat Anniversary Quiz|a special edition of ''The Big Fat Quiz'']]. It used the original multicoloured 1982–1996 blocks logo on presentation, and idents using the Fourscore jingle throughout the day.

In November 2009, Channel 4 launched a week of [[3D television]], broadcasting selected programmes each night using [[stereoscopic]] [[ColorCode 3D]] technology. The accompanying 3D glasses were distributed through [[Sainsbury's]] supermarkets.<ref>{{cite web |title=3D Week – Channel 4<!-- Bot generated title --> |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/3d-week |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223185346/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/3d-week |archive-date=23 December 2016 |access-date=15 March 2010}}</ref>

On 29 September 2015, Channel 4 revamped its presentation for a fifth time; the new branding downplayed the "4" logo from most on-air usage, in favour of using the shapes from the logo in various forms. Four new idents were filmed by [[Jonathan Glazer]], which featured the shapes in various real-world scenes depicting the "discovery" and "origins" of the shapes. The full logo was still occasionally used, but primarily for off-air marketing. Channel 4 also commissioned two new corporate typefaces, "Chadwick", and "Horseferry" (a variation of Chadwick with the aforementioned shapes incorporated into its letter forms), for use across promotional material and on-air.<ref>{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Eliza |date=30 September 2015 |title=Channel 4 rebrands, with help from Jonathan Glazer and Neville Brody |url=https://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2015/september/channel-4-rebrands-with-help-from-jonathan-glazer-and-neville-brody/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424113200/https://www.creativereview.co.uk/cr-blog/2015/september/channel-4-rebrands-with-help-from-jonathan-glazer-and-neville-brody/ |archive-date=24 April 2016 |access-date=4 April 2016 |publisher=[[Creative Review]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Sherwin |first=Adam |date=1 October 2015 |title=Channel 4 ditches signature '4' logo in 'brave and bizarre' rebrand |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/channel-4-ditches-signature-4-logo-in-brave-and-bizarre-rebrand-a6674156.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223044225/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/channel-4-ditches-signature-4-logo-in-brave-and-bizarre-rebrand-a6674156.html |archive-date=23 December 2019 |access-date=14 February 2017 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

In June 2017, it was announced that [[Alex Mahon]] would be the next chief executive, and would take over from [[David Abraham (executive)|David Abraham]], who left in November 2017.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jun/05/channel-4-alex-mahon-chief-executive-shine-foundry |title=Channel 4 confirms Alex Mahon as chief executive |first=Mark |last=Sweney |date=5 June 2017 |work=The Guardian |access-date=5 June 2017 |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126023259/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/jun/05/channel-4-alex-mahon-chief-executive-shine-foundry |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40158084 |title=Alex Mahon named as new Channel 4 chief executive |date=5 June 2017 |work=BBC News |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308035608/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40158084 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 31 October 2017, Channel 4 introduced a new series of idents continuing the theme, this time depicting the logo shapes as having formed into an [[anthropomorphic]] "giant" character.<ref>{{cite news |date=31 October 2017 |title=Channel 4 logo becomes "C4 giant" in quirky new idents |url=https://www.creativereview.co.uk/channel-4-logo-becomes-c4-giant-in-quirky-new-idents/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129105451/https://www.creativereview.co.uk/channel-4-logo-becomes-c4-giant-in-quirky-new-idents/ |archive-date=29 November 2017 |access-date=7 November 2017 |work=Creative Review }}</ref>

On 25 September 2021, Channel 4 and several of its sub-channels went off air after an incident at [[Red Bee Media|Red Bee Media's]] playout centre in west London. Channel 4, [[More4]], [[Film4]], [[E4 (TV channel)|E4]], [[4Music]], [[The Box (British TV channel)|The Box]], [[Box Hits]], [[Kiss TV|Kiss]], [[Magic (TV channel)|Magic]] and [[Kerrang! TV|Kerrang!]] stopped transmitting, but [[4seven]] was not impacted. The incident still affected a number of the channels by 30 September.<ref>{{cite news |title=E4 sorry for broadcasting wrong ''Married At First Sight'' episode |work=BBC News |date=October 2021 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58756870 |access-date=1 October 2021 |archive-date=30 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930233844/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58756870 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=25 September 2021|title=Channel 4 goes off-air after outage caused by technical problem|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/sep/25/channel-4-goes-off-air-after-outage-caused-by-technical-problem|access-date=26 September 2021|website=The Guardian|archive-date=1 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211001091633/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/sep/25/channel-4-goes-off-air-after-outage-caused-by-technical-problem|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[London Fire Brigade]] confirmed that a gas fire prevention system at the site had been activated, but firefighters found no sign of fire. Activation of the fire suppression system caused catastrophic damage to some systems, such as Channel 4's subtitles, signing, and audio description system. An emergency backup subtitling system also failed, leaving Channel 4 unable to provide access services to viewers. This situation was criticised by the National Deaf Children's Society, which complained to the broadcasting watchdog.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.sky.com/story/channel-4-attacked-as-it-emerges-subtitles-may-not-be-fixed-until-the-middle-of-november-12440821 |title=Channel 4 attacked as it emerges subtitles may not be fixed until the middle of November |work=Sky News |last=Phillips |first=Alexa |date=22 October 2021 |access-date=3 January 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=9 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109173140/https://news.sky.com/story/channel-4-attacked-as-it-emerges-subtitles-may-not-be-fixed-until-the-middle-of-november-12440821 }}</ref> A new subtitling, signing and audio description system had to be built from scratch.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58965380|title=Channel 4 subtitles and other services not likely to return until mid-November|work=BBC News|date=19 October 2021|access-date=19 October 2021|archive-date=19 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019090703/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58965380|url-status=live}}</ref> The service eventually began to return at the end of October.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59016233 |title=Channel 4 subtitles returning after fire disruption |work=BBC News |date= 22 October 2021|accessdate=1 February 2022 |archive-date=15 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115021528/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59016233 |url-status=live }}</ref> In June 2022 after a six-month long investigation, Ofcom found that Channel 4 had breached its broadcast licence conditions on two grounds: Missing its subtitles quota on Freesat for 2021 and failure to effectively communicate with affected audiences.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61863696|title=C4 subtitle problems breached licence conditions, Ofcom finds|work=BBC News |date=20 June 2022}}</ref>

On 23 December 2021, [[Jon Snow (journalist)|Jon Snow]] presented ''Channel 4 News'' for the last time, after 32 years as a main presenter on the programme, making Snow one of the UK's longest-serving presenters on a national news programme.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59770835 |title=Jon Snow bows out of Channel 4 News after 32 years |work=BBC News |date=23 December 2021 |access-date=3 January 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=24 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224125511/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-59770835 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/dec/24/jon-snows-exit-marks-the-end-of-an-era-of-tv-news-big-beasts |title=Jon Snow's exit marks the end of an era of TV news big beasts |work=The Guardian |last=Quinn |first=Ben |date=24 December 2021 |access-date=3 January 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=3 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103144024/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/dec/24/jon-snows-exit-marks-the-end-of-an-era-of-tv-news-big-beasts }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/dec/23/tributes-as-legend-jon-snow-bows-out-from-c4-news-after-32-years |title=Tributes as 'legend' Jon Snow bows out from C4 News after 32 years |work=The Guardian |last=Quinn |first=Ben |date=23 December 2021 |access-date=3 January 2022 |url-status=live |archive-date=1 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101051206/https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/dec/23/tributes-as-legend-jon-snow-bows-out-from-c4-news-after-32-years }}</ref>

In April 2025, it was announced that Alex Mahon would step down as chief executive (CEO) of Channel 4 in the summer of that year. She was succeeded on an interim basis by Jonathan Allan, the broadcaster's chief operating officer, while a search for a permanent replacement was launched.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Koopman |first=Saskia |date=2025-04-28 |title=Channel 4 chief Alex Mahon steps down afer 8 years |url=https://www.cityam.com/channel-4-chief-alex-mahon-steps-down-afer-8-years/ |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=City AM |language=en-GB}}</ref>

====Abandoned privatisation====
Channel 4's parent company, [[Channel Four Television Corporation]], was considered for privatisation by the governments of [[Margaret Thatcher]], [[John Major]] and [[Tony Blair]].<ref name="Mance">{{cite news |last1=Mance |first1=Henry |title=Five programmes to secure future of Channel 4 |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9f90cc36-c50c-11e5-b3b1-7b2481276e45.html |access-date=17 February 2016 |work=Financial Times |date=28 January 2016 |archive-date=2 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402170036/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9f90cc36-c50c-11e5-b3b1-7b2481276e45.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, the [[Cameron-Clegg coalition government]] drew up proposals to privatise the corporation but the sale was blocked by the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] Business Secretary [[Vince Cable]].<ref>{{cite web |date=13 September 2014 |title=Ministers blocked bid to privatise Channel 4 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/11093533/Ministers-blocked-bid-to-privatise-Channel-4.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/11093533/Ministers-blocked-bid-to-privatise-Channel-4.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |access-date=14 September 2014 |website=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2016, the future of the channel was again being looked into by the government, with analysts suggesting several options for its future.<ref name="Mance"/> In June 2021, the government of [[Boris Johnson]] was considering selling the channel.<ref>{{cite news|last=Duke|first=Simon|title=Channel 4 facing sale as Treasury seeks to cash in|newspaper=[[The Times]]|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/tv-radio/article/channel-4-facing-sale-as-treasury-seeks-to-cash-in-lm8kdzjxq|access-date=2 June 2021|issn=0140-0460|archive-date=3 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210703053708/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/channel-4-facing-sale-as-treasury-seeks-to-cash-in-lm8kdzjxq|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2022, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport acknowledged that ministerial discussions were taking place regarding the sale of Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel's chief executive, Alex Mahon, expressed disappointment at this, saying that its vision for the future was "rooted in continued public ownership".<ref>{{cite news |last= |date=4 April 2022 |title=British government set to sell broadcaster Channel 4 |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/britain-privatise-broadcaster-channel-4-2022-04-04/ |access-date=6 April 2022}}</ref>

In January 2023, [[Michelle Donelan]] confirmed that the plans to sell Channel 4 were scrapped and that it would remain in public ownership for the foreseeable future.<ref>{{cite news |date=5 January 2023 |title=Channel 4: Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan confirms U-turn on privatisation |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64174141 |access-date=19 January 2023}}</ref>