Film4, Freeview and Public Service Broadcasting: Screening Films on British Television in the Multi-channel Era

Abstract

This article analyses the shift in programming policy that took place when Channel 4's specialist subscription channel FilmFour was relaunched as Film4 on the Freeview digital terrestrial television platform in 2006. Adopting a similar survey approach to Hannah Andrews (2012), this article examines new data sources tracking patterns in programming and scheduling practices in order to interrogate the nationality, age and genre of films screened on both channels between 1998 and 2011. The changing character of film programming during this period is shown to relate, in part, to increased commercial pressures brought about by the rapidly evolving multi-channel landscape. But while commercial imperatives were indeed a key factor in this evolution, Film4's scheduling strategies are also shown to be a product of the broadcaster's desire to reassert its public service identity in the Freeview era. Bibliographical addition: Andrews, H. (2012), ‘Public Service Broadcasters and British Cinema, 1990–2010’. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Warwick.