<Tr> <Th> Sky Go </Th> <Td> Watch live (UK and Ireland only) </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Virgin TV Anywhere </Th> <Td> Watch live (UK only) Watch live (+ 1, UK only) </Td> </Tr> <P> 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 Culture, Media & 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 . </P> <P> The channel was established to provide a fourth television service to the United Kingdom in addition to the licence - funded BBC's two services, BBC One and BBC Two and the single commercial broadcasting network, ITV . </P>

When did channel 4 start in the uk