Kanal 4 (''Channel 4'') is a Danish subscription television channel operated by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA, a subsidiary of

Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media and Outline of entertainment, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It was formed from WarnerMedi ...

It was launched in 2006 as the successor of the former TvDanmark. The station is broadcast to Denmark by satellite from

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, showing mainly films, US and drama shows, therefore allowing for more lenient advertising rules as compared to broadcasting directly from Denmark.

History

On 24 November 1984, Kanal 2 launched in Copenhagen in an attempt at breaking DR's television monopoly. By 1991 the station was owned by the Scandinavian Broadcasting System. The stations that shared the same programming (Kanal 2, Vestsjællands TV, TV Næstved, TV Fynboen, TV Aarhus, TV Aalborg) were replaced by a new national service called TvDanmark in 1997 as Denmark's second nationwide commercial terrestrial channel after TV 2. It was renamed TvDanmark 2 when the sister channel TvDanmark 1 was launched. When TvDanmark 1 was renamed Kanal 5, the first channel reverted to its old name, TvDanmark. SBS unveiled a new strategy in March 2006 with changes to be implemented on the short and long terms. Among them were the renaming of TV Danmark as Kanal 4 on 1 May 2006.Ny kanalstrategi for SBS TV – TV Danmark ændres til Kanal 4 og Kanal 5 opruster, ''Dansk Radio TV Nyt'', 16 March 2006
/ref> The rename repositioned the channel as "Denmark's first female channel". Some of Kanal 5's programmes aimed at the female audience moved to the new service. The channel also inherited the former TVDanmark morning block of cartoons and the news service ''5 minuten''. On 1 January 2007, the terrestrial Kanal 4 signals were replaced by a new channel called SBS NET, while Kanal 4 continued broadcasting by satellite and cable. SBS knew that the terrestrial frequencies would be under threat of a new digital broadcasting law. As consequence, Kanal 4 stopped airing news bulletins under the new license. A year after the launch of Kanal 4, SBS conducted a survey with its target audience, with positive results, positioning Kanal 4 as a "strong female brand".Kanal 4 imageundersøgelse, ''SBS TV'', 1 May 2007
/ref>

Logos

File:Kanal 4.svg, Kanal 4's first logo from 2006 to 2012 File:Kanal 4 logo Danmark.png, Kanal 4's third logo from 2015 to 2024

References

External links

Official Kanal 4 site
{{Danish television channels Television stations in Denmark Television channels and stations established in 2006 Warner Bros. Discovery networks Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA