TV Listings – a history

This four-year AHRC-funded project (2010-2014) is a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth and the BUFVC, assessing the impact of Channel 4 on British film culture. The project’s work has involved extensive research at Channel 4’s own archives and interviews with more than 30 current and former Channel 4 employees and film industry personnel. In partnership with the BUFVC, the full-run of Channel 4’s weekly press information packs (1982-2002) has been digitised for the benefit of media historians.

History of C4 PIPs

Undoubtedly Channel 4’s Press Information Packs – comprehensive in content and widely circulated to the national and regional press – played a part in encouraging the free flow of listings information. And, until now, this has remained a largely unchronicled aspect of the Channel 4 story.

History of TV Listings

Although today the battle over TV listings may look like a storm in a teacup, it actually raised important issues – very relevant to the Internet era – about whether TV listings were the exclusive intellectual property of the broadcasters, or whether the broadcasters were obligated to licence this intellectual property, since the data belonged to the free press.