Channel 4 TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On Channel 4 Tonight

Published: 27 August 2026

Channel 4 is the UK’s publicly owned but ad-funded broadcaster, free to watch and responsible for a fair chunk of the odder British television of the past forty years. You’ll find it at 4 on Freeview, and at 104 on Freeview HD, Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat. It streams live and on demand for free at channel4.com and through the Channel 4 app. Channel 4 News runs weeknights at 7pm; Gogglebox is the Friday 9pm fixture.

Friday 28 August brings one documentary strand to a close and opens another. Channel 4 News opens primetime at 7pm and runs its full weekday hour, then Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue launches at 8pm, the first of three episodes following two polar bears from Sweden into their new Suffolk home. The Murder Detective follows at 9pm with its final instalment, as the investigation into Lyra McKee’s murder reaches its conclusion. The Big Fat Quiz of Telly closes out the night from 10:10pm. There’s no film anywhere in tonight’s schedule.

Channel 4 Schedule: Friday 28 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 4 schedule for Friday 28 August 2026, on Freeview 4.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Channel 4 today: the daytime schedule

The overnight hours open with Crime Scene Cleaners at midnight and a repeat of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA at 12:55am, then Secret Lives of Gypsy Wives at 1:45am and the documentary Underwater at 2:40am. An early A Place in the Sun airs at 4:15am, Sunday Brunch follows at 4:40am and Couples Come Dine with Me takes 4:55am, before Countdown opens the day proper at 5:50am. Breakfast belongs to the American sitcom archive again: three episodes of The King of Queens from 6:30am, then three of Everybody Loves Raymond from 7:45am.

Frasier takes the late-morning slot, four episodes back to back from 9:10am, followed by Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back at 11:10am. The afternoon is Channel 4’s own factual and format strand: a Channel 4 News Summary and Find It, Fix It, Flog It return at midday, The Great House Giveaway at 1:10pm, a second Countdown at 2:10pm, A Place in the Sun at 3pm, The Great B&B Challenge at 4pm and Chateau DIY at 5pm, before American Pickers opens the evening at 6pm.

Channel 4 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Channel 4 primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 28 August 2026.

American Pickers — Channel 4, 6pm

Mike Wolfe is back on the road at 6pm, this time calling on a retired auctioneer whose daughter is learning the trade alongside him. It’s the usual mix of barns, dusty garages and haggling over what turns out to be worth keeping.

Channel 4 News — Channel 4, 7pm

Channel 4 News runs its full weekday hour from 7pm, with the day’s stories, sport and weather covered before the evening’s entertainment gets going.

Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue — Channel 4, 8pm

Channel 4’s real launch of the night arrives at 8pm, and the feed doesn’t flag it. Farmer and conservationist Jimmy Doherty takes on two polar bears from Sweden that need urgent rehoming, building what’s billed as Europe’s largest polar bear reserve at his own wildlife park in Suffolk. It’s the first of three episodes.

The Murder Detective — Channel 4, 9pm

The true-crime strand that has run all week reaches its end at 9pm. Detective Jason Murphy and his team move to make a series of arrests as the long investigation into the murder of journalist Lyra McKee finally concludes. This is episode three of three.

The Big Fat Quiz of Telly — Channel 4, 10:10pm

Jimmy Carr hosts two hours of television trivia from 10:10pm, putting a panel through questions on the year’s biggest small-screen moments — who shot Mr Burns and what The Chasers get called behind their backs among them. Stand-ups Harry Hill and Tom Allen take their seats alongside Joanne McNally, Judi Love, Sam Campbell and Susan Wokoma.

Popular shows on Channel 4

Comedy and entertainment

Gogglebox has been running since 2013, filming regular families and friends reacting to the week’s telly from their own sofas. When something big happens in the culture, their reactions often land harder than any think-piece. It won the BAFTA for Reality and Constructed Factual in 2014 and is still going more than a decade later.

Taskmaster moved to Channel 4 from Dave in 2020 and has run a new series most years since. Greg Davies’s mock authority and Alex Horne’s deadpan make for a double act that never feels forced. Series 21 began in April 2026 with Amy Gledhill, Armando Iannucci, Joanna Page, Joel Dommett and Kumail Nanjiani.

Factual and documentary

24 Hours in A&E films inside a working NHS hospital, originally St George’s in Tooting and later King’s College, with fixed cameras and no presenter. It trusts the patients and staff to carry it, which they do. Dispatches, running since 1987, does the investigative work few other British programmes go near; its 2023 Russell Brand investigation was made jointly with two national newspapers.

Baking, lifestyle and food

The Great British Bake Off can make an entire nation care about proving times and choux pastry. It moved from the BBC to Channel 4 in 2017 and still pulls some of the biggest entertainment audiences of the year each autumn. Bake Off: The Professionals swaps the amateurs for trained pastry chefs, and the sugar-work sculptures they produce are frankly ridiculous. Come Dine With Me just keeps going in the afternoons, held together entirely by Dave Lamb’s narration.

How to watch Channel 4 live and on demand

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find Channel 4 depending on your platform:

All of these are free-to-air, no subscription needed. Channel 4 takes no money from the TV Licence; it runs on advertising and commercial partnerships, which is why you get ad breaks on both the linear channel and the stream.

Channel 4 streaming service

Channel 4 streams live and on demand for free at channel4.com and through the Channel 4 app, which runs on smart TVs, iOS, Android, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and most major streaming sticks. You need a free account to watch; registration takes a couple of minutes. Alongside the live feed there’s the full on-demand library, box sets, and some series that never appear on linear TV. Most programmes stay up for at least 30 days after broadcast. The service used to be called All 4 before Channel 4 folded it under its own name in 2023.

The Channel 4 family of channels

Channel 4 runs a group of free-to-air digital channels alongside the main service.

E4 is the entertainment and comedy channel aimed at younger viewers. It’s the linear home of Hollyoaks, which airs Monday to Wednesday at 7pm on E4, with the omnibus appearing on Channel 4 overnight on Tuesdays. E4 also carries American imports including The Big Bang Theory and Friends. It’s on Freeview 28, Sky 140 and Virgin Media 144.

More4 is where the factual and lifestyle back catalogue goes to live a second life: property, true crime, acquired documentary series, and a great many daytime repeats. More4 is on Freeview 18, Sky 144 and Virgin Media 148.

Film4 is the free movie channel, and a genuinely good one: mainstream Hollywood in the evenings, world and independent cinema later on, no subscription anywhere in it. Film4 is on Freeview 15, Sky 313 and Virgin Media 428.

4seven replays the past week of Channel 4 and its sister channels at different times of day, for anyone who’d rather not use the app. It’s on Freeview 47 and Sky 149.

Frequently asked questions

What channel number is Channel 4 on Freeview?

Channel 4 is on channel 4 on Freeview. If you have a Freeview HD receiver or a TV with a built-in Freeview HD tuner, Channel 4 HD is on channel 104. Both carry the same programmes.

What channel is Channel 4 on Sky?

Channel 4 is on channel 104 on Sky, which covers Sky Q, Sky Stream and Sky Glass. Channel 4 HD is the default feed at 104.

What channel is Channel 4 on Virgin Media?

Channel 4 is on channel 104 on Virgin Media.

What channel is Channel 4 on Freesat?

Channel 4 is on channel 104 on Freesat. If you’re in Wales you may find S4C at 104 on some tuners; check your regional listing accordingly.

What time is Channel 4 News on?

Channel 4 News is on Monday to Friday at 7pm, running until 7:55pm. It’s produced by ITN and streams free on channel4.com and the Channel 4 app alongside the linear broadcast. Weekend bulletins are shorter and earlier: 6pm on Saturday and Sunday, running around thirty minutes.

What time is Gogglebox on Channel 4?

Gogglebox’s home slot is Fridays at 9pm on Channel 4, with episodes available on the Channel 4 streaming service shortly after broadcast. The Celebrity Gogglebox spin-off turns up in other slots through the week, including some Monday nights, with a different line-up of famous faces reacting to the same shows.

What’s on Channel 4 tonight?

Tonight, Friday 28 August 2026, Channel 4 News opens primetime at 7pm and runs its full weekday hour. Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue then launches at 8pm, following two rehomed polar bears into Jimmy’s Suffolk wildlife park, before The Murder Detective closes out its three-part run at 9pm as the Lyra McKee investigation reaches its conclusion. The Big Fat Quiz of Telly rounds off the night from 10:10pm. There’s no film in tonight’s schedule.

Can I watch Channel 4 online for free?

Yes. Channel 4 streams live and on demand for free at channel4.com and through the Channel 4 app. A free account is required to watch. The service is available on smart TVs, phones, tablets, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and most streaming sticks. Channel 4 is ad-supported, so adverts are included in the stream.

Does Channel 4 have a streaming service?

Yes. It’s the same free service covered above at channel4.com and via the Channel 4 app, previously known as All 4 before Channel 4 dropped the separate branding in 2023.

Verdict

Tonight is a night of one ending and one beginning. The Murder Detective closes out its three-part run at 9pm, with detectives moving to arrest as the investigation into Lyra McKee’s murder reaches its conclusion. Ahead of it, Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue opens its own three-parter at 8pm — a launch the schedule doesn’t flag as new, but is — following two Swedish polar bears into a purpose-built reserve in Suffolk. Channel 4 News takes its full weekday hour at 7pm ahead of both, and The Big Fat Quiz of Telly closes the night out from 10:10pm.

There’s no film anywhere in tonight’s schedule.

Watch

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | Channel 4 Schedule | BBC One TV Guide | Films on TV This Week