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

Published: 3 September 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 4 September belongs to Gogglebox. Series 28 opens at 9pm, and it’s followed by two hours of Joe Lycett: he opens a pub and fills it with celebrity punters for the genuinely live Live from The Lycett Arms at 10pm, then closes the night with his stand-up special at 11:05pm. Ahead of them, A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now? takes 6pm (series 8, episode 5, despite the “new episode” flag) and Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue takes 8pm, with Channel 4 News holding its usual 7pm slot.

Channel 4 Schedule: Friday 4 September 2026 (Full Listings)

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

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on Channel 4 today: the daytime schedule

Friday daytime on Channel 4 runs its normal weekday grid. The overnight hours open with Crime Scene Cleaners at 12:15am and Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA at 1:10am, before the drama Our Friend fills the small hours from 2am. Jamie: Eat Yourself Healthy and Couples Come Dine with Me lead into Countdown at 5:50am, just ahead of breakfast proper.

Breakfast runs three episodes each of The King of Queens and Everybody Loves Raymond, then four of Frasier, from 6:30am to 10:40am, with Countdown opening the day proper at 5:50am. Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back takes 11:10am, then Find It, Fix It, Flog It and The Great House Giveaway carry the early afternoon. A second Countdown airs at 2:10pm, followed by A Place in the Sun at 3pm, The Great B&B Challenge at 4pm and Chateau DIY at 5pm, running up to the evening’s opener.

Channel 4 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Channel 4 primetime line-up for tonight, Friday 4 September 2026. It’s a launch night: Gogglebox opens its new series at 9pm, then Joe Lycett takes over the rest of the evening.

Gogglebox — Channel 4, 9pm

Gogglebox returns for series 28 at 9pm, the families and friends back on their sofas passing judgment on the week’s television. It’s the biggest launch on Channel 4 tonight, flagged as a new episode and numbered episode 1.

Live from The Lycett Arms — Channel 4, 10pm

Straight after, Live from The Lycett Arms opens at 10pm — series 1, episode 1, a genuine new commission. Joe Lycett takes over a pub and fills it with celebrity punters, and unlike most things billed as “live” on tonight’s grid, this one actually is broadcast live.

Joe Lycett: More, More, More! How Do You Lycett? How Do You Lycett? — Channel 4, 11:05pm

Lycett stays on screen for a second hour at 11:05pm with his stand-up special, packed with jokes, anecdotes and, going by the title, more than one inappropriate painting.

Earlier in the evening

A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now? opens at 6pm — series 8, episode 5, despite carrying a “new episode” flag — followed by Channel 4 News at 7pm and Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue at 8pm (series 1, episode 2).

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, typically around 6:30-6:35pm and roughly twenty-five minutes long.

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 4 September 2026, the evening is built around Gogglebox’s series 28 launch at 9pm. Earlier on, A New Life in the Sun: Where Are They Now? airs at 6pm, Channel 4 News holds its usual 7pm slot, and Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue takes 8pm. After Gogglebox, Joe Lycett opens a pub for a genuinely live broadcast, Live from The Lycett Arms, at 10pm, then closes the night with his stand-up special at 11:05pm.

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

Friday 4 September belongs to Gogglebox. Series 28 opens at 9pm, and it’s followed by two hours of Joe Lycett — a genuinely live broadcast from a pub full of celebrities at 10pm, then his stand-up special at 11:05pm.

Everything else fits around it. A New Life in the Sun is mid-run despite the “new episode” flag, Channel 4 News holds its usual 7pm place, and Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue takes 8pm. Three reasons to tune in tonight, and they land back to back from 9pm.

Watch

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