ITV4 TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On ITV4 Tonight

ITV4 launched on 1 November 2005, taking over ITV’s off-peak Freeview slot from the ITV News Channel before absorbing what was left of the old Men and Motors the following spring. Two decades on, it’s ITV plc’s channel for live sport and archive action, running everything from live racing to reruns of Magnum, P.I. and Minder. Thursday has no live fixture, but the evening still has plenty to it.

ITV4 Schedule: Thursday 13 August 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete ITV4 schedule for Thursday 13 August 2026, on Freeview 26.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on ITV4 today

Today opens with The Professionals at 1:15am, then Two and a Half Men at 2:15am and a wind-down slot from Unwind with ITV at 2:40am before teleshopping takes over from 3am to 6am. The Derby Through the Years revisits Epsom Downs at 6am, River Monsters follows at 6:20am, and Magnum, P.I. is on at 6:50am. Robin of Sherwood’s Sheriff-versus-outlaw story runs at 7:50am, Boon at 9am, then The Professionals returns at 10:10am and Robin of Sherwood a second time at 11:15am. Magnum, P.I. airs twice more, at 12:20pm and 1:20pm, The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes sends Holmes after a would-be killer at 2:25pm, Boon repeats at 3:30pm, The Professionals again at 4:35pm, and Minder closes the daytime run at 5:45pm before Sharpe’s Siege opens the evening at 6:50pm.

ITV4 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the ITV4 primetime line-up for tonight, Thursday 13 August 2026.

Sharpe’s Siege — ITV4, 6:50pm

Series four opens with Wellington’s army pushing towards Bordeaux in the winter of 1813, and Sean Bean’s Sharpe gets pulled into a plot to talk the French city into turning on Napoleon before British troops arrive to back it up.

Benidorm — ITV4, 9pm to 11pm

ITV4 goes right back to the start of Benidorm tonight, running the sitcom’s four opening episodes in a row from 9pm. The pilot lands the Garveys, The Oracle and the rest of the regulars at the Solana for the first time; the half-hours that follow send Kelly’s engagement to Mateo round the pool and give Madge’s holiday flirtation an audience she didn’t want.

Black Sails — ITV4, 11pm

A new episode closes the night, with Flint’s standing among the crew rising fast enough to unsettle Vane, and Eleanor forced to decide which side she’s actually on.

What kind of shows are on ITV4

Live sport: racing, rugby and darts

ITV4 carries the bulk of ITV’s live sport rights outside of ITV1’s biggest occasions. ITV Racing has been the channel’s anchor since horse racing moved to ITV from Channel 4 in 2017, running near-daily meetings alongside the showpiece Saturdays. The Nations Championship, rugby’s new global competition launched in July 2026, means ITV4 now shows live rugby through the summer months, when British fans wouldn’t normally get much international action on terrestrial TV. The channel has also carried live darts in recent seasons, including instalments of the World Series of Darts.

Motorsport, rally and archive sport

Beyond the live fixtures, ITV4 fills its schedule with motorsport digest shows. World Rally Championship Highlights and Motorsport Mundial both round up international series that rarely get UK coverage elsewhere, and the channel runs nightly highlights through Isle of Man TT race week each spring. Archive strands such as The Big Match Revisited and Goals of the 1990s dig into old football footage.

American reruns, action and wrestling

The rest of the schedule fills out with imported American comedy and reality (Two and a Half Men, American Pickers) and classic British crime drama reruns such as Minder. None of it demands your full attention. All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite airs weekly in the late-night slot, with a repeat the following Saturday.

How to watch ITV4

Channel numbers

Here’s where to find ITV4 across the main UK television platforms:

ITV4 is free on all of the above platforms, with no subscription required. Virgin Media and Freesat’s +1 position can move about more than Freeview and Sky, so your on-screen guide is the definitive source if it doesn’t line up exactly.

Streaming online

ITV4 streams live and free through ITVX at itv.com/watch and via the ITVX app on smart TVs, mobiles, tablets and streaming devices including Amazon Fire TV and Roku. You need a free account. Most of the archive and clip-show programming sits in the ITVX library afterwards, though racing and rugby rights usually mean shorter catch-up windows on the live sport.

ITV4 +1 and sister channels

ITV4+1 runs the same schedule an hour behind. Switch on to find Formula E Highlights already under way and +1 will start it again from the top an hour later.

ITV4 sits alongside ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITVBe in ITV plc’s channel family, all streaming through ITVX. ITV1 carries the network’s biggest live sport occasions, ITV3 leans into drama and period pieces, and ITV4 gets the more male-skewing sport and action mix.

Frequently asked questions

What channel is ITV4 on Freeview?

ITV4 is on Freeview channel 26. ITV4+1 is on Freeview channel 59. Both are free with no subscription needed.

What channel is ITV4 on Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat?

Channel 120 on Sky, channel 118 on Virgin Media, and channel 117 on Freesat. ITV4+1 is on channel 220 on Sky; check your on-screen guide for the exact +1 position on Virgin Media and Freesat.

What’s on ITV4 tonight?

Thursday 13 August 2026: no live sport. Sharpe’s Siege takes the 6:50pm slot, then Benidorm runs from the very first episode across four instalments back to back, 9pm to 11pm, before a new Black Sails closes the night from 11pm.

What is ITV4+1?

A timeshift channel showing the ITV4 schedule exactly one hour later, on Freeview 59 and Sky 220.

Is ITV4 free to watch, and does it have adverts?

Yes, entirely free to air with no subscription fee on any platform. As a commercial ITV channel it carries advertising breaks, the same as ITV1.

Can I watch ITV4 online for free?

Yes, live and free through ITVX at itv.com/watch and via the ITVX app. A free account is required.

Verdict

ITV4 does one thing very well: live racing and rugby, without a subscription in sight, from a broadcaster that’s covered sport for decades. Ed Chamberlin and Francesca Cumani’s racing coverage is the strongest thing on it. The archive filler and American reruns are functional rather than exciting, and wrestling fans get AEW once a week while everyone else skips the slot.

Tonight has no live fixture, so archive drama and comedy carry the schedule instead. It’s a lighter line-up than the racing days, though starting Benidorm from episode one is a kinder entry point than most channels bother with.

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | ITV1 TV Guide | Film4 TV Guide | Films on TV This Week