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

Published: 15 September 2026

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 classic drama and American sitcoms. Wednesday 16 September 2026 has no live fixture on the channel — that honour tonight belongs to ITV1, which carries a Carabao Cup tie instead. ITV4’s own evening runs on archive drama and film: Sharpe holds the early slot from 6:50pm, then Rocky occupies primetime from 9pm, briefly interrupted by a five-minute FYI Daily bumper, before River Monsters closes out the night.

ITV4 Schedule: Wednesday 16 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete ITV4 schedule for Wednesday 16 September 2026, on Freeview 26.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

Late night

What’s on ITV4 today

Overnight, Benidorm leads into Minder and Two and a Half Men, then Teleshopping runs from 3am.

Two American Pickers episodes open the proper day at 6am, followed by Minder at 8am. The Champions, The Sweeney and The Professionals fill the late morning, then the afternoon repeats much the same rotation — The Champions again, two further American Pickers episodes, The Sweeney and The Professionals — before Minder at 5:40pm leads into tonight’s primetime.

ITV4 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the ITV4 primetime line-up for tonight, Wednesday 16 September 2026.

Sharpe — ITV4, 6:50pm

The Napoleonic-era drama opens the evening with its first episode, Sean Bean’s Richard Sharpe working his way up through the ranks (series 1, episode 1).

Rocky — ITV4, 9pm

The 1976 boxing drama runs from 9pm, with the channel breaking away for a five-minute FYI Daily bumper at 10:05pm before the film resumes at 10:10pm and plays through to around 11:25pm. Worth knowing if you’re timing a recording around it.

River Monsters — ITV4, 11:25pm

Jeremy Wade’s fishing documentary closes the night, tracking down a freshwater species with a reputation for attacking people (series 3, episode 4).

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 rounds up a series that rarely gets 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 action drama reruns such as The Professionals and Robin of Sherwood. 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, useful for catching something an hour later if you missed the start the first time round — though live sport rights sometimes mean the +1 channel doesn’t carry the same event.

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?

No live sport tonight — ITV1 carries this week’s Carabao Cup tie instead. Sharpe opens the evening at 6:50pm, then Rocky runs from 9pm with a short FYI Daily break at 10:05pm, and River Monsters closes the night from 11:25pm. See the table above for tonight’s full listings.

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

Daytime is the usual rerun mix — American Pickers, The Sweeney and The Professionals through to early evening, most of it repeating the same rotation twice — and tonight is a fairly ordinary ITV4 evening rather than a live-sport night.

Rocky is the reason to stay past 9pm, running through to around 11:25pm with a short break for a five-minute FYI Daily bumper at 10:05pm. Sharpe opens the evening beforehand, and River Monsters takes the last slot once the film’s finished.

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