How to get free Film4

This page has been added for those looking for information on getting the movie channel Film Four.

Film Four is free...

On Sunday 23 July 2006 at 9pm, Film Four became Film4, subscription-free. To watch this top film channel, there's no longer a monthly subscription fee. To coincide with the launch on Freeview, the channel had a makeover (see the new logo), although the channel's editorial policy won't be changing.

Film4 offers a mix of major Hollywood films with great British films, both new and old, alongside timeless classics and cult favourites. The channel has an ongoing commitment to showcasing British films and filmmakers, with one in four of all films transmitting on the channel coming from the UK. Film4 is part of Channel 4's free lineup, which includes digital channels E4 and More4.

We covered the launch of Film4 in Show 04 of our podcast

Receiving Film4

Film4 is available on Sky TV, Freeview, and on cable. Here are the three main ways to get Film4:

Via Freeview	Freeview Channel 32 Freeview is a digital TV service that can be received via your TV aerial. To get Freeview, you either need a special Freeview set-top box, or to have a digital TV with a built-in digital TV tuner. Freeview is subscription-free, and if you don't currently have Freeview, all you need to do is to buy a set-top box, and plug it in to your TV and your aerial. Boxes are priced from as little as £25 (such as the Matsui DTR3 from Currys). There's no subscription, no ties, and no contract. You must be an area of Freeview coverage. More on getting Freeview on our Freeview page
Via Satellite	Sky Digital - Channel 315 Film 4 is free to view on the Sky Digital satellite platform. Sky Digital offers hundreds of TV and radio channels, beamed into your home and received with a digibox and Sky minidish. As well as being available on Sky Digital, it's available on free-to-view satellite. For more on Sky, go to www.sky.com , or see our Sky Digital page
Cable TV	Film4 is available to Virgin Media cable TV customers For more on cable, see our Cable TV page

What Film4 Offers:

The free-to-air Film4 will screen six films a day, with a new film starting every two hours between 3pm and 3am. Classic films earlier in the day will give way to modern Hollywood output and the best of US and UK independent cinema in peak and foreign language and cult cinema late night.

The channel will also premiere key titles financed and co-produced by Channel 4's film division, Film Four Productions, and will showcase the best of British and European and International cinema. It will programme seasons, events and short form programming, which are a successful feature of the FilmFour pay-TV service.

Problem receiving Film4 on Freeview?

We've had a couple of messages to our podcast from Freeview viewers that are having problems getting Film 4 on Freeview. Film4 is on Multiplex D - which is the same multiplex as the channels UKTV History, Virgin1, TMF, Smash Hits and Magic.

• If you can't get any of the channels on Multiplex D (UKTV History, Virgin1, TMF, Smash Hits and Magic), then there's most likely a reception problem stopping you getting this multiplex. There are a number of ways to improve your Freeview reception, which we outline on improving reception page.
• If you can get the other channels on Multiplex D, and it's just Film 4 you're missing, then it's likely to be a problem with your box:
  • Firstly, double-check that Film4 isn't on a different channel number to the one you were expecting. The channel numbering changed at the start of October 2006, and Film 4 moved from 31 to 29. In August 2007, it moved to channel 32. If you have a different channel name on Channel 32, this indicates you have an out-of-date lineup and need to rescan. To tune to Film4, try performing a full rescan of your channels (not just an "add").
  • If that doesn't work, try a reset of your Freeview set-top box – power off the box at the mains for 30 seconds, switch on, then perform a full rescan. Check your Freeview receiver's manual for how to do a factory reset if that doesn't help.

If you have a question, or want to discuss Film4, please post a message in our forum

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