Channel 4
- For the TV channel in The Simpsons, see Channel 4 (Flanders' Book of Faith).
Channel 4 is a British television broadcasting channel that broadcasts episodes of The Simpsons daily, which usually air around 6pm on weekdays, but can air sporadically on weekends, predominantly early in afternoons. Channel 4 is always three years behind Sky1, as part of a contract the network signed upon being granted the rights from BBC Two.
It began broadcasting episodes of The Simpsons on November 5, 2004, the first episode being "A Tale of Two Springfields" at 9pm, with two Season 12 episodes, accompanied by documentary Ultimate Guide to The Simpsons, and quiz show, The Simpsons' Quiz Show.
Channel 4 also produced a special ident to air before episodes, however the ident currently does not air as frequently.
The channel broadcasted "Simpsons Day", a marathon to celebrate nearly 10 years since The Simpsons first aired on the channel, on November 2, 2014.
Then, on June 21, 2015, they broadcasted a Father's Day marathon, with ten episodes focusing on Homer Simpson.
In December 2017, the channel 4Seven, also owned by Channel 4, began showing The Simpsons. However, airings of The Simpsons on 4Seven are very scarce and rarely happen.
Controversies
A viewer complained to Ofcom following a repeat of "A Streetcar Named Marge" on Channel 4 on September 7, 2005 as the "New Orleans" song contained "derogatory remarks" about the city, which had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina just days before. Channel 4 made an on-air apology two days later and also apologised directly to the viewer who complained.[1] The song has since been cut from their broadcasts of the episode.[2]
Channel 4 breached Rule 1.16 of Ofcom on April 9, 2014 at 6pm when airing a repeat of "Bart the Fink", which, due to "human error", a post-watershed version of the episode aired, incorrectly marked as an "all-times" version, included the word "bastard". Seven people complained. Channel 4 apologized, and Ofcom decided not to punish the station due to the action taken to avoid another occurrence.[3][4]
