90-554: Mr Gay UK was a British annual beauty contest for gay men , with regional heats held in gay nightclubs with a grand final usually at a gay venue. It began in 1982 as "Mr Hardware" (named after a fragrance ) designed to promote a gay mail order company. The event, held in the Heaven nightclub, was filmed by the BBC as part of a documentary entitled Something For the Ladies . In 1984,
180-582: A "Bathing Girl Revue" competition as the centerpiece of its attractions. The event was the kick-off of the summer tourist season in the city and was carried forward annually. The event quickly became known outside of Texas and, beginning in 1926, the world's first international contest was added, known as the International Pageant of Pulchritude . This contest is said to have served as a model for modern pageants. It featured contestants from England, Russia, Turkey , and many other nations and
270-448: A "safety net" guaranteed minimum income should the revenue fall too low, funded by large insurance payments made to the ITV companies. Such a subsidy was never required, however, and these premiums were phased out by the government in 1998. After the link with ITV was cut, the cross-promotion which had existed between ITV and Channel 4 also ended. In 2007, owing to severe funding difficulties,
360-539: A beauty contest is generally called a beauty queen for female pageants and a beauty king for male pageants. Pageant titles are often subdivided into "Miss", "Mrs." or "Ms.", and "Teen", to clearly identify the difference between pageant divisions. The rankings of the contestants are referred to as placements . European festivals dating back to the Middle Ages provide the most direct lineage for beauty pageants. For example, English May Day celebrations always had
450-418: A non-acting role for Tom Keating in his series On Painters . Channel 4 co-commissioned Robert Ashley 's television opera Perfect Lives , which it premiered over several episodes in 1984. The channel often did not receive mass audiences for much of this period, as might be expected for a station focusing on minority interests. During this time, Channel 4 also began the funding of independent films, such as
540-404: A numerical coefficient in ranking contestants, and this type of scoring still remains followed as a system even in nationwide beauty pageants such as Miss America . Researchers suggest that these events strengthen skills, such as interpersonal communications, self-assurance, and public speaking, which prove to be useful in future career paths. The requirement for contestants to wear a swimsuit
630-470: A pleasure to be able to say to you, welcome to Channel Four." Following the announcement, the channel played a montage of clips from its programmes set to the station's signature tune, "Fourscore", written by David Dundas , which would form the basis of the station's jingles for its first decade. The first programme to air on the channel was the teatime game show Countdown , produced by Yorkshire Television , at 16:45. The first person to be seen on Channel 4
720-496: A premium rate phone and text number, a 'like' on their individual Facebook page and a Twitter and E-mail vote accessible from the main Mr Gay UK website. Voting ended on 29 November 2011 and the five finalists were announced. They were Greg Lumley – Middlesbrough, Charlie Drummond – Bristol, John Wheeldon – Leeds, Nik Chapman – Newcastle and Samuel Kneen – Cardiff, who eventually went on to win the competition A media relations push
810-873: A public service broadcaster with a specific remit, it is afforded free carriage on the terrestrial platforms, in contrast with other broadcasters such as ITV. Channel 4 is available outside the United Kingdom; it is widely available in the Republic of Ireland , the Netherlands , Belgium and Switzerland . The channel is registered to broadcast within the European Union/EEA through the Luxembourg Broadcasting Regulator (ALIA). Since 2019, it has been offered by British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) to members of
900-566: A remit of public service obligations which it must fulfil. The remit changes periodically, as dictated by various broadcasting and communications acts, and is regulated by the various authorities Channel 4 has been answerable to; originally the IBA, then the ITC and now Ofcom . The preamble of the remit as per the Communications Act 2003 states that: The public service remit for Channel 4
990-457: A spare tuning button labelled "ITV 2" or "IBA 2". Throughout ITV's history and until Channel 4 finally became a reality, a perennial dialogue existed between the GPO , the government , the ITV companies and other interested parties, concerning the form such an expansion of commercial broadcasting would take. Most likely, politics had the biggest impact leading to a delay of almost three decades before
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#17327761328331080-556: A talent agency in which she claimed that she was pressured to sign by Burning Productions, a film production company which is rumored to be linked with the Japanese underworld, but she refused and went ahead by starting her own company. Yoshimatsu filed criminal charges against one of Japan's most powerful talent agency executives, Genichi Taniguchi of Burning Productions, for allegedly stalking, intimidating, and harassing her. Diversity of contestants and winners have both increased since
1170-548: A year to marry Filipino businessman Virgilio Hilario while Amparo Muñoz , Miss Universe 1974 of Spain refused to travel to Japan and instead resigned after six months of her reign. However, since the pageant had no concrete rule on resignation at that time, they were allowed to keep their titles. In Miss Earth, the 2002 winner, Dzejla Glavovic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was dethroned of her crown six months into her reign, after she failed to show up at several environmental events. According to Carousel Productions, organizer of
1260-401: Is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation . It is publicly owned but, unlike the BBC , it receives no public funding and is funded entirely by its commercial activities, including advertising . It began its transmission in 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in the United Kingdom. At
1350-467: Is now universally available. After some months of test broadcasts, the new broadcaster began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982 from Scala House, the former site of the Scala Theatre . Its initial broadcasts reached 87% of the United Kingdom. The first voice heard on Channel 4's opening day of 2 November 1982 was that of continuity announcer Paul Coia who said: "Good afternoon. It's
1440-578: Is the first and oldest beauty pageant in Asia. The Miss Black America contest started in 1968 in response to the exclusion of African American women from the Miss America pageant. The Miss Universe Organization started the Miss Teen USA in 1983 for the 14–19 age group. Miss Earth started in 2001, which channels the beauty pageant entertainment industry to actively promote the preservation of
1530-440: Is the provision of a broad range of high quality and diverse programming which, in particular: The remit also involves an obligation to provide programming for schools, and a substantial amount of programming produced outside of Greater London . Channel 4 was carried from its beginning on analogue terrestrial, the standard means of television broadcast in the United Kingdom. It continued to be broadcast through these means until
1620-515: The Big Four beauty pageants : Miss Universe , Miss World , Miss International , and Miss Earth . Hundreds and thousands of beauty contests are held annually, but the Big Four are considered the most prestigious, and are widely covered and broadcast by news media . The earliest formal beauty pageants were held in the 19th century, although similar informal events date back to at least
1710-532: The British Armed Forces and their families around the world, BFBS Extra having previously carried a selection of Channel 4 programmes. The Channel 4 website allows people in the United Kingdom to watch Channel 4 live. Previously, some programmes (mostly international imports) were not shown. Channel 4 is also provided by Virgin Mobile 's DAB mobile TV service, which has the same restrictions as
1800-599: The Merchant Ivory docudrama The Courtesans of Bombay . In 1987, Richard Attenborough replaced Edmund Dell as chairman. In 1988, Michael Grade became CEO. In 1992, Channel 4 faced its first libel case which was brought by Jani Allan , a South African journalist, who objected to her representation in Nick Broomfield 's documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Driver's Wife . After control of
1890-749: The Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant, Caitlin Upton gained international notoriety for her convoluted and nonsensical response to a question posed to her during the August 2007 national pageant. During the pageant, judge Aimee Teegarden asked: "Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?". Upton responded: I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, uh, people out there in our nation don't have maps and, uh, I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and, uh,
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#17327761328331980-443: The post-classical period . Modern beauty pageants were first established in the early 20th century, with their popularity later boosted by the establishment of international pageants in the mid-20th century. Reforms of pageants in the 21st century marked a shift from primarily focusing on physical appearance to placing more weight on other characteristics. Beauty pageants are generally multi-tiered, with local competitions feeding into
2070-466: The 1880s. In 1888, the title of 'beauty queen' was awarded to an 18-year-old Creole contestant at a pageant in Spa, Belgium . All participants had to supply a photograph and a short description of themselves to be eligible to enter and a final selection of 21 was judged by a formal panel. Such events were not regarded as respectable. In 1880, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware held the first recorded beauty pageant in
2160-475: The 2009 series, where he sparked an "are they?/aren't they" relationship with fellow bisexual housemate Rodrigo Lopes. He made it to the final, finishing in 4th place. Drummond later went on to become Mr Gay Bristol 2011. Mr Gay UK winner 2013, Stuart Hatton , went on to represent the United Kingdom in Austria at Mr Gay Europe and was second runner up. Two months later Hatton travelled to Rome, Italy to represent
2250-517: The 2011 contest were held in various gay venues across the country. Participants could apply in advance directly with the venue, or just turn up on the evening and complete an application form. In total there are 14 finalists from the heats that took place between September and October 2011. In this year the rules and the feeling of the competition were changed. A public vore was put into place and contestants were expected to campaign for votes in any way they could. Each finalist could receive votes through
2340-429: The Big Four pageant winners, but when it does occur, it creates media attention. The Miss World pageant has had 3 cases of dethronement or resignation instances: In its early years, there were two instances where the reigning Miss Universe opted to resign from her position: Armi Kuusela , Miss Universe 1952 from Finland, who held the distinction of being the first Miss Universe winner to give up her crown in less than
2430-538: The Channel 4 reality series , The Games . In 2006, police officer Mark Carter made national headlines when he won the competition. Mr Gay UK 1998, Ben Harris, became the winner of the Channel 4 show Playing It Straight in 2004. In 2008 the first winner of the contest, Anthony Morley , was convicted of murder and cannibalism . Mr Gay Newcastle 2007, Charlie Drummond , became a Big Brother housemate in
2520-660: The Holocaust. In 1959, Japanese model Akiko Kojima became the first woman of color to win the Miss Universe title. Her success marked the beginning of a shift away from white women as the global female beauty ideal. The continued success of Asian women in American and international beauty pageants has signaled that white women are no longer considered the beauty ideal. In 1983, Vanessa Williams , an American singer, actress and fashion designer gained recognition as being
2610-525: The IBA from the ITV regional companies, in return for which each company had the right to sell advertisements on the fourth channel in its own region and keep the proceeds. This meant that ITV and Channel 4 were not in competition with each other, and often promoted each other's programmes. A change in funding came about under the Broadcasting Act 1990 when the new corporation was afforded the ability to fund itself. Originally this arrangement left
2700-517: The Internet live stream. Channel 4 is also carried by the Internet TV service TVCatchup and was previously carried by Zattoo until the operator removed the channel from its platform. Channel 4 also makes some of its programming available "on demand" via cable and the internet through the Channel 4 VoD service. During its first decade, Channel 4 was funded by subscriptions collected by
2790-582: The Iraq, everywhere like such as, and, I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, or, uh, should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future. For our children. As a guest on NBC 's The Today Show , Upton told Ann Curry and Matt Lauer that she was overwhelmed when asked the question and did not comprehend it correctly. Channel 4 Channel 4
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2880-464: The Miss Earth contest, Glavovic was dethroned because of "her inability to fulfill the duties and responsibilities as the Miss Earth titleholder, in accordance with the rules and regulations set forth in the Miss Earth contract that she signed." She was succeeded by first runner-up Winfred Omwakwe of Kenya as Miss Earth 2002 . In Miss International, Ikumi Yoshimatsu , Miss International 2012
2970-478: The Miss Howard University competition takes advantage of the principles of "black beauty". The winner is often viewed as a model for the "ideal" community member. Through the competitions, the contestants can learn how to present themselves in public and how to cultivate certain traits such as confidence or poise. In some cases, the competitors are selected to act as a representative on behalf of
3060-480: The Races , E4 and More4 . Partially in reaction to its new "populist" direction, the Communications Act 2003 directed the channel to demonstrate innovation, experimentation, and creativity, appeal to the tastes and interests of a culturally diverse society, and include programmes of an educational nature which exhibit a distinctive character. On 31 December 2004, Channel 4 launched a new visual identity in which
3150-492: The Street , Without A Trace , Home Improvement , Frasier , Lost , Nip/Tuck , Ally McBeal , Dawson's Creek , Oz , Sex and The City , The Sopranos , Scrubs , King of The Hill , Babylon 5 , Stargate SG-1 , Star Trek: Enterprise , Andromeda , Family Guy , South Park and Futurama . In the early 2000s, Channel 4 began broadcasting reality formats such as Big Brother and obtained
3240-472: The United Kingdom once more as Mr Gay UK but this time at The Mr Gay World Contest where he won the Mr Gay World title becoming the first United Kingdom winner to receive the global award. Beauty contest A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging
3330-601: The United States is linked to an economic boom geared towards a more consumeristic lifestyle. For example, in India, from 1996 to 2000, the personal care industry grew by 25% while the number of women applying for the Miss India competition increased from 1000 people in 1993 to 6500 people in 2001. Additionally, after China hosted about 6 international beauty pageants in 2004, the beauty industry increased in influence in
3420-514: The United States, searching for "the most beautiful unmarried woman in our nation" and awarding her the title of Miss United States . Beauty contests came to be considered more respectable with the first modern " Miss America " contest held in 1921. The oldest pageant still in operation today is the Miss America pageant, which was organized in 1921 by a local businessman to entice tourists to Atlantic City, New Jersey . The pageant hosted
3510-561: The Welsh fourth channel S4C . In 2010, Channel 4 extended service into Wales and became a nationwide television channel. The network's headquarters are in London and Leeds , with creative hubs in Glasgow and Bristol . Before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services: BBC1 , BBC2 , and ITV , with BBC2 the last to launch in 1964. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began
3600-570: The Welsh variant; this practice continued until the closure of S4C's analogue transmissions in 2010, at which time S4C became a fully Welsh channel. With this conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital terrestrial broadcasting on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became a nationwide television channel for the first time. Since then, carriage on digital cable , satellite and digital terrestrial has introduced Channel 4 to Welsh homes where it
3690-419: The ability to subsidise the main network through any profits made on the corporation's other endeavours, which have in the past included subscription fees from stations such as E4 and Film4 (now no longer subscription services) and its "video-on-demand" sales. In practice, however, these other activities are loss-making, and are subsidised by the main network. According to Channel 4's published accounts, for 2005
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3780-518: The area. At the same time, the number of regional beauty pageants in the country increased. Critics of beauty pageants argue that such contests reinforce the idea that girls and women should be valued primarily for their physical appearance, and that this puts tremendous pressure on women to conform to conventional beauty standards by spending time and money on fashion, cosmetics, hair styling , and even cosmetic surgery . They say that this pursuit of physical beauty even encourages some women to diet to
3870-558: The changeover to digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom was complete. Since 1998, it has been universally available on digital terrestrial, and the Sky platform (initially encrypted, though encryption was dropped on 14 April 2008 and is now free of charge and available on the Freesat platform) as well as having been available from various times in various areas, on analogue and digital cable networks. Due to its special status as
3960-643: The channel broadcast the direct-to-TV documentary film Beyond Citizen Kane , in which it displayed the dominant position of the Rede Globo (now TV Globo ) television network, and discussed its influence, power, and political connections in Brazil. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Channel 4 gave many popular and influential American comedy and drama series their first exposure on British television, such as Friends , Cheers , Will & Grace , NYPD Blue , ER , Desperate Housewives , Homicide: Life on
4050-530: The channel sought government help and was granted a payment of £14 million over a six-year period. The money was to have come from the television licence fee, and would have been the first time that money from the licence fee had been given to any broadcaster other than the BBC. However, the plan was scrapped by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport , Andy Burnham , ahead of "broader decisions about
4140-679: The community. In the African American community of Howard University, the selected Miss Howard University served as advocates for the Civil Rights Movement in the decades following the 1960s. Additionally, the Miss Landmine competition situated in Angola allow victims to serve as advocates on behalf of other victims of mining accidents. Researchers suggest that the emergence of beauty pageants in countries outside
4230-550: The competition name was changed to Mr Gay UK. Since then, the event has been recorded for video release (1993), featured on a Channel 4 series, Passengers (1994) and the event itself was broadcast on Five in 1998 and 1999. The competition's website has not been updated since 2014 and no winners are listed after 2013. Since 2005, the winner has gone on to represent the UK in Mr Gay Europe . As with previous years, heats for
4320-482: The contestants' physical attractiveness , sometimes solely so, but most modern beauty pageants have since expanded to also judge contestants based on "inner beauty"—their individual traits and characteristics, including personality , intelligence , aptitude , moral character , and charity . Though typically perceived as a female-oriented competition, male beauty pageants also exist, as do child beauty pageants for youth. The term "beauty pageant" refers originally to
4410-624: The corporation but the sale was blocked by the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable . In 2016, the future of the channel was again being looked into by the government, with analysts suggesting several options for its future. In June 2021, the government of Boris Johnson was considering selling the channel. In April 2022, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport acknowledged that ministerial discussions were taking place regarding
4500-410: The day. In November 2009, Channel 4 launched a week of 3D television , broadcasting selected programmes each night using stereoscopic ColorCode 3D technology. The accompanying 3D glasses were distributed through Sainsbury's supermarkets. On 29 September 2015, Channel 4 revamped its presentation for a fifth time; the new branding downplayed the "4" logo from most on-air usage, in favour of using
4590-402: The environment. These contests continue to this day. Major international contests for women include the yearly Miss World competition (founded by Eric Morley in 1951), Miss Universe (founded in 1952), Miss International (founded in 1960), and Miss Earth (founded in 2001 with environmental awareness as its concern). These four are considered the biggest and most well known pageants,
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#17327761328334680-723: The existing channels, an agenda in part set out by its remit which required the provision of programming to minority groups. In step with its remit, the channel became well received both by minority groups and the arts and cultural worlds during this period under Isaacs, during which the channel gained a reputation for programmes on the contemporary arts. Two programmes captured awards from the Broadcasting Press Guild in March 1983: best comedy for The Comic Strip Presents …Five Go Mad in Dorset, and best on-screen performance in
4770-594: The first African American woman to receive the Miss America title. In 1991, Lupita Jones , a Mexican actress and television producer, became the first Mexican person to win Miss Universe. Besides the international beauty pageants, numerous minor competitions exist throughout the world displaying the different perceptions of beauty. Some examples of criteria to select beauty queens that are unique to certain culture. The Miss India USA pageant uses Indian history and traditional craft skills as its specialties, while
4860-408: The four largest and most famous international beauty contests for single or unmarried women (all apply to single or unmarried women except Miss Universe ). Most pageants give an age requirement to be eligible to compete; for example, Miss Universe has a maximum age requirement of 28 years old. 2023: The swimsuit parade to replaced by Lingerie parade. Dethronements and resignations are rare for
4950-705: The future framework of public service broadcasting". The broadcasting regulator Ofcom released its review in January 2009 in which it suggested that Channel 4 would preferably be funded by "partnerships, joint ventures or mergers". As of 2022 , it breaks even in much the same way as most privately run commercial stations through the sale of on-air advertising, programme sponsorship, and the sale of any programme content and merchandising rights it owns, such as overseas broadcasting rights and domestic video sales. For example, as of 2012 its total revenues were £925 million with 91% derived from sale of advertising. It also has
5040-459: The inception of beauty pageants. In 1945, Bess Myerson , an American politician, model and, television actress became the first Jewish person to win the Miss America title in the Atlantic city and to this day remains the only Jewish person to have received the crown. Her success in winning the title was hugely symbolic and personal to Jewish people at that time because it in the direct aftermath of
5130-693: The larger competitions; for example, the international pageants have hundreds or thousands of local competitions. The organizers of each pageant may determine the competition rules, including the age range of contestants. The rules may also require the contestants to be unmarried, and be virtuous, amateur, and available for promotions, besides other criteria. It may also set the clothing standards in which contestants will be judged, including such as formal wear , swimsuit , sportswear , or designer clothing . Possible awards of beauty contests include titles, tiaras , crowns , sashes , bouquets , scepters , savings bonds , scholarships , and prize money . The winner of
5220-475: The last time, after 32 years as a main presenter on the programme, making Snow one of the UK's longest-serving presenters on a national news programme. Channel 4's parent company, Channel Four Television Corporation , was considered for privatisation by the governments of Margaret Thatcher , John Major and Tony Blair . In 2014, the Cameron-Clegg coalition government drew up proposals to privatise
5310-463: The launch of Channel 4 HD, but the fourth HD slot was given to Channel 5 instead. On 2 November 2007, the station celebrated its 25th birthday. It showed the first episode of Countdown , an anniversary Countdown special, as well as a special edition of The Big Fat Quiz . It use the original multicoloured 1982–1996 blocks logo on presentation, and idents using the Fourscore jingle throughout
5400-641: The logo is disguised as different objects and the "4" can be seen from an angle. Under the leadership of Freeview founder Andy Duncan , 2005 saw a change of direction for Channel 4's digital channels. The company made E4 free-to-air on digital terrestrial television , and launched a new free-to-air digital channel called More4 . By October, Channel 4 had joined the Freeview consortium. By July 2006, Film4 had likewise become free-to-air and restarted broadcasting on digital terrestrial. Venturing into radio broadcasting, 2005 saw Channel 4 purchase 51% of shares in
5490-512: The now defunct Oneword radio station, with UBC Media holding on to the remaining shares. New programmes such as the weekly, half-hour The Morning Report news programme were among some of the new content Channel 4 provided for the station, with the name 4Radio being used. As of early 2009, however, Channel 4's future involvement in radio remained uncertain. Before the digital switchover , Channel 4 raised concerns over how it might finance its public service obligations afterward. In April 2006, it
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#17327761328335580-486: The pageant that include Poise and Beauty of Face and Environmental and Intelligence Competition . The organizers defended the "beauty of figure and form" segment and released a statement that the said round was intended to promote strict impartiality during pre-judging by focusing on the contestants' curves, execution and not beautiful face. There have been numerous scandals in the beauty pageant industry and they continue to emerge as beauty pageants become more known to
5670-626: The point of harming themselves. The London Feminist Network argues that rather than being empowering, beauty pageants do the opposite: denying women's full humanity by subjecting them to objectification , denying their full humanity by maintaining that their primary purpose is to be attractive. Beginning in 1981, the International Year of the Disabled Person, campaigners in Australia targeted beauty pageants in order to, in
5760-575: The presenters were Andy Scott-Lee and his wife Michelle Heaton . The judges were Shahbaz from Big Brother 2006 , James Sutton of Hollyoaks , long-standing Adam Lowe of Bent magazine and The Sheilas of Sheilas' Wheels . The event was hosted at Flamingo's nightclub in Blackpool , where Daniel Broughton (also from Blackpool) won. Mr Gay 2001, Carl Austin-Behan , became the 119th Lord Mayor of Manchester in 2016, serving until 2017. Mr Gay UK 2003, Jarrold Batchelor, went on to appear in
5850-423: The process of adding a fourth; Channel 4 was formally created, along with its Welsh counterpart , by an act of Parliament in 1982. The notion of a second commercial broadcaster in the United Kingdom had been around since the inception of ITV in 1954 and its subsequent launch in 1955; the idea of an "ITV2" was long expected and pushed for. Indeed, television sets sold throughout the 1970s and early 1980s often had
5940-604: The public. In December 2017, HuffPost published emails written by then-Miss America CEO Sam Haskell that disparaged former pageant contestants, making vulgar references to their weight and personal lives. Due to the release of these emails to the public, Haskell and several other board members resigned from their positions. Laura Zúñiga , former Miss Hispanic America, was detained with her boyfriend and six other people, and charged with racketeering, drug trafficking, weapons violations, and money laundering. When apprehended, they had multiple handguns and roughly $ 53,000 in cash. At
6030-455: The rights to broadcast mass appeal sporting events like cricket and horse racing . This new direction increased ratings and revenues. The popularity of Big Brother led to the launches of other, shorter-lived new reality shows to chase the populist audience, such as The Salon , Shattered and Space Cadets . In addition, the corporation launched several new television channels through its new 4Ventures offshoot, including Film4 , At
6120-434: The sale of Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel's chief executive, Alex Mahon, expressed disappointment at this, saying that its vision for the future was "rooted in continued public ownership". In January 2023, Michelle Donelan confirmed that the plans to sell Channel 4 were scrapped and that it would remain in public ownership for the foreseeable future. Channel 4 was established with, and continues to hold,
6210-468: The second commercial channel became a reality. One benefit of the late arrival of the channel was that its frequency allocations at each transmitter had already been arranged in the early 1960s when the launch of an "ITV2" was anticipated. This led to good coverage across most of the country and few problems of interference with other UK-based transmissions; a stark contrast to the difficulties associated with Channel 5 's launch almost 15 years later. At
6300-691: The selection of a May Queen . In the United States, the May Day tradition of selecting a woman to serve as a symbol of beauty and community ideals continued, as young, beautiful women participated in public celebrations. The first known beauty pageant was the Belle of the Anna-Ball , a Hungarian traditional beauty pageant, first held in Balatonfüred in 1825. The contest is still being held there on Anna's Day (Anna napja) on 26 July. A beauty pageant
6390-530: The shapes from the logo in various forms. Four new idents were filmed by Jonathan Glazer , which featured the shapes in various real-world scenes depicting the "discovery" and "origins" of the shapes. The full logo was still occasionally used, but primarily for off-air marketing. Channel 4 also commissioned two new corporate typefaces, "Chadwick", and "Horseferry" (a variation of Chadwick with the aforementioned shapes incorporated into its letter forms), for use across promotional material and on-air. In June 2017, it
6480-589: The station passed from the Channel Four Television Company to the Channel Four Television Corporation in 1993, a shift in broadcasting style took place. Instead of aiming for minority tastes, it began to focus on the edges of the mainstream, and the centre of the mass market itself. It began to show many American programmes in peak viewing time, far more than it had previously done. In September 1993,
6570-592: The swimsuit competition after 97 years. In 2017, Carousel Productions was criticized for objectifying women during the Miss Earth 2017 competition where delegates wore swimsuits during the event with their faces concealed by a veil in the Beauty of Figure and Form, a segment first introduced in the Miss Philippines Earth 2017 pageant. It was one of the three preliminary judging segments of
6660-471: The time the fourth service was being considered, a movement in Wales lobbied for the creation of dedicated service that would air Welsh language programmes, then only catered for at off-peak times on BBC Wales and HTV . The campaign was taken so seriously by Gwynfor Evans , former president of Plaid Cymru , that he threatened the government with a hunger strike were it not to honour the plans. The result
6750-676: The time, the only other channels were the licence -funded BBC1 and BBC2 , and a single commercial broadcasting network, ITV . Originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport , which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. Until 2010, Channel 4 did not broadcast in Wales , but many of its programmes were re-broadcast there by
6840-805: The title awarded at the time was known as "Miss Universe". The event was discontinued in the United States in 1932 because of the Depression (the international competition was revived briefly in Belgium). The popularity of the Miss America pageant prompted other organizations to establish similar contests in the 1950s and beyond. Some were significant while others were trivial, such as the National Donut Queen contest. The Miss World contest started in 1951, Miss Universe started in 1952, as did Miss USA . Miss International started in 1960. Miss Asia Pacific International , which started in 1968,
6930-426: The winners of local newspaper beauty contests in the "Inter-City Beauty" Contest, attended by over one hundred thousand people. Sixteen-year-old Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., was crowned Miss America 1921, having won both the popularity and beauty contests, and was awarded $ 100. In May 1920, promoter C.E. Barfield of Galveston, Texas organized a new event known as "Splash Day" on the island. The event featured
7020-473: The words of activist Leslie Hall, "challenge the notion of beauty" and "reject the charity ethic." High profile demonstrations led to some charities abandoning their use of such contests for fundraising and also saw some remove offensive language from their organisational titles. Another criticism is in the way beauty pageant is quantifiably scored as highlighted by the "Myth of the Perfect 10". Beauty becomes
7110-740: Was Richard Whiteley , with Ted Moult being the second. The first woman on the channel, contrary to popular belief, was not Whiteley's Countdown co-host Carol Vorderman , but a lexicographer only ever identified as Mary. Whiteley opened the show with the words: "As the countdown to a brand new channel ends, a brand new countdown begins." On its first day, Channel 4 also broadcast the soap opera Brookside , which often ran storylines thought to be controversial; this ran until 2003. After three days, ITV chiefs called for founding chief executive Jeremy Isaacs to resign due to poor ratings. Critics called it "Channel Bore" and "Channel Snore". At its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to
7200-567: Was a controversial aspect of the various competitions. The controversy was heightened with the increasing popularity of the bikini after its introduction in 1946. The bikini was banned for the Miss America contest in 1947 because of Roman Catholic protesters. When the Miss World contest started in 1951, there was an outcry when the winner was crowned in a bikini. Pope Pius XII condemned the crowning as sinful, and countries with religious traditions threatened to withdraw delegates. The bikini
7290-662: Was announced that Alex Mahon would be the next chief executive, and would take over from David Abraham , who left in November 2017. On 31 October 2017, Channel 4 introduced a new series of idents continuing the theme, this time depicting the logo shapes as having formed into an anthropomorphic "giant" character. On 25 September 2021, Channel 4 and several of its sub-channels went off air after an incident at Red Bee Media's playout centre in west London. Channel 4, More4 , Film4 , E4 , 4Music , The Box , Box Hits , Kiss , Magic and Kerrang! stopped transmitting, but 4seven
7380-469: Was announced that Channel 4's digital switch-over costs would be paid for by licence fee revenues. In July 2007, Channel 4 paid £28 million for a 50% stake in the TV business of British media company EMAP , which had seven music video channels. On 15 August 2008, 4Music was launched across the UK. Channel 4 announced interest in launching a high-definition version of Film4 on Freeview, to coincide with
7470-418: Was banned for future and other contests. It was not until the late 1990s that they became permitted again, but still generated controversy when finals were held in countries where bikinis (or swimsuits in general) were socially disapproved. For example, in 2003, Vida Samadzai from Afghanistan caused an uproar in her native country when she participated in the Miss Earth 2003 contest in a red bikini. She
7560-587: Was condemned by the Afghan Supreme Court , saying such a display of the female body goes against Islamic law and Afghan culture . In 2013, the swimsuit round of the Miss World contest was dropped because of Islamist protests in Bali ( Indonesia ), where the contest took place. In 2014, the Miss World contest eliminated the swimsuit competition from its pageant. In 2018, Miss America eliminated
7650-645: Was criticised by the National Deaf Children's Society, which complained to the broadcasting watchdog. A new subtitling, signing and audio description system had to be built from scratch. The service eventually began to return at the end of October. In June 2022 after a six-month long investigation, Ofcom found that Channel 4 had breached its broadcast licence conditions on two grounds: Missing its subtitles quota on Freesat for 2021 and failure to effectively communicate with affected audiences. On 23 December 2021, Jon Snow presented Channel 4 News for
7740-551: Was held during the Eglinton Tournament of 1839, organized by Archibald Montgomerie, 13th Earl of Eglinton , as part of a re-enactment of a medieval joust that was held in Scotland. The pageant was won by Georgiana Seymour, Duchess of Somerset , the wife of Edward Seymour, 12th Duke of Somerset , and sister of Caroline Norton , and she was proclaimed as the "Queen of Beauty". Beauty contests became more popular in
7830-886: Was made on the competition with articles appearing in local and regional media and radio, but also had national coverage in guardian.co.uk and the three of finalists appeared on Loose Women bringing on Julie Goodyear . The grand final was held on Saturday 10 December at Mission 2 in Leeds. Judges included Kieron Richardson from Hollyoaks, Rob Gunn from the competition's sponsor Manhunt and photographer Jay Eff. Presenters have included Dannii Minogue , Lily Savage , Jason Donovan , Mark Little , Robbie Williams , Jane McDonald , Terry George (entrepreneur) , Richard Newman , Nadia Almada , Brian Dowling and Philip Olivier and judges have included Jean Paul Gaultier , Michael Cashman , Danny La Rue , Scott Neal , Lea Walker , Jonathan Kerrigan , Su Pollard and Christopher Biggins . In 2007,
7920-517: Was not impacted. The incident still affected a number of the channels by 30 September. The London Fire Brigade confirmed that a gas fire prevention system at the site had been activated, but firefighters found no sign of fire. Activation of the fire suppression system caused catastrophic damage to some systems, such as Channel 4's subtitles, signing, and audio description system. An emergency backup subtitling system also failed, leaving Channel 4 unable to provide access services to viewers. This situation
8010-504: Was that Channel 4 as seen by the rest of the United Kingdom would be replaced in Wales by S4C (Sianel Pedwar Cymru, meaning "Channel Four Wales" in Welsh). Operated by a specially created authority , S4C would air programmes in Welsh made by HTV, the BBC and independent companies. Initially, limited frequency space meant that Channel 4 could not be broadcast alongside S4C, though some Channel 4 programmes would be aired at less popular times on
8100-494: Was the first titleholder of the pageant from Japan to be dethroned shortly before the end of her reign. She was ordered by the International Culture Association (Miss International organizer) to skip the succession ceremony and "play sick and shut up" out of fear of scandal. The Miss International organizer cited the reason for her dethronement was due to her involvement in a contract dispute with
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