 The company was founded in 1982 as Channel Four Television Company Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the IBA, and became an independent statutory corporation in 1993.November 1998 saw Channel Four expand beyond its remit of providing the 'fourth service' in a significant way, with the launch of FilmFour.Since then the corporation has been involved in a range of other activities, all in some way associated with the main channel, and mainly using the '4' brand.