E4

E4 is a British digital television channel launched as a companion to Channel 4 in January 2001. The "E" officially stands for entertainment (although it can also be seen as a sly reference to the drug Ecstasy), and the channel is mainly aimed at the lucrative 18 - 35 age group. Programming includes US imports such as Friends, ER, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and The West Wing, sometimes premiering on E4 before being broadcast on Channel 4, plus lots of home-grown chat and reality shows. It should be noted that since the launch of E4, premium American imports such as those mentioned above will often be screened in advance of their showing on Channel 4. The delay appears to scale with popularity, that is to say that ER will be 2 weeks ahead on E4, Sopranos a month, Six Feet Under several months, and The West Wing several years. The last West Wing shown on Channel 4 was the third season.

Every year, whilst the Big Brother game show airs, E4 devotes much of its schedule to Big Brother programming such as live coverage from inside the house, interactive features that give access to additional camera angles within the house, Big Brother voting options and Big Brother "catch up" shows (i.e., repeats). Big Brother coverage is among the highest rating programming on the channel, and comes at a time when most of the years American imports have ended.