In what ways has Channel 4 altered the landscape of British television broadcasting for its competitors?

The main characteristic of Channel 4's broadcasting life is, as John Ellis highlights, a marked shift from offer-led to demand-led television. Channel 4 can without question be seen as crucial in 'breaking open the habits of the era of scarcity, in leading the development away from concepts of balance and towards that of diversity of view'. This policy, despite the channel's difficulties, has proved successful, and has moved the goalposts of British broadcasting as a whole …

…landscape of British television broadcasting greatly for its competitors. What may indeed prove Channel 4's undoing now was its strength in those early days - the age of availability decrees we can now watch what we like when we like - digital TV allows us the choice of an almost infinite number of channels serving any particular minority interest. It is true that Channel 4 must adapt or risk losing even more of their audience share.