Broadcast Prism — Channel 4

How much the agenda changed

Reactive

46.9% day-to-day change

This channel changes its topic mix sharply from day to day, often moving quickly between categories.

Stories this channel missed

Several missed

64 missed stories recorded

Number of times this broadcaster did not cover stories that several other channels covered.

Time spent on news stories

78% of analysed airtime

76h 2m of this channel's 97h 10m analysed was identified news stories — ad breaks, weather, sport and trails count as “not news”.

Recent broadcasts

View all Channel 4 broadcasts →

The latest broadcasts behind this channel's analysis — open one to see its annotated timeline.

Thursday 22 October 2026 · 19:00 BST

Channel 4 News

Channel 4 News began with a major cyber security alert after researchers using artificial intelligence found a serious vulnerability in the PHP programming language used by most websites. More than 30 UK government services were taken offline as a precaution, and organisations worldwide rushed to apply a fix after details leaked; the National Cyber Security Centre said it was not aware of any confirmed compromise of central government systems, while Defence Secretary Wes Streeting warned the public and businesses to prepare for general cyber attacks, state-sponsored terrorism and natural disasters.

7 stories · 55m

Thursday 22 October 2026 · 12:05 BST

Channel 4 News Summary

Cyber experts reported a massive surge in hacking attempts after a critical security flaw was exposed that could affect millions of websites. Governments and companies around the world are scrambling to patch vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language used by around 70% of websites, with the flaws having lurked in the software for years and been discovered by a researcher using AI. Barclays said it expects to cut around 5,000 staff, 5% of its workforce, by the end of the year as AI makes the bank more efficient; around 1,000 roles were cut in the first half of the year, with the rest spread over the second half.

6 stories · 5m

Wednesday 21 October 2026 · 19:00 BST

Channel 4 News

The broadcast reported the government's approval of the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea, which ministers said would improve energy security, support jobs and generate tax revenue for a new Energy Wealth Fund, while climate protesters and opponents said it would not cut household bills or materially improve energy security. It noted that Jackdaw would not affect domestic bills, that the Prime Minister had asked the Energy Secretary to examine scrapping standing charges on gas, and that a decision on the larger Rosebank oil field was pending. It also reported inflation rising to 3.5% in September, examined pressure on the electricity grid and the cost of the transition, and interviewed Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh about the decision, climate commitments and an immigration row.

6 stories · 55m

Wednesday 21 October 2026 · 12:05 BST

Channel 4 News Summary

The government approved gas extraction from the Jackdaw field in the North Sea. Environmentalists condemned the move, saying it would contribute to global heating carbon emissions, while ministers announced a fund to direct North Sea tax revenues into green energy schemes and said Jackdaw could supply British homes within weeks. The approval ended months of speculation; owner Adura said the field could deliver around 6% of UK North Sea gas production.

4 stories · 5m

On screen

Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.

Broadcast still at 17m 30s. Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026. — Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026

Broadcast still at 48m. Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026. — Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026

Broadcast still at 34m. Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026. — Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026

Broadcast still at 25m 30s. Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026. — Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026

Broadcast still at 13m 30s. Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026. — Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026

Broadcast still at 6m. Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026. — Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026

Broadcast still at 38m 30s. Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026. — Channel 4, Channel 4 News, 22 October 2026

Broadcast still at 2m. Channel 4, Channel 4 News Summary, 22 October 2026. — Channel 4, Channel 4 News Summary, 22 October 2026

Repeatedly missed categories

Categories where this broadcaster often missed stories that other channels covered.

Category trend (last 30 days)

How this channel's coverage changed by category over the past month.

Flagged quotes over time

Contested and charged quotes per hour of analysed airtime. Flagged quotes reflect the language this broadcaster aired, not a judgement of its accuracy.

News agenda by category

How this channel divided its coverage compared with the cross-channel average.

Timeline

This channel's topic coverage day by day — what it ran, and how much time each story got.

How much the agenda changed

Stories this channel missed

Time spent on news stories

Recent broadcasts

On screen

Repeatedly missed categories

Category trend (last 30 days)

Flagged quotes over time

News agenda by category

Timeline

Topics covered

Stories missed

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Reform UK

Topics covered

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Death Penalty

Ukraine

Topics covered