Channel 4 have announced that they will be making their E4 entertainment channel a proper Freeview channel at the end of May, meaning it will be free to access to anyone with a Freeview terrestrial digital TV box thing.
E4, which combines first airings of Channel 4's premiere shows with a steady supply of programmes from the network's comedy and entertainment archives, has, until now, been a pay-to-view service, accessible via Sky, NTL, Telewest or the Freeview premium channel service, Top Up TV. However from the end of May it will become a completely free to air channel (well, on Freeview anyway, it will still only appear in the premium packages on Sky).
Plans to make E4 free to air were first revealed earlier this year as part of Channel 4's "long-term" digital strategy, however few expected it to happen so soon, even when Crown Castle announced they were selling one of their spare Freeview channel slots to the network. It seems likely Channel 4 has fast tracked the decision so the free-to-air launch can coincide with the new Big Brother series. E4, of course, carries round the clock coverage of the Big Brother house, and C4 bosses will be hoping that will help the channel to win a big audience as soon as it arrives as a proper Freeview channel.