Channel 4 API
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For Agents
Look up Channel 4 brands, series, episodes, on-demand availability, and category-filtered listings as Atom feeds. Useful for building EPG features, TV recommendation tools, and programme search agents.
Use for: Find all Channel 4 dramas available on demand, List episodes that aired on a specific date, Get the most popular brands in the comedy category, Retrieve recently added videos to the 4oD on-demand catalog
Not supported: Does not handle live video streaming, user accounts, watch-history personalisation, or playback DRM - use for read-only programme metadata and listings only.
The Channel 4 Programme Metadata Lookup Service Data (PMLSD) API exposes the broadcaster's programme catalog as Atom feeds covering brands, series, episodes, recently-added content, A-Z indexes, categories, and on-demand availability. It is the same data layer that powers Channel 4's electronic programme guide, with read-only endpoints scoped by category, channel, and date. The API is read-only and is intended for building TV listings, recommendation engines, and programme discovery experiences.
Install Jentic One Beta
Connect the Channel 4 API to your agent
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Channel 4 API, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.
Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.
1
Step 1: Jentic One Host machine
# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fchannel4.com%2Fchannel4" | sh2
Step 2: Agent machine
# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL "https://jentic.com/install.sh?src=apis&api=%2Fapis%2Fchannel4.com%2Fchannel4" | sh
jentic register # connects your agent to your Jentic One instanceJentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.
Capabilities
What an agent can do with Channel 4 API.
Browse the full Channel 4 brand catalog by popularity, category, or A-Z index via /brands and /atoz endpoints
Fetch episode lists for a given calendar date through /4od/episode-list/date/{yyyy}/{mm}/{dd}.atom
Retrieve recently-added on-demand titles using /4od/recently-added/videos.atom
Filter programme listings by category and channel slot via /categories/{category}/channel/{channel} routes
Pull individual episode and series metadata for a specific brand including synopsis and broadcast information
Page through long programme lists using the /page-{pageno} suffix on every browsable feed
Use Cases
Patterns agents use Channel 4 API for, with concrete tasks.
★ TV Listings and EPG Apps
TV guide apps and smart-TV interfaces use the Channel 4 API to surface what is on the broadcaster's linear channels and the 4oD on-demand catalog. Endpoints like /4od/episode-list/date/{yyyy}/{mm}/{dd}.atom return everything that aired or was added on a given day, while /categories/{category}/channel/{channel}.atom narrows by genre and channel for grid-style listings.
Fetch /4od/episode-list/date/2026/06/10.atom and parse the returned Atom feed into a structured listings array
Programme Discovery and Recommendation
Recommendation engines surface relevant Channel 4 programmes by combining popularity feeds, category filters, and A-Z navigation. Calls to /brands/popular.atom and /categories/{category}.atom give a baseline of trending and topical content, while /atoz/{start_letter}.atom supports A-Z browsing experiences in second-screen apps.
Pull /brands/popular.atom for the top 10 brands and cross-reference each against /categories/drama.atom to surface popular dramas
Catalog Sync for Smart TV and Set-Top Boxes
Smart-TV vendors and set-top box integrators sync the Channel 4 catalog into their own metadata stores so they can present unified search and watch-now interfaces. Paged feeds like /brands/4od/page-{pageno}.atom let the integrator chunk through the catalog reliably, while /4od/recently-added/videos.atom keeps incremental syncs lightweight.
Iterate /brands/4od/page-1.atom through /brands/4od/page-{n}.atom until exhausted, then fetch /4od/recently-added/videos.atom for the daily delta
Conversational TV Discovery via Jentic
An AI agent can answer questions like 'what comedies are on Channel 4 tonight' by selecting the right Atom feed through Jentic. The agent searches Jentic for the listings operation, loads the relevant categories or date endpoint, and parses the response, all without holding the API key directly.
Search Jentic for 'list channel 4 episodes on a date', call /4od/episode-list/date/2026/06/10.atom, and summarise the comedy entries
Key Endpoints
68 endpoints — the channel 4 programme metadata lookup service data (pmlsd) api exposes the broadcaster's programme catalog as atom feeds covering brands, series, episodes, recently-added content, a-z indexes, categories, and on-demand availability.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
GET
/4od/episode-list/date/{yyyy}/{mm}/{dd}.atom
Episodes available on a specific date
GET
/4od/recently-added/videos.atom
Most recently added 4oD titles
GET
/brands/popular.atom
Most popular brands across the catalog
GET
/atoz/{start_letter}.atom
A-Z brand listings filtered by starting letter
GET
/categories.atom
List all available programme categories
GET
/categories/{category}/4od.atom
On-demand titles within a category
GET
/4od/episode-list/popular.atom
Most popular on-demand episodes
GET
/4od/episode-list/date/{yyyy}/{mm}/{dd}.atom
Episodes available on a specific date
GET
/4od/recently-added/videos.atom
Most recently added 4oD titles
GET
/brands/popular.atom
Most popular brands across the catalog
GET
/atoz/{start_letter}.atom
A-Z brand listings filtered by starting letter
GET
/categories.atom
List all available programme categories
GET
/categories/{category}/4od.atom
On-demand titles within a category
GET
/4od/episode-list/popular.atom
Most popular on-demand episodes
Why Jentic?
What agents get from Jentic-routed access to this vendor.
Setup
Wiring the Channel 4 API by hand means passing the apikey in the query string on every Atom-feed request, where it can leak into logs and referrers, and building the feed URLs yourself. Through Jentic you install once, import Channel 4 from the API Directory, store the key once, and your agent calls it.
Permission scoping
The Channel 4 API is read-only over programme metadata and listings, so limit the agent to the operations it needs, such as listing episodes by date or browsing popular brands. You choose which operations it may call, and the feeds expose no write or account operations to grant.
Credential isolation
Your Channel 4 apikey is stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and appended to the request at execution time. It never enters the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'list channel 4 episodes by date' or 'browse popular channel 4 brands', and Jentic returns the matching Channel 4 operation with its input schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.
Related APIs
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
FAQs
Specific to using Channel 4 API through Jentic.
What authentication does the Channel 4 API use?
The Channel 4 PMLSD API uses an apikey passed as a query string parameter on every request. When called through Jentic, the apikey is held encrypted in your Jentic One instance and injected only at execution time.
Can I get a list of episodes that aired on a specific day with the Channel 4 API?
Yes. Call GET /4od/episode-list/date/{yyyy}/{mm}/{dd}.atom with the date in the URL path. The response is an Atom feed listing every episode tied to that broadcast or publish date.
What format does the Channel 4 API return?
Every endpoint returns Atom XML, not JSON. Plan your parser around the Atom 1.0 schema with Channel 4's namespace extensions for series, brand, and on-demand availability fields.
What are the rate limits for the Channel 4 API?
Channel 4 does not publish a public rate limit for PMLSD. Treat it as a metadata API and cache responses where possible: brand and category lists change daily at most, while /4od/recently-added/videos.atom is the right poll target for fresh content.
How do I browse Channel 4 dramas through Jentic?
Install jentic with pip install jentic, search for 'list channel 4 programmes by category', load the schema for /categories/drama.atom, and execute. Run Jentic One, the self-hosted execution layer, to issue an agent API key.
Does the Channel 4 API support paging for long lists?
Yes. Most browsable endpoints have a /page-{pageno}.atom variant - for example /brands/4od/page-2.atom - so callers can iterate through the full catalog without overrunning a single response.
Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the Channel 4 API?
Yes. Because the Channel 4 API is read-only over programme metadata, you run Jentic One yourself and your own rules decide which operations the agent may call, such as listing episodes by date or browsing popular brands while blocking the rest. The feeds expose no write or account operations, so the agent can only read the listings you allow. Your Channel 4 apikey stays with your self-hosted instance and is added to the request at execution time, never reaching the agent's prompt or logs.
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