Available only to digital subscribers, BBC Four broadcasts just slightly less than half of each day, sharing its band-width with CBeebies. BBC Four evolved from the old BBC Knowledge, and it honors its provenance by maintaining the BBC's highest intellectual standards. Although most of its programs are repeated or borrowed from elsewhere, its license requires at least 100 hours of original programming each year, and the network far exceeds the legal minimum. BBC Four gained distinction as the first network to air Curb Your Enthusiasm, and it scored critical praise for bravely airing the razor-edged political satire The Thick of It. Many loyal BBC One viewers switch to BBC Four for its nightly news broadcast, World News Today, which creams the best of BBC reporting, delivering a comprehensive report of global and national events in a tight format designed to accommodate work-a-day viewers just as they arrive home from work. Film fanatics appreciate BBC Four's dedication to vintage dramas, especially praising its fine catalogue of rare back-and-white films; and they admire BBC Four's support of foreign language films via the network's annual World Cinema Awards.

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