The channel initially had no Belgian broadcasting license and was transmitted via London (actually from NTL's transmission station at Brookmans Park in Hertfordshire).

There was initially mass refusal from the Flemish authorities, considering that VTM gained an 18-year monopoly for advertising.

In reaction, Minister of Culture Hugo Weckx initially banned the broadcast of VT4 on Belgian cable in January 1995, under the grounds that, although the channel was licensed in Europe, it should be under the protection of the Flemish legislation.

[1] The issue over whether or not cable operators should add VT4 led to numerous other lawsuits,[2] among them one by Turner regarding the carriage of Cartoon Network/TNT and CNN.

But like Ka2, the initial format failed as the Flemish market was not ready for non-mainstream networks, causing the channels to switch to primarily American imports on the cheap.

[6] In the summer of 1995, coinciding with the change, the channel hired John McCready (formerly of Television New Zealand) who achieved success in six months.

[7][8] Successes included The Jerry Springer Show (which in the summer of 1998 attracted VT4's largest audience share to date at the time)[9] and erotic programming.

It carried the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which was complemented by sister channel VIJFtv's female-centric output for the period.

VT4 HD was launched as a temporary high-definition channel on June 7, 2008, to coincide with the kick-off of UEFA Euro 2008.