Mr Abraham's appointment follows the departure in November of the broadcaster's previous chief executive, Andy Duncan.
Mr Duncan's position had, however, looked increasingly untenable ever since June, and the publication of the Government's Digital Britain white paper. Digital Britain offered no financial relief to the cash-strapped Channel 4 despite fierce lobbying from Mr Duncan.
Mr Abraham's appointment coincides with the end of Luke Johnson's term as Channel 4 chairman. Mr Johnson hands over to the new chairman, Lord (Terry) Burns, next week. Both Mr Johnson and Lord Burns sat on the interview panel that appointed Mr Abraham.
Lord Burns said: "David is a rare commodity as a broadcaster in that he has an exceptional track record as an innovative leader, both creatively and commercially.
"At all stages of his career he's led creative teams and commissioned creative output of the highest quality in a commercial environment. It is that experience, we believe, that so well qualifies him for the challenge of running a commercially-funded, public service broadcaster like Channel 4."
Mr Abraham has been chief executive of UKTV, the pay-TV joint venture between BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media, since April 2007. During that time, he has rebranded UKTV's portfolio of channels – most notably turning UKTV G2 into Dave, which has proved a huge commercial and ratings success. Prior to joining UKTV, he had been general manager of Discovery Networks UK and then president and general manager of TLC in the US.
At Channel 4, he will be paid a basic salary of £490,000, compared with Mr Duncan's £580,000, though Mr Abraham will also be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 50pc of his basic salary.
In common with other commercial broadcasters, Channel 4 faces a difficult financial future as online competitors such as Google compete ever more fiercely for advertising revenue.
With Mr Duncan's bid for increased support from the Government having failed, the broadcaster is now focusing on maximising its commercial revenues.
Channel 4's head of programming, Julian Bellamy, has recently been briefing independent producers that the broadcaster's commissioning process will increasingly rely on input from his commercial colleagues.
According to The Independent and The Telegraph, British television channel Channel 4 appointed David Abraham as the new chief executive of the channel on Friday. Abraham has been chief executive of UKTV, an organisation owned between BBC Worldwide and Virgin Media Television, since April 2007. He was also famous for creating the marketing slogan for the television channel Dave: "Everybody knows a bloke called Dave." As well as this, David was previously the general manager and president of The Learning Channel, which is currently owned by Discovery Communications. 

Abraham was given the appointment as chief executive of Channel 4 after the previous chief executive of the channel, Andy Duncan, departed from his position in November 2009. At around the same time that David Abraham becomes chief executive of the channel, Luke Johnson's time on the channel is due to come to an end, after it was reported in November 2009 that Lord Terence Burns was confirmed to take over his position as chairman of Channel 4. When Abraham was appointed, both Burns and Johnson were part of the interview panel.

"David is a rare commodity as a broadcaster in that he has an exceptional track record as an innovative leader, both creatively and commercially," Lord Burns noted about Abraham. "At all stages of his career he's led creative teams and commissioned creative output of the highest quality in a commercial environment. It is that experience, we believe, that so well qualifies him for the challenge of running a commercially-funded, public service broadcaster like Channel 4."

David Abraham commented: "I look forward to leading the whole organisation through its next period of growth and innovation, both creatively and commercially. What I bring...is idealism, versatility and a record of leading creative organisations through change."