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Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited

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This article is about the television channel operator and media company. For the flagship television station operated by the company, see Channel 5 (British TV channel).
Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryMass media
Founded17 January 1996; 28 years ago (1996-01-17)[1]
Headquarters17–29 Hawley Crescent,
London
,
England
Area served
Key people
Ben Frow (Chief Content Officer, UK at Paramount)
ParentParamount Networks UK & Australia
Websiteparamount.com/brand/channel-5

Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited is a British media company and wholly-owned subsidiary of American media conglomerate Paramount Global, as part of its UK and Australia division. Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 5, however it now also consists of four other digital channels and its own streaming service.

History

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Further information: Timeline of Channel 5

Launch

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Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited was licensed by the UK's then-independent statutory regulator the Independent Television Commission (ITC) in 1995 after a bidding process that started in 1993 and lasted throughout 1994. The initial round of bidders, which included a network of Citytv stations planned by Thames Television and the Italian politician and media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi[2][3] (who founded MFE - MediaForEurope, which owns Canale 5 and formerly owned La Cinq, which ceased operations in 1992; he retired his offer a few months later),[4] was rejected outright and the ITC contemplated not awarding the licence at all.

The difficulty with the project lay in use of television broadcast frequencies that had been allocated to RF outputs from domestic videocassette recorders. To achieve national coverage, large numbers of domestic video recorders (which output at a nearby frequency) had to be retuned or fitted with a filter, at the bidding company's expense.

The project was revived in mid-1994 when the ITC re-advertised the franchise. Tom McGrath, then-president of Time Warner International Broadcasting, put together a revised frequency plan with NTL and consulting engineer Ellis Griffiths, involving less retuning and greater signal coverage. Lord Hollick, then chief executive of Meridian Broadcasting (later United News & Media, and UBM) took up the project as lead investor as UK law prohibited Time Warner from owning more than 25%. Pearson Television, who by now owned original licence bidders Thames Television, also came on board. When McGrath left to become President of Paramount, Time Warner dropped out of the project and was replaced by the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Télédiffusion (CLT, known in the UK for Radio Luxembourg under CLT's former name of the Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Radiodiffusion, CLR). Other bidders for the licence included UKTV (led by Canwest and Select TV, who bid £36m for the licence), New Century Television (owned by BSkyB and Granada, who bid £2m), Virgin TV (backed by Virgin Communications) and Associated Newspapers (who bid £22m, the same as Channel 5 Broadcasting who won the licence).[5]

A series of pre-launch screens were displayed on the frequencies Channel 5 would begin broadcasting on in the months before launch as well, including a trailer for the channel and information screens.[6] After re-tuning, around 65% of the population's televisions could view the channel on launch night.

Growth and merger talks (2000–2010)

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On 27 February 2004, it was reported that Five and Channel 4 were discussing a possible merger. Channel 4 and Five announced in November of that year that merger plans were being called off.[7] Pearson Television and CLT (which by that time merged with the television businesses of Bertelsmann's UFA to form CLT-UFA) later merged, becoming RTL Group which became part of Bertelsmann and therefore owned the channel, after buying UBM's 35.4% stake for £247.6 million on 20 July 2005. The acquisition was approved on 26 August 2005. After Holleck became involved, he and McGrath brought on board Greg Dyke (later Director-General of the BBC) as interim CEO during the application and launch phase of the project.

On 18 November 2005, it was announced that Five had bought a stake in DTT's pay-TV operator, Top Up TV. It was said that the investment may lead to the development of new free and pay services on DTT, and other platforms.[8]

Following this, Five launched two new digital TV channels in autumn 2006 on Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media:[9] Early in 2009, rumours started re-surfacing about Five, Channel 4 and ITV conducting a three-way merger.[10] Talks continued into 2010, with and without ITV, however nothing came to fruition. [11]

Northern & Shell takeover (2010–2011)

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Five was taken over by Richard Desmond's publishing group Northern & Shell on 23 July 2010 for £103.5 million.[12][13][14] Desmond pledged to top up the broadcaster's total budget to about £1.5bn over the next five years, including new investment of £50m to £100m a year to boost programming and the equivalent of £20m promoting the channel and its shows in a marketing campaign in Northern & Shell publications.[15] The takeover was partly motivated by the opportunities for cross-promotion of Five from Desmond's newspapers (Daily Express and Daily Star) and magazines (including OK!). One commentator warned that "readers will be bombarded with references to Five. The opportunity for cross-promotion between his publications and TV channel are enormous."[16]

Sale to Viacom and Paramount changes (2014–present)

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In January 2014, it was reported that Richard Desmond was looking at selling Channel 5 for up to £700 million.[17] BT and Viacom[18] were all bidders reportedly interested in acquiring Channel 5.

On 1 May 2014, Desmond agreed to sell Channel 5 to Viacom for £450 million (US$759 million).[19] The deal was approved on 10 September 2014 and at the same time it was announced that it was to co-commission programmes with its pay channels such as Nickelodeon and MTV.[20] On 15 April 2015, Channel 5 launched a British version of the American cable channel Spike (which would become rebranded as 5Spike, before taking on the Paramount Network name on Freeview channel 32).[21] On 1 August 2015, Channel 5's five advertising regions: London, South/Central England and Wales, Northern England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland were closed with Viacom considering them financially unviable. The closure of the advertising regions allowed Channel 5 HD for Sky HD viewers to swap with the standard-definition version of Channel 5 on the EPG.[22]

Under Viacom, the channel planned to increase its original programming output, increasing its budget by 10%. On 11 February 2016, Channel 5 also unveiled an overhauled brand, meant to reflect a new remit of "Spirited TV with an Emotional Heart".[23]

In December 2019, Viacom re-merged with CBS Corporation, forming ViacomCBS and making Channel 5 a sister to CBS in the United States and Network 10 in Australia. Since January 2020, the channels operate under the ViacomCBS Networks UK & Australia subsidiary (with the British CBS channels and Horror being part of a joint-venture with AMC).[24] Channel 5 received Channel of the Year honours from the Royal Television Society and Broadcast Awards in 2020, with judges for both recognising the network's expansion under ViacomCBS.[25][26]

In August 2021, ViacomCBS Networks International agreed a deal with Comcast Corporation's Sky Group[27][28][29] to launch the Paramount+ streaming service in various European markets via Sky's set-top boxes[30] and devices.[31] As there could have been the situation where a premium pay streaming service with the Paramount name was operating in a marketplace where there was a free-to-air Paramount television channel offering emergency service reality TV shows, wrestling and action B-movies, it was decided to rename the channel (which had previously merged with 5Spike) as 5Action,[32] with the change due to take place on 19 January 2022.[33] The rebrand, to realign Freeview channel 32 with that of its parent channel once again, was announced in December 2021, around the same time that it was announced that Channel 5 had joined Digital UK (now Everyone TV), the organisation responsible for Freeview and Freesat, becoming the last of the UK's major Public Service Broadcasters to join the body.[34][35][36]

Operations

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Channels

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Channel Type Launched Purpose
Channel 5 Free-to-air public broadcast television channel 30 March 1997 Fifth national terrestrial channel in the United Kingdom
5Action Wholly owned 19 January 2022 Was originally launched on 4 July 2018 as Paramount Network before rebrand. Programming focuses on action, crime and professional wrestling
5Select 13 February 2018 Was originally launched as Channel 5 +24 on 4 February 2014. Became My5 on 10 August 2016 before current rebrand. Programming focuses on documentaries, arts, dramas, comedies and Channel 5 original content.[37][38]
5Star 11 February 2016 Was originally launched as Five Life in 2006. Became Fiver in 2008 & then 5* in 2011 before current rebrand. Programming focuses on documentaries, comedies & dramas.
5USA 7 March 2011 Was originally launched as Five US on 16 October 2006. Became Five USA on 16 February 2009 before current rebrand. Programming focuses on imported movies and programmes from the United States.

My5

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My5 Logo
Main article: My5

My5 (previously Five Download and later Demand 5) is the brand name of video-on-demand services offered by Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. The service went live on 26 June 2008.[39]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "CHANNEL 5 BROADCASTING LIMITED". Companies House. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Berlusconi tenta la carta inglese pronto per l' asta di Channel Five con Mike Bolland tra gli alleati" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. 28 February 1992. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  3. ^ "Berlusconi fa l' Inglese: nel mirino 'Channel 5'" (in Italian). la Repubblica. 28 February 1992. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  4. ^ "BERLUSCONI rinuncia anche a Channel 5" (in Italian). la Repubblica. 7 May 1992. Retrieved 17 June 2009.
  5. ^ "Channel Five Bidding Closes". ITN. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  6. ^ "Channel 5 (UK) Pre-Launch Promo [1997]". 23 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 7 January 2011 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ Gibson, Janine (2004-02-27). "Channel 4 in talks with Five over merger". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  8. ^ "RTL Group announces strategic relationship between Five and Top Up TV" (Press release). RTL Group. 18 November 2005. Archived from the original on 4 July 2006. Retrieved 4 September 2006.
  9. ^ "Five unveils digital TV channels". BBC News. 5 June 2006. Retrieved 12 October 2006.
  10. ^ Helen Power and Patrick Foster "ITV floats idea of merger with Channel 4 and Five", Times Online, 25 February 2009
  11. ^ Busfield, Steve (2010-03-26). "Why would Channel 4 buy Five?". The Guardian. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
  12. ^ "UK: Media tycoon Desmond seals deal for Five". The Spy Report. Media Spy. 24 July 2010. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  13. ^ Robinson, James (23 July 2010). "Richard Desmond promises Channel Five 'investment, drive and leadership'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  14. ^ "RTL Group sells UK broadcaster Five" (Press release). RTL Group. 23 July 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
  15. ^ Sweney, Mark (27 July 2010). "Channel 5 chief reassures staff as experts question strategy". The Guardian. London.
  16. ^ Chris Blackhurst Get ready Channel 5, Richard Desmond is on his way Evening Standard, 26 July 2010
  17. ^ Sweney, Mark (2 January 2014). "Richard Desmond appoints Barclays to explore sale of Channel 5". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  18. ^ Williams, Christopher (2 April 2014). "Bids for Channel 5 expected to be less than half £700m asking price". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  19. ^ "Viacom to buy Channel 5 for £450m". BBC News. 1 May 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  20. ^ Sweney, Mark (10 September 2014). "Viacom and Channel 5 unveil joint commissions as takeover deal closes". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  21. ^ "My5". Channel5.com. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  22. ^ "Channel 5 regions cease". a516digital. Archived from the original on 11 August 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  23. ^ "Channel 5 tilts at Channel 4 with 'emotional' post-Richard Desmond rebrand". The Independent. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  24. ^ "CBS and Viacom To Combine" (PDF). CBS. 12 August 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 August 2019.
  25. ^ "RTS UNVEILS 2020 PROGRAMME AWARDS WINNERS". IBC.org. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  26. ^ "C5 scoops Broadcast Awards channel of the year". Broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  27. ^ "ViacomCBS Partners with Sky to Launch Paramount Plus in Europe". Variety.com. 5 August 2021.
  28. ^ "Paramount Plus is coming to Sky". Whathifi.com. 5 August 2021.
  29. ^ "Viacom, Sky Group sign distribution agreement for Paramount Plus". Thedesk.net. 6 August 2021.
  30. ^ "Paramount+ launches on Sky Q in 2022". Helpforum.sky.com. 11 August 2021.
  31. ^ "How to watch Paramount Plus in the UK – when is it released?". Radiotimes.com.
  32. ^ "'Paramount Network' Channel is Changing to 5Action". Cordbusters.co.uk. 22 December 2021.
  33. ^ "Paramount Network to relaunch as 5Action". Mediamole.co.uk. 23 December 2021.
  34. ^ "Channel 5 joins Digital UK". Freeview.co.uk. 20 December 2021.
  35. ^ "Channel 5 Becomes Co-Owner in Freeview and Freesat". Cordbusters.co.uk. 20 December 2021.
  36. ^ "Channel 5 joins Digital UK". Rxtvinfo.com. 20 December 2021.
  37. ^ "What is 5SELECT?". www.faqs.channel5.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  38. ^ "Unknown". What's on TV. 2018-02-16.
  39. ^ "Demand Five launches". Channel 5. 17 July 2008. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
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