Channel 5 (British TV channel)
Channel 5 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's UK and Australia division. It was launched in 1997 to provide a fifth national terrestrial channel in the United Kingdom.
This article is about the UK commercial television broadcaster. For other uses, see Channel 5 (disambiguation).Country
United Kingdom
- United Kingdom
- Isle of Man
- Channel Islands
- Gibraltar
17–29 Hawley Crescent, London, England
English
Channel 5 +1
30 March 1997
- Five (2002–2011)
Channel 5 was renamed Five, from 16 September 2002 until 13 February 2011. Most of this was under the RTL Group's ownership with Richard Desmond purchasing the channel on 23 July 2010 and reverting the name change.[2][3][4] On 1 May 2014, the channel was acquired by Viacom (now Paramount Global) for £450 million (US$759 million).[5]
It is a general entertainment channel that shows internally commissioned programmes such as The Drowning, All Creatures Great and Small and Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild. The channel has also relied on imports from the United States, including the CSI franchise, the NCIS franchise, the first three series in the Law & Order franchise, Power Rangers, The Mentalist, Body of Proof, Once Upon a Time, Dallas, Under the Dome, and sitcom Friends.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
Broadcasting and reception[edit]
The British frequency plan had only allowed for four channels to be transmitted over the whole of the UK using analogue terrestrial transmitters, but the ITC identified that UHF channels 35 and 37 could provide coverage for around 70% of the UK population. These channels were used by many domestic video recorders for RF connection to television sets. Before the channel could launch, the broadcaster had to provide over-the-phone instructions or visit any home that complained, to either retune the video recorder or fit a filter to completely block the Channel 5 signal.
For many transmitters, channels 35 and 37 were 'out of the group', which meant that the roof-top receiving aerials were not designed to cover Channel 5's broadcast channels. Many people either could not receive the channel at all or required a new aerial. The broadcaster progressively added to the transmitters to improve the analogue terrestrial coverage since that time. From 23 April 1997, the channel was also provided on the analogue Astra satellite service, which enabled people outside the terrestrial reception areas to receive it via a dish.[35]
Unlike the other four analogue British television channels, the channel could not be received via analogue terrestrial broadcasts in many areas, including some parts of the south coast of England where the signal would otherwise interfere with signals from television stations in France; many areas of North East England, especially around the major Tyne & Wear conurbation; many areas in Scotland; most of Wales, most of Northern Ireland and parts of Cumbria. The channel is available on all digital platforms (Freesat, Sky satellite, IPTV and Freeview digital terrestrial, and also most cable operators). On 5 November 2008, the channel launched on digital satellite service Freesat, on the Astra 28.2°E satellites.[36]
It was the first analogue channel in the UK to use a permanent digital on-screen graphic, though this was removed in September 2002; however, the children's programming strands kept the DOG. In October 2007, the channel's logo returned to the screen.
Channel 5 is available in Switzerland on Swisscom TV and Cablecom.
On 30 September 2009, the channel temporarily ceased broadcasting on Freeview from around 9:30 am until midday. This was due to changes to the Freeview platform, which necessitated moving Channel 5 from a commercial multiplex to a public service broadcasting multiplex. This was to increase the coverage of the channel from around 70% to 99% of the country by using relay transmitters: these only carried the three PSB multiplexes but did not carry the three commercial multiplexes.
On 20 September 2019, it was announced that Channel 5 had joined BritBox, a digital video subscription service created by the BBC and ITV.[37]
5 Text[edit]
From 1997 to 2011 Channel 5 operated its analogue teletext service providing a basic range of programme listings, film summaries and programme previews of Channel 5 content. The service was provided by Sky Text until 2002 when Teletext Ltd. took over as the provider of Channel 5's Teletext service.[166] The service was withdrawn due to the digital switchover and the shift to the Internet and social media.
As of December 2021, Channel 5 has several channels streaming 24 hours a day on Paramount Global's free TV app Pluto TV.[167][168] The channels include:
5 on The Farm[edit]
5 on The Farm[177] is Channel 5's festival which first took place at Cannon Hall Farm[178] in Cawthorne, South Yorkshire[179] on August Bank Holiday Weekend in 2021.[180][181] The three-day event was based around Channel 5's ...on the Farm series (featuring series regulars Rob and Dave Nicholson, chef Tim Bilton as well as presenters Adam Henson, Helen Skelton, Jules Hudson and JB Gill) with appearances from people featuring in a range of Channel 5 programmes associated with farming, food and animals. These people included Peter Wright and Julian Norton from The Yorkshire Vet, Reuben and Amanda Owen from Our Yorkshire Farm, Ben Fogle from New Lives in the Wild, Graeme Hall from Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly and Stefan Gates from Secrets of Your Supermarket Food. The festival also has an area for children branded as the Milkshake! Meadow which (in 2021) featured presenters Derek Moran, Jen Pringle and Kemi Majeks[182][183] alongside characters from Milkshake! including Peppa Pig, and Milkshake! Monkey and Fireman Sam.