Channel 5 is the first commercial terrestrial TV channel to be launched for 15 years, and it will broadcast for the first time at 6pm on Sunday March 30. More than 30 channels are available on satellite and cable, and there are dozens more on their way. So how will Channel 5 attract those viewers who do not seem to want for great choice and those who do not seem to want to watch at all?
Hopefully about one quarter of the population will find something entertaining or relaxing in the hundred hours a week it plans to stream. TV channels in the UK traditionally make their mark by their programmes, and in popular contemporary culture, it will make its mark by its presenters.
Channel 5 will be aiming at a mass audience. ITV, broadcasting mainly on the under-45s throughout the week, is not about age; it is about attitude. It says: “5 is not about age; it is about attitude.”
In its first week it plans to broadcast 75–80 per cent of its programmes from the UK, and hopes to have a five per cent share of total viewing (about three million viewers). The level of Channel 5 advertising is expected to be a little lower than on the other terrestrial channels.
The schedule mixes drama, comedy, films, sport, and factual programmes. But unlike the other mainstream channels, much of its output will be entertainment-based. Its biggest emphasis is on youth and entertainment.
ITV’s Xposé show is a precursor. A Saturday night programme is one of several similar shows broadcast elsewhere every week. Channel 5 hopes to carve out a space by making its channel feel different from the existing broadcasters.
Channel 5 has even hired the head of news from Sky News to help establish its newsroom. The channel’s news output will include Channel 5 News, which will bring regular bulletins every evening and at weekends, with a half-hour programme at 5pm.
The new channel will also have 5 News with Kirsty Young, produced by ITN, a new kind of news service dedicated to a fresh style of reporting. The news programme will be broadcast from a purpose-built newsroom in Gray’s Inn Road.
Entertainment will take centre stage in Channel 5’s schedule, including a weekly Friday night live comedy show, a daily magazine programme, and a range of imported drama and films.
Among the imports are series from America. There will be drama series from the US, plus several big-budget films and mini-series.
One of the highlights will be The Jack Docherty Show, a comedy talk show produced by Hat Trick Productions, with Docherty in the host’s chair. Another major programme is Family Affairs, a soap set in a suburban community.
Channel 5 also plans to compete with the BBC’s Panorama and Newsnight by introducing a hard-hitting current affairs programme later in the evening.
The schedule will include popular imports, films, and medical comedy quiz shows.
Channel 5’s programme budget is £110 million a year. It is modest by comparison with the other channels but far less than the £400 million ITV spends.
Channel 5’s shareholders have agreed that it can break even within five years. Advertising revenue will be key to its survival.