5Star

5Star
Launched 15 October 2006 (2006-10-15)
Owned by Channel 5 Broadcasting Ltd
(Viacom International Media Networks)
Picture format 576i 4:3/16:9 (SDTV)
Audience share 0.69%
0.09% (+1)
(August 2018 (2018-08), BARB)
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Formerly called Five Life (2006–08)
Fiver (2008–11)
5* (2011–16)
Sister channel(s)
Timeshift service 5Star +1
Website channel5.com/5star
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview Channel 30
Channel 55 (+1)
Satellite
Freesat Channel 131
Sky
(UK only)		 Channel 128
Channel 228 (+1)
Astra 2G 10964 H 22000 5/6
10964 H 22000 5/6 (+1)
Cable
Virgin Media Channel 151
Channel 186 (+1)
WightFibre Channel 15
Streaming media
TVPlayer Watch live (UK only)

5Star (formerly stylised with an asterisk as 5*) is a British digital television channel owned by Viacom International Media Networks Europe. It is a sister channel of Channel 5, 5Spike, 5USA and 5Select. It originally launched as the female-oriented Five Life on 15 October 2006, and was rebranded as Fiver on 28 April 2008 with a revised version of the same concept. The channel later re-branded as 5* on 7 March 2011, and later to its current name on 11 February 2016.

The channel is available on digital television via Freesat, Freeview, Sky, and Virgin Media, and broadcasts between 08:00 and 04:00.[1]

History

2006–08: Five Life

A collage of excerpt images from 5STAR’s launch as Five Life. Note that the images date back to c. October 2006.

The channel was intended to be a female-oriented channel with an emphasis on lifestyle programming.[2] Channel 5 announced that programming on launch would include The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Love My Way, Windfall, Angela's Eyes, and a weekday double-bill of the chat show Trisha Goddard. On 16 October 2006, a day following the channel's launch, Australian soap opera Home and Away began airing from episode 4212 (Series 19). New episodes are shown Monday to Friday in a 'First Look' screening with episodes following the Channel 5 airing. Repeats of popular female-skewing dramas, both nationally and internationally produced, were soon acquired. Following the channel's launch, a time-shift version of the channel was launched in summer 2007.[3]

2008–11: Fiver

Five Life relaunched as Fiver in 2008 while still targeting female audiences, the channel was re-positioned with a "younger, faster, louder" concept, meant to compete with Sky Living. On-air presentation reflected this shift with a "cursor" motif, typing out words reflecting programs and current events.[4]

2011–16: 5*

In 2011, the channel was re-launched again, as 5* (pronounced "Five Star"). The new brand focused on a "fun-loving" concept, with initial acquisitions including $h*! My Dad Says, Better with You and Parenthood.[5] On 11 April 2011, 5* reduced its broadcast hours to 13:00 to 00:00, replacing the hours withdrawn with more teleshopping. When some of these new programs failed to make much of an impact in the channel's ratings, several were dropped and replaced by new locally produced and acquired programming. These included the American series 8 Simple Rules, 10 Things I Hate About You, Alphas and The Lying Game.[6]

In 2012, in consort with Channel 5's acquisition of the series, 5* began airing the Big Brother companion show Big Brother: Live from the House, which aired 60 minutes of live feed following every eviction show. In 2013, after Live from the House set ratings records for the channel, the programme was expanded to two hours nightly.[7] However, ratings were at a share below that of the channel's average, with just 70,000 watching the first live feeds.[8] Subsequently, the live feeds were shut down and the spin-off show last aired in June 2013.[9] Also in 2013, American Idol moved to 5* from ITV2.[10] Continuing the channel's venture into reality based programming, Tallafornia was acquired from Ireland's TV3 and this was soon joined by Bar Rescue, World's Worst Tenants and Top 20 Funniest in 2014.[11]

The current schedule includes a variety of programming, including the aforementioned reality series, as well as the first-run rights to Helix, the second-run rights to American series Falling Skies, Under the Dome and The Walking Dead, and Australian soap operas Home & Away and Neighbours. Popular documentary series shared with Channel 5 air throughout the daytime and primetime hours, such as The Gadget Show.

The time-shift version of the channel was shut down on 3 February 2014 and replaced by Channel 5 +24. The channel returned later, launching on Freesat on 16 September 2014 and Sky in the UK and Ireland on 4 November 2014, replacing BET +1 on the platform. The addition of the channel in Ireland was an error, thus it was removed on 6 November 2014.[12]

On 11 February 2016, as part of an overall re-branding of Channel 5's networks following their acquisition by Viacom, the channel was re-branded as 5Star.[13]

Ratings

The launch of Five Life was at the time ranked as the worst received multichannel launch for a terrestrial broadcaster, only managing to achieve a primetime share of 0.21%.[14] Following the channel's relaunch as Fiver in 2008, the all-day share for the channel has been between 0.5–0.6%. The highest rated series airing on the channel are Home & Away, Neighbours and the weeknight showings of primetime movies. The highest rating for the channel is held by Big Brother: Live from the House, when it received just over one million viewers and an audience share of over five percent in 2013.

Current programming

First–run

Second–run

Former programming

Notes

  • ^1 Several documentary series shared with Channel 5 air on 5Star. However, the titles that come to 5Star change too sporadically to pinpoint what specifically airs first-run or second-run to the channel.

Logos

References

  1. ↑ "TV Guide - Channel 5". Channel 5. Retrieved 2018-01-11.
  2. ↑ "five autumn highlights 2006" (PDF). Five. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2006. Retrieved 12 October 2006.
  3. ↑ Joanne Oatts (5 July 2007). "Five launches +1 services". Digital Spy.
  4. ↑ Sweney, Mark (6 April 2008). "Five Life to relaunch as Fiver". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 23 March 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2008.
  5. ↑ "Fiver rebrands as 5*, acquires new shows". Digital Spy. 3 February 2011.
  6. ↑ Munn, Patrick (26 April 2013). "'The Lying Game' Makes The Jump Back To 5*". TVWise. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  7. ↑ Sperling, Daniel (14 May 2013). "Big Brother 2013 to have nightly live feed". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  8. ↑ Darvill, Josh (15 June 2013). "Big Brother 2013: 70,000 watch first live streaming on 5*". Telly Mix. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Nissim, Mayer (26 June 2013). "Big Brother live feed axed by Channel 5". Digital Spy. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  10. ↑ Plunkett, John (27 September 2012). "Channel 5 to show American Idol". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  11. ↑ "TV3 sells hit series 'Tallafornia' to UK's Channel 5". Independent.ie.
  12. ↑ Eames, Tom (17 January 2014). "Channel 5 to launch catch-up channel +24". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  13. ↑ Sherwin, Adam (11 February 2016). "Channel 5 tilts at Channel 4 with 'emotional' post-Richard Desmond rebrand". The Independent. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  14. ↑ "Slow start for Five Life". Digital Spy. 17 October 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
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