Timeline of Channel 5

This is a timeline of the history of Channel 5.

1990s

• 1993
  • The bidding process for the UK’s fifth terrestrial television service begins. The initial round of bidders included a plan for a network of city-TV stations from Thames Television. The ITC did not award the licence to any of the applicants and contemplated not awarding the licence at all.

• 1994
  • A second attempt to licence the fifth terrestrial channel begins and several companies apply.^[1]

• 1995
  • Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited is awarded the licence.

• 1996
  • Channel 5 retunes the UK’s video recorders to avoid interference with video recorders which use the same frequencies as those allocated to Channel 5.
  • Engineering transmission tests are carried out at some sites.^[2]

• 1997
  • 2 January – Test transmissions begin for Channel 5 in some areas. Details of these are made available on Ceefax page 698 for a few weeks.^[3]
  • 30 March –
    • Channel 5 launches at 6 pm with the Spice Girls singing a re-written version of Manfred Mann's hit "5-4-3-2-1" as "1-2-3-4-5".^[4] Around 65% of the UK is able to receive the channel.
    • Channel 5’s soap opera Family Affairs debuts.
    • Late night talk show The Jack Docherty Show debuts.
  • 31 March –
    • MLB on Five makes its debut as part of the channels’ overnight coverage of American sport.
    • Pre-school brand Milkshake! launches as a breakfast television block.
    • The first edition of 5 News is broadcast with Kirsty Young perching on the edge of a desk in a bid to present the news in a more informal way. The channel also provides hourly news updates on weekdays on the hour, every hour.
    • 31 May – Even though Channel 5 had said that it hadn’t been intending to show live sport at peaktime, it buys the rights to one of England’s qualifying matches for the 1998 World Cup – an away match against Poland.
  • Summer – Channel 5 launches on the Astra satellite in a bid to reach the third of UK homes which cannot receive the channel.
  • Autumn – Football on 5, which becomes a regular fixture as the channel purchases rights to UEFA Cup games and other away qualifying matches involving the home nations, showing the latter for the next decade.

• 1998
  • 15 November – The launch of OnDigital allows the channel to be broadcast across the UK via digital terrestrial television.

• 1999
  • 23 June – Channel 5 axes late night talk show The Jack Docherty Show. The programme had been struggling in recent times with fewer programmes broadcast each week due to low viewing figures.

2000s

• 2000
  • 11 September – Channel 5 launches a morning topical talk show called The Wright Stuff.

• 2001
  • 16 July – Channel 5 starts showing Australian soap opera Home and Away^[5] after scquiring the rights from ITV the previous year.^[6]

• 2002
  • 16 September – Channel 5 is rebranded as Five and the permanent digital on-screen graphic is removed.

• 2003
  • Weekday afternoon lifestyle chat show Open House with Gloria Hunniford is axed as part of a revamp of the daytime schedule.^[7]

• 2004
  • No events.

• 2005
  • 1 January – Sky News takes over the contract to provide Channel 5’s news service from ITN.
  • 18 November – It is announced that Five had bought a stake in DTT's pay-TV operator, Top Up TV. It is said that the investment may lead to the development of new free and pay services on DTT, and other platforms.^[8]
  • 30 December – The final edition of soap opera Family Affairs is broadcast. The series ends after 2,285 episodes.^[9]

• 2006
  • May – Channel 5 becomes the terrestrial home of highlights of England cricket’s home matches. ^[10] It had been the only bidder for the rights.
  • 15 October– 5 Life launches.
  • 16 October– 5 US launches.

• 2007
  • 28 August – A time shift of 5 US launches on Sky.^[11]

• 2008
  • 11 February – Channel 5 becomes the UK home of Australian soap opera Neighbours.^[12]
  • 28 April – 5 Life is renamed Fiver.
  • November – MLB on Five comes to an end as part of cost-cutting measures which sees the end of the channel broadcasting live overnight coverage of American sport.

• 2009
  • 16 February – 5 US is rebranded Five USA.
  • September – Channel 5 becomes the lead broadcaster of the UEFA Europa League meaning it canshow the entire tournament, including the final. Previously it had only been able to show the early rounds due to the BBC or ITV having the rights from the quarter-finals onwards.
  • 14 September – Entertainment news and chat show Live from Studio Five debuts.

2010s

• 2010
  • 13 July – Channel 5’s HD services launches on Sky and Virgin Media.^[13][14]
  • 23 July – Northern & Shell purchases Channel 5 for £103.5 million.^[15]

• 2011
  • 4 February – The final edition of Live from Studio Five is broadcast. It is immediately replaced by OK! TV^[16] which itself ends at the end of the year.
  • 14 February – Five returns to its original name of Channel 5.
  • 7 March –
    • Fiver is rebranded as 5*
    • Five USA is rebranded 5USA.
  • 18 August – Channel 5 becomes the new home of Big Brother’’.^[17]
  • 6 December – Channel 5 +1 launches on Freesat, Freeview and Sky.^[18]

• 2012
  • 20 February – ITN regains the contract to provide Channel 5’s news coverage from Sky News.^[19]
  • 28 July – Football on 5 ends after the channel stops showing live football following the transfer of the UEFA Europa League to ITV.
  • 25 October – 5 +1 launches on Virgin Media.

• 2013
  • October – Channel 5’s HD channel becomes a pay channel on the Sky platform.

• 2014
  • 4 February – Channel 5 launches Channel 5 +24, a 24-hour time shift of the main Channel 5 service.^[20]
  • 10 September – Northern & Shell sells Channel 5 to Viacom for £450 million.^[21]

• 2015
  • 15 April – Spike launches as a British version of the American channel of the same name.
  • 8 August – Football returns to Channel 5 when it takes over the contract to broadcast highlights of the Football League and the League Cup. It launches two new programmes under the revived Football on 5 banner. The are called The Championship and The Goal Rush. The programmes are broadcast from 9pm on Saturday evening.

• 2016
  • 11 February – 5* is rebranded 5Star.
  • 4 May – Channel 5’s HD channel launches on Freeview and Freesat following the channel becoming free-to-air.
  • 10 August – Channel 5 +24 is replaced by My5, featuring a selection of shows from across the network of channels.

• 2017
  • June – It is announced that the BBC will return to broadcasting cricket and from 2020 it will replace Channel 5 as broadcaster of highlights of English cricket.
  • 31 October – Male-skewing channel Spike is rebranded as 5Spike to more closely associate itself with its sister channels.

• 2018
  • 13 February – My5 is replaced by 5Select. It had previously been expected to launch as 5Prime.
  • May – Channel 5’s right to show EFL highlights end after the contract transfers to Quest.^[22]
  • 4 July – Paramount Network launches.^[23][24]
  • 3 September – Jeremy Vine replaces Matthew Wright as host of Channel 5’s morning topical discussion programme. Consequently, The Wright Stuff ends after 18 years.
  • 14 September – After seven years, Channel 5 announces that Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother will end after the current series.^[25]

• 2019
  • September – After 14 seasons, Channel 5 will show cricket highlights for the final time. The rights transfer to the BBC from 2020 onwards.

References