5Star

5Star (stylized as 5STAR) is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ViacomCBS Networks UK & Australia. It originally launched as the female-orientated 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.

5Star
Launched15 October 2006 (2006-10-15)
NetworkChannel 5
Owned byChannel 5 Broadcasting Ltd
ViacomCBS Networks UK & Australia
Picture format16:9 576i SDTV
Audience share0.60% (Including +1) (22 March 2020 (2020-03-22), BARB)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Broadcast areaUnited Kingdom
Formerly calledFive Life (2006–08)
Fiver (2008–11)
5* (2011–16)
Sister channel(s)
Timeshift service5Star +1
Websitechannel5.com/5star
Availability
Terrestrial
FreeviewChannel 30
Satellite
FreesatChannel 131
Channel 141 (+1)
Sky
(UK only)		Channel 128
Channel 228 (+1)
Astra 2G10964 H 22000 5/6
10964 H 22000 5/6 (+1)
Cable
Virgin MediaChannel 151
Channel 186 (+1)
WightFibreChannel 15
Streaming media
TVPlayerWatch live (UK only)

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-orientated channel with an emphasis on lifestyle programming.[1] 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 (Season 19, Episode 112). 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.[2]

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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[5]

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.[6] However, ratings were at a share below that of the channel's average, with just 70,000 watching the first live feeds.[7] Subsequently, the live feeds were shut down and the spin-off show last aired in June 2013.[8] Also in 2013, American Idol moved to 5* from ITV2.[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] 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.

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.[12]

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%.[13] 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
  • 100% Hotter (2016–present)
  • Access (2011–present)
  • Airport 24/7: Thailand (2019–present)
  • Baby Ballroom (2017–present)
  • Baby Faced Mums (2016–present)
  • Badass Brides (2017–present)
  • Bad Teen to Ballroom Queen (2018–present)
  • Britain’s Naughtiest Nursery (2019–present)
  • Celebrity Ghost Hunt (2017–present)
  • Celeb Road Trip: Lost in Transylvania (2018–present)
  • Celebs on the Farm (2018–present)
  • Celebs on the Ranch (2019–present)
  • Channel Zero (2016–present)
  • Clink (2019–present)
  • Dirty Tricks (2019–present)
  • Don't Tell The Doctor (2017–present)
  • Drag Kids (also known as Kids in Drag: We're Fabulous!) (2019–present)
  • Empire (2017–present)
  • Extreme Hair Wars (2018–present)
  • Fresh Off the Boat (2017–present)
  • Get Your Tatts Out: Kavos Ink (2017–present)
  • Greatest Ever Movie Blunders (2018–present)
  • Greatest Ever TV Blunders (2018–present)
  • Home and Away (16 October 2006–present) (first look)
  • Impact Wrestling (2019–present)
  • It's Your Fault I'm Fat (2019–present)
  • Last Man Standing (2018–present)
  • Old School For Lazy Kids (2019–present)
  • The Magicians (2016–present)
  • Prison Life (2018–present)
  • Rich Kids Go Homeless (2019–present)
  • Rich Kids Go Skint (2018–present)
  • Rich Kids, Skint Holiday (2019–present)
  • Riverdale (2018–present)
  • Secret Admirer (2018–present)
  • Sex Pod (2016–present)
  • Sing It On (2016–present)
  • Star (2017–present)
  • Strip Date (2016–present)
  • Top 20 Funniest (2014–present)
  • Tower Block Kids (2018–present)
  • The Shocking Truth About Food (2019–present)
  • Undercover Twins (2019–present)
  • Wentworth (2016–present)
  • When Kids Kill (2016–present)
  • When Teens Kill (2018–present)
  • World's Wildest Holidays (2018–present)
  • Young, Dumb & Banged Up in the Sun (2018–present)
  • You're the Worst (2016–present)

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
  • Five Life logo
    (15 October 2006 – 28 April 2008)
  • First Fiver logo
    (28 April 2008 – 7 October 2008)
  • Final Fiver logo
    (7 October 2008 – 7 March 2011)
  • 5* logo
    (7 March 2011 – 11 February 2016)
  • 5Star logo
    (11 February 2016 – 1 September 2019)
  • 5Star logo
    (2 September 2019 – present)

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