Channel 5 was launched in 1997 as the fifth national terrestrial TV channel network after BBC, ITV and Channel 4.
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Although Channel 5 was launched as “Channel 5” it was rebranded as Five between 2002 and 2011, when owned by RTL Group. Richard Desmond purchased the channel from RTL Group in 2011 and immediately reverted the name back to Channel 5. In 2014, the channel was purchased by Viacom for the sum of £450 million.
The Launch of Channel 5
The channel was launched on an Easter Sunday (march 30th 1997) and featured The Spice Girls signing a version of 5-4-3-2-1, rewritten as 1-2-3-4-5. On the day of the launch, an estimated 2.4 million viewers were present to see the launch of the UK´s fifth TV station.
See the launch of Channel 5 in the video below featuring The Spice Girls.
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TV programmes available to watch on Channel 5 include the following:
- Big Brother
- The Bachelor
- Europa League Football
- The Mentalist
- The Gadget Show
- Thomas and Friends
- Ben and Holly´s Little Kingdom
- Peppa Pig
- CSI
- Law and Order
- NSIS
- Neighbours
- Home and Away
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