Channel 5 (British TV channel)
Five, formerly known as Channel 5, is the United Kingdom's fifth terrestrial TV Channel. The British frequency plan only allowed for four channels to be transmitted using analogue terrestrial transmitters, so it was very difficult to allocate frequencies for the new channel before its launch in March of 1997 – UHF channel 37 was allocated in many areas, which meant that large numbers of domestic videorecorders (which output on that channel) had to be retuned at the new company's expense. Unlike the other four analogue British television channels, many areas remain unable to receive it via analogue terrestrial broadcasts, notably the south coast of England, where the signal would otherwise interfere with signals from television stations in France. The channel is available on all digital platforms (Sky Television satellite, and Freeview digital terrestrial, and also most cable operators).
The channel has had a reputation for lowest-common-denominator broadcasting, famously screening low-budget "erotic thrillers" on Friday and Staurday nights, and concentrating its output on entertainment and lifestyle shows at the expense of factual programming. Recently though it's shown signs of moving steadily up-market, and has attracted large audiences as the UK home of many cult American series including CSI, Alias and Lexx.
In 2002, Channel 5 had a 6.3% share of individual television viewing in the UK. (Source: BARB).
On 27 February 2004 it was reported that the owners of Five and Channel 4 were discussing a possible merger; this was widely seen as a potential upset for Channel 4's pride. Some comics joked that the merged company should call itself Chanel 9 (4+5) after the spoof foreign network on The Fast Show.
See also: List of British television channels