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| Fiver | |
|---|---|
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|
| Launched | 15 October 2006 |
| Owned by | Channel 5 Broadcasting (RTL Group) |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV 16:9, 4:3) |
| Audience share | 0.6% (0.0% for +1) (March 2008, [1]) |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Formerly called | Five Life (until 28 April 2008) |
| Sister channel(s) | Five Five US |
| Timeshift service | Fiver +1 |
| Website | www.five.tv/fiver |
| Availability | |
| Terrestrial | |
| Freeview | Channel 36 (0600-2300) |
| Satellite | |
| Sky Digital | Channel 176 Channel 177 (+1) |
| Cable | |
| Virgin Media | Channel 152 |
| IPTV over ADSL | |
| Tiscali TV | Channel 31 |
Fiver is a free-to-view television channel in the United Kingdom owned by Five. The channel launched as "Five Life" on 15 October 2006, and was rebranded as "Fiver" on 28 April 2008. The channel is available on digital television via Freeview, Sky Digital (including the Freesat from Sky service), Tiscali TV and Virgin Media. It is not currently available on Freesat but Five state on their website that they are "working on it".[1] It was originally launched alongside Five US by Five, in order to create a multi-channel strategy, which other analogue broadcasters had already achieved.[2] Fiver broadcasts between 6am and midnight (but closes at 11pm on Freeview), and is targeted at a mixed audience.
Contents |
History
Five announced that programming on Five Life would include The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Love My Way,[3] Windfall,[4] and Angela's Eyes, as well as a weekday double-bill of the chat show Trisha Goddard and new episodes and a weekly omnibus of Home and Away. Repeats of teenage drama Dawson's Creek started showing in December 2006.
The first programme broadcast on Five Life was Inside The Priory, a documentary about The Priory clinic, at 8pm on the channel's launch day. The launch of Five Life marked the start of Five's digital multi-channel strategy designed to compete with similar strategies from its rivals Channel 4 and ITV plc.
On 11 January 2007, it was announced that Five Life had acquired the multi-channel rights to air popular and recently axed ITV dramas, Bad Girls (Series 4-8) and Footballers' Wives from Spring 2007.
On 28 August 2007, Five Life launched a timeshift channel named Five Life +1.[5]
At 6am on 28 April 2008, Five Life relaunched as Fiver with a totally new on and off air identity and a raft of new shows added to the schedule.[6] These included Celebrity Rehab, Dirt and reruns of Sex and the City.
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Milkshake!
During weekend mornings, an extended version of the kids' strand Milkshake! is currently broadcast on Fiver. It will be having its own TV channel. This is a response to the BBC launching the CBBC Channel and CBeebies in 2002 and ITV launching the CITV Channel in 2006. [7]
Launch night
The schedule for the primetime shows on the launch night of Five Life were as follows:
| Time | Programme Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 20.00 | Inside The Priory | This show attracted 39,000 viewers |
| 21.00 | Make Me A Supermodel Extra | This show attracted 18,000 viewers |
| 22.00 | Love My Way | This show attracted 49,000 viewers (0.33% audience share) |
The launch of Five Life was at the time ranked as the worst received multichannel launch for a terrestrial broadcaster ever, only managing to achieve a primetime share of 0.21%.[8]
Fiver programming
- 8 Simple Rules
- Angela's Eyes
- Bad Girls
- Big Love
- Celebrity Rehab
- Colin & Justin's How Not to Decorate
- Colin & Justin's Wedding Belles
- Dawson's Creek
- Dirt
- Gay, Straight or Taken?
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show
- Footballers' Wives
- Home and Away - from 17 October 2006 - episode 4212 onwards in new airing, but has aired classic episodes previously, also. Not allowed any episodes before 2840 as they still belong to ITV
- Joey
- Love My Way
- Make Me A Supermodel Extra
- Milkshake! (Weekends 6.00am to 11.45am only)
- Neighbours - from 11 February 2008 - episode 5331 onwards. Classic Episodes (1-5330) are not in contract to this channel as they still belong to the BBC.
- Nice House, Shame About the Garden
- Ocean Force
- Property Developing Abroad
- Rich Bride Poor Bride
- Sex and the City
- Sofia's Diary
- The Hotel Inspector
- Trisha Goddard
- Trust Me - I'm A Beauty Therapist
- Windfall
Relaunch night (as Fiver)
The schedule for the primetime shows on the launch night of Five Life were as follows (ratings figures will be available on BARB before 11 May):
| Time | Programme Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 18.00 | Animal Zoo | |
| 18.30 | Home and Away | Normal time as it was shown on Five Life. This is the episode that was to air on five the next day at 14.15. Episode number is 4601. |
| 19.00 | Home and Away | The reason for the extra episode was to boost ratings figures on the first night. This episode was repeated the next day in its ordinary 18.30 timeslot, and aired on Five 2 days after its initial airing. Episode number is 4602 |
| 19.30 | Neighbours | repeated from Five. Reason for late start is stated with the 19.00 episode of Home and Away. Every day after this, it's on at its normal time of 19.00. |
References
- ^ "Freesat / freesat / five.tv". Retrieved on 2008-12-02.
- ^ Five (2006-06-05). "Five unveils two new channels". Press release. Retrieved on 12 October 2006.
- ^ "October launch date for Five's digital channels", MediaWeek. Retrieved on 12 October 2006.
- ^ "five autumn highlights 2006", Five. Retrieved on 12 October 2006.
- ^ Joanne Oatts (2007-07-05). "Five launches +1 services". Digital Spy.
- ^ "Five Life to relaunch as Fiver", The Guardian (6 April 2008). Retrieved on 6 April 2008.
- ^ "Five to launch dedicated kids' channel". Retrieved on 2008-11-11.
- ^ "Slow start for Five Life", Digital Spy. Retrieved on 9 November 2007.
External links
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