My5 TV channel to relaunch as 5PRIME

[dutchman]

Channel 5's catch-up linear TV channel is to undergo a rebrand and relaunch as 5PRIME in the new year



My5, which shared a name with the broadcaster's catch-up TV service, will become 5Prime from 16th January 2018. It will move away from being a catch-up channel, becoming a home for premium factual, "intelligent documentaries" and drama series.

Owners Viacom had originally indicated they were considering launching such a channel under the Paramount brand in the UK.

The TV channel was previously known as "Channel 5+24" and was given the pre-launch name of "5 Later".

My5 / 5Prime is available on all major digital TV platforms. The My5 online service is unaffected.

Announcing the new channel, Channel Manager James Brown said:

"As the home of Channel 5’s critically acclaimed premium content, 5PRIME is a welcome and complementary addition to the Channel 5 family of channels. Viewers can enjoy appointment to view programmes and special themed evenings ranging from history to natural history, drama to documentary."

Give it a few weeks and they''ll probably come up with yet another name!

[dutchman]

Plug pulled on 5Prime launch

Channel 5 has pulled the plug on the relaunch of its catch-up channel 5Prime, which was due to go on air later this month.

In December, the Viacom-owned broadcaster announced that the channel would replace the linear My5 channel on all digital TV platforms.

Now, just as listings for the new channel were due to be supplied to TV guides, it has been confirmed that the channel has been put on hold until the spring, with the broadcaster rethinking the new channel's strategy, look and even going as far as ditching the name.

5Prime was due to offer a mixture of premium factual and drama series in place of the linear catch-up service My5. Months earlier, Viacom had announced that it would be launching a premium free-to-air UK version of the Paramount Channel.

The new channel was due to go live on the 16th January 2018 and feature first-run originals alongside programming from Channel 5 and spin-offs of its most popular programmes. It was due to show programmes including Ben Fogle: New Lives in The Wild and GPs: Behind Closed Doors and brand-new commissions like The Secret Life of Owls. 5Prime was also due to be the UK home of RTÉ show Striking Out.

It's the latest chapter in what has been a turbulent history for the channel currently known as My5. In 2013, the channel launched a placeholder on Freeview under the pre-launch name of 5Later - a service designed to mirror the success of Channel 4's linear catch-up channel 4seven. By the time the channel launched in 2014, it had become Channel 5+24, with different daytime schedules on satellite and cable services compared to Freeview, before a 24 hour timeshifted broadcast of Channel 5 programming from 7pm. In August 2016, Channel 5+24 was replaced by My5, sharing the same name and branding as Channel 5's online catch-up and on-demand service.