Channel 5 (British TV channel) in the context of "Richard Desmond"

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⭐ Core Definition: Channel 5 (British TV channel)

5 (formerly known as Channel 5 and Five) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount Skydance's UK and Australia division. It was launched on 30 March 1997 to provide a fifth national terrestrial channel in the United Kingdom.

Channel 5 was renamed Five, from 16 September 2002 until 13 February 2011. Most of this was under the RTL Group's ownership with Richard Desmond purchasing the channel on 23 July 2010 and reverting the name change. On 1 May 2014, the channel was acquired by Viacom (later Paramount Global and now Paramount Skydance Corporation) for £450 million (US$759 million). Channel 5 was rebranded as 5 on 12 March 2025 along with its streaming service.

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👉 Channel 5 (British TV channel) in the context of Richard Desmond

Richard Clive Desmond (born 8 December 1951) is a British ex-publisher, businessman and former pornographer. He is the founder of Northern & Shell, a publisher that started by publishing music magazines in the 1970s, followed by variety of pornographic magazines in the 1980s. In the 1990s, it launched celebrity magazines (including OK! and New!) and Portland TV that produced pornographic television channels. In the early 2000s, the company sold the pornographic magazine titles and purchased the Express Newspapers, followed by Britain's Channel 5 in 2010. It launched the The Health Lottery in 2011. Channel 5 was sold in 2014, Portland TV in 2016 and the Express Newspapers in 2018.

In 2020, Desmond was involved in controversy after pressuring Robert Jenrick, the then Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, to overrule the Planning Inspectorate and approve a housing development for Desmond's company. The timing of the decision saved the company £40 million but was later overturned.

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Channel 5 (British TV channel) in the context of Broadcasters' Audience Research Board

Barb Audiences Ltd (formerly Broadcasters Audience Research Board) is a British organisation that compiles audience measurement and television ratings in the United Kingdom. It was created in 1981 to replace two previous systems whereby ITV ratings were compiled by JICTAR (Joint Industry Committee for Television Audience Research), whilst the BBC did its own audience research.

BARB is jointly owned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising. It is a Joint Industry Currency.

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LINKED FROM (PARENTS)
← Broadcasters' Audience Research Board ← Richard Desmond
LINKS TO (CHILDREN)
Free-to-air → Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom → Television channel → Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited → Paramount Skydance → Paramount Networks UK & Australia → RTL Group → Richard Desmond → Viacom (2005–2019) → Paramount Global → 5 (streaming service) →