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 (now Paramount Global) for £450 million (US$759 million). Channel 5 was rebranded as 5 on 12 March 2025 along with its streaming service.
