While the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have been merrily plunging into the multi-channel ocean, Channel 5 has kept it shoes and socks on the dry land of terrestrial. The last into the terrestrial game (and still unavailable to millions of homes), it is also set to become the last to carry out an expansionist strategy.
Following in the footsteps of of BBC3, BBC4, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, E4, More4, will come....?
Broadcast claims today that Channel 5 is contemplating a women's channel.
More likely, however, is that Channel 5's extra channel will be an expansion of the fabulously popular children's brand Milkshake. And that Channel 5 is trying to decide what to put on the channel when the kids have gone to bed. The Milkshake plan has been around for at least 9 months. Or maybe there will be more than one new channel.
RTL has said it is willing to fund the multi-channel expansion. The broadcaster has the space on Freeview (it currently rents it out to Top Up TV - in which it has a stake). Now it just needs to decide what to do with it.
A women's channel would pitch it up against Living TV, one of multichannel's biggest successes. Oddly, while it is often seen as a lifestyle channel, Living's evening schedule features endless episodes of CSI - a terrific cop show which is also Channel 5's biggest success.
Channel 5 could try and take on the sporting big guns of multichannel. An easier thing to do on Freeview than Sky. It already has a much-loved through-the-night baseball and American football franchise (plus football from Argentina and elsewhere). And then there is always Premiership football which is due for bidding soon. Channel 5 frequently shows fringe football (Uefa cup games featuring Middlesboro for instance).
So what would you like to see from More 5? More House? More CSI? (Although there would clearly be rights issues and overkill fears) More baseball? More footy? More Trisha?
