Viacom to buy Channel 5

[superdudebuddy]

Viacom to buy Channel 5


Viacom is to buy UK commercial public service broadcaster Channel 5, according to reports. A formal announcement is expected to be made as the entertainment giant announces its Q1 results May 1.

The purchase price is expected to be £450 million, far less than the £700 million sought by current owner Richard Desmond, who bought Channel 5 from Bertelsmann AG’s RTL Group in 2010 for £103.5 million. Desmond had also considered an IPO.

Other bidders are understood to have included Discovery Communications in a joint bid with pay-
BSkyB, Saban Capital and Scripps Networks Interactive, telco BT and Comcast/NBC-Universal.




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[shawl_who]

not for India though :no

 

[superdudebuddy]

Viacom chief: Channel 5 will stay FTA


Viacom has pledged to significantly increase Channel 5′s £200 million (€235m) annual programming budget, with more original shows, and not to convert any channels to pay-TV.

Philippe Dauman, the chief executive of Viacom, said programming was the “lifeblood” of its business and to expect significant increases in budget.
“We are a pureplay content company around the world, this is our lifeblood,” he told the Guardian. “We spend $3 billion on programming [and] it is increasing year after year in mid to high single digits percentages. Content has never been more valuable.”

Channel 5 has six channels – the flagship Channel 5, 5* and 5 USA, and a +1, one-hour time-shifted variant for each – but Dauman said categorically that there is no intention to look to convert some to pay-TV channels.

“We believe Channel 5 has had a great trajectory over the last few years, we are going to work with them and continue on that trajectory,” he said. “We see a lot of opportunity to continue to improve programming.”




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