Channel 5 Receives Proposals For Spare Digital Capacity

Channel 5 has received a number of proposals from broadcasters wishing to buy the unused capacity on the channel’s digital terrestrial multiplex. Channel 5 will invest in one channel on the multiplex, leaving around two channels’ worth of frequency spare. It is preparing these proposals which will shortly be passed to the Independent Television Commission (ITC) for regulatory approval.

Following Channel 5’s offer of the frequencies at the end of last month (subscribers see Channel 5 To Offer Surplus Digital Frequencies), it has received proposals from Flextech, BSkyB, British Digital Broadcasting (BDB), S4C Digital Networks and QVC, the home shopping channel. Companies such as BSkyB and BDB, however, may encounter anti-competition restrictions due to their digital broadcasting activities on other multiplexes.

Channel 5 says it cannot act on any of the proposals until it has been given the go-ahead by the ITC. The station also says that any deal would be embarked on as a co-venture rather than a wholesale disposal of the frequencies.

Whichever broadcaster succeeds in investing in the capacity will have to pay the transmission costs on all three of Channel 5’s channels; this is believed to be a sum of around £7 million a year. The investor would also be required to pay an additional annual fee to Channel 5 for use of the capacity.

Channel 5: 0171 550 5535