Channel 5 posts record profit of £58.4m

Channel 5 recorded a £58.4 million profit for the 12 months to 30 September – the first consecutive year of profitability in its 20-year history.

Particularly strong growth in share of viewing among younger audiences helped deliver a 19% increase in turnover to £383.6 million against £322.7 million in 2015.

Share of viewing for 16-34s grew 9% during the period, while total TV viewing in the UK grew 2% to 6.13%. Channel 5 said this was largely driven by an 11% increase in content spend.

David Lynn, president, UK, Northern and Eastern Europe for Viacom, which bought Channel 5 in 2014 for £450 million, said the broadcaster was now “sustainably profitable” for the first time.

“Channel 5 is radically different to the network Viacom first looked at buying three years ago; it has an entirely new look and just seven shows still broadcasting that were on air in 2013,” Lynn said.

“This transformation has taken place under American ownership but it is being driven by original British content. We’ve transformed the business model, through our advertising partnership with Sky Media and by getting Channel 5 to work more closely with our pay TV channels, making it sustainably profitable for the first time, in spite of recent economic uncertainty.”