Channel 5 Programming Budget Increased

Channel 5 has confirmed that its programming budget for 2002 will be increased by around £5m to £149m, up from £144.2m in 2001.

Last year, stakeholders RTL and United Business Media (UBM) went to court over UBM’s reluctance to grant an increase to the 2001 budget, which began the year at £141.6m. In the end the cash injection was granted.

A spokesperson for Channel 5 today said that advertising revenues for 2001 at Channel 5 were down 7.5% year on year to £191.8m, but pointed out that this was less than the industry average of a 10% drop.

Dawn Airey, Channel 5’s chief executive is thought to view programme budgeting as a key factor in increasing the channel’s viewing share, which has doubled since its launch year of 1997, when it gained just 2.9%. However, growth in this area has slowed recently, and average share over 2001 was, at 5.8%, only up 0.1% on the previous year.

Channel 5: 020 7550 5555 www.channel5.co.uk

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