Channel 5 Sidesteps ITC Decision With New 5.30pm News Bulletin

Channel 5 has announced that it will move its main evening news bulletin to 7.30pm and introduce a new bulletin at 5.30pm. The extra bulletin allows the channel to sidestep an ITC decision stating that news must be shown during peak time.

The new bulletins, which will begin on 16 July, mean that the channel will show more news than any other commercial station. Channel 5’s chief executive, Dawn Airey said: “Traditionally there has been an audience for a bulletin at 5.30pm. We believe that this is the right time to show news for a significant number of viewers.”

Plans to re-schedule the early news bulletin from 6pm to 5.30pm to make room for Home and Away were blocked by the ITC last April (see Channel 5 News Move Refused By ITC). The television regulator reminded the channel that it had agreed, in its original licensing remit, to provide at least 20 minutes of news coverage and ten minutes of current affairs during peak time, which is defined by the ITC as 6pm to 10.30pm.

Speaking at MediaTel’s Media Question Time debate in February this year, Jim Hytner, director of marketing and communications at Channel 5 said that while 6pm onwards may constitute peak time in London, it doesn’t reflect the rest of the country. He said that an earlier bulletin would get a larger audience (see C5 News Move Set To Test Regulatory Powers Again).

An ITC spokesperson today defended the decision saying: “It’s not just a whim, we’ve let Channel 5 move news around within the peak time slot but the licensing remit requires that news be shown during that time.” They added: “More news is good news for viewers.”

Channel 5: 020 7550 5555 www.channel5.co.uk ITC: 020 7255 3000 www.itc.org.uk

Subscribers can access further information on Channel 5 and other TV stations by selecting “Television” from the drop-down box at the top of this page.