GEITF Report: Channel 5

Following the success of relaunching Home and Away on Channel 5 (see Channel 5 Says G’Day To Home And Away), Dawn Airey has hinted that she will be on the look out for other ratings winners to poach in order to boost the station’s audience in future.

The benefits to Channel 5 of the Australian soap’s move from ITV have included, according to Airey, an audience boost to its original soap, Family Affairs, an increase in 16-34 year old viewers and a percentage point rise in share.

Speaking at the Richard Dunn Memorial interview at GEITF, the chief executive reiterated her disappointment that part-owners of the channel, Pearson, did not use their influence to snatch BBC1’s Neighbours or ITV’s The Bill when they became available recently, but intimated that there were several other programmes she had her eye on.

More imported programmes to strengthen the schedule formed part of her view of the future when an audience member requested some “blue sky thinking”. She also suggested that Channel 5 could introduce a retail slot during late night schedules in order to supplement advertising revenues, saying that she felt there could be an opportunity currently being missed.

During the interview, Airey displayed her usual fierce loyalty to the channel she has been with from its launch. However, when the possibility of her being offered the Channel 4 chief executive job was raised, she did not completely rule herself out (see GEITF Special: Who’s Next At Four?).

Channel 5: 020 7550 5555 www.channel5.co.uk GEITF: 020 7430 1333 www.geitf.co.uk

Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive