Channel 5 is believed to be close to signing a deal with Telewest which will mean the cable company carrying out C5’s retuning programme in its franchise areas.
A spokesman at Telewest told MediaTel that it was definitely in talks with C5 regarding the retuning, which is proving to be a headache for the new channel. A pilot scheme, currently running in Wallington, Surrey *(Newsline 05/06), has come under criticism from home owners and is believed to be running over budget and over time.
Before C5 can launch, in five months time, it will have to retune almost 10 million homes. It is estimated that the cost of this programme, called “Give Me 5” *(Newsline 29/07), will be around £55m, though a report in today’s Independent quotes a source as saying this figure could reach £100m.
One way of helping to reduce these costs is by drafting in cable companies to retune the homes in their own franchise areas. Other companies believed to be in talks with C5 include Nynex and Bell Cablemedia.
* MediaTel subscribers only
Telewest: 01483 750900
Channel 5: 0171 550 5555 22 Long Acre London WC2E 9LY
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