Media mogul Richard Desmond has acquired loss-making Channel Five for £104 million.
Media mogul Richard Desmond has acquired loss-making Channel Five for £104 million.
Desmond is the chairman and owner of Northern & Shell, a UK media company that was founded in 1974 and also produces the Express Newspapers and OK! magazine.
Despite revenues of €303 million (£253 million) in 2009, Channel Five made a loss of around £37 million partially due to restructuring costs and write-downs.
Founded in 1997, Channel 5 was rebranded Five in 2002. The company launched its digital channels Five Life (now Fiver) and Five US (now Five USA) in 2006. Dawn Airey will remain chief executive of the network, which broadcasts shows such as CSI and Neighbours.
Desmond comments: ‘Channel Five has proved itself to be a credible and competitive British broadcaster with some of the most sought-after programmes from home and overseas. I’m delighted to have taken ownership of the network and I know that with the right investment, drive and leadership it can go from strength to strength as a competitive broadcaster and a modern player for the digital consumer.’
Channel Five was purchased from the European broadcaster RTL Group, which owns 42 television channels and 31 radio stations across ten countries.
RTL’s chief executive Gerhard Zeiler comments: ‘With a significant recovery of the UK TV advertising market and Five performing well in the first half of 2010, we saw a window of opportunity to realise a transaction based on a fair evaluation of Five.’
