5USA is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited ,[2] a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global, which is grouped under Paramount Networks UK & Australia division. It was launched on 16 October 2006 as Five US and was the second digital terrestrial television channel in the UK to be launched by RTL Group (the owner at the time) as part of their multi-channel strategy, the first being Five Life (now 5Star). 5USA concentrates on showing imported movies and programmes from the United States.

History

The channel's original broadcast hours were from 4:00pm to 01:00am, however it extended its hours starting at 12:00pm in June 2007. On 1 November 2015, the channel began broadcasting from 7:00am until 3:00am. The channel changes its programme slots and shows from time to time.

British comedian Russell Kane was the 'face of the channel', presenting short clips between some programmes which acted as space fillers to comply with advertising regulations in the UK (UK regulations allows fewer minutes of advertising than in the US) until 16 February 2009. The music used during the idents until February 2009 were "The Dress Looks Nice on You", "Chicago", "Jacksonville" and "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts", all performed by Sufjan Stevens.

On 28 August 2007, Five US launched a timeshift channel – Five US +1 – available only on Sky.[3] On 22 January 2009, it was announced that Five US would be rebranded Five USA on 16 February. It became 5USA in March 2011 as part of a corporate rebranding.[4][5]

Ratings

The channel's highest ratings to date were on 12 February 2008 for the second part of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Without a Trace crossover. The show averaged 2.580 million viewers between 10:00pm and 11:00pm equating to a multichannel share of 13.9%. Those numbers made the show the most-watched multichannel programme in its slot – beating every other channel (digital and analogue) aside from BBC One, and is currently one of the highest ratings for a multichannel in the United Kingdom.

Former logos

  • Five US logo (16 October 2006 - 16 February 2009)
    Five US logo
    (16 October 2006 - 16 February 2009)
  • Five USA logo (16 February 2009 - 7 March 2011)
    Five USA logo
    (16 February 2009 - 7 March 2011)
  • First 5USA logo (7 March 2011 - 11 February 2016)
    First 5USA logo
    (7 March 2011 - 11 February 2016)

Notes

  • ^1 Series nine through fourteen were aired first-run on Channel 5. From the eighteenth series, 5USA obtained the first-run rights to the series.
  • ^2 Series one through three and the first two episodes of the fourth series were aired first-run on 5Star. From the third episode of series four, 5USA obtained the first-run rights to the series.
  • ^3 Universal Channel has first-run rights to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in the United Kingdom, as of 2014. Universal Channel is currently airing the sixteenth series. Channel 5 had second-run rights to all series, up until the twelfth series. From the thirteenth series, aired in 2015, 5USA has second-run rights to the series. Universal Channel UK closed down on 27 January 2020 and their programming was moved to Sky Witness.
  • ^4 5USA has finished airing episodes to this first-run or second-run series and is currently rerunning episodes in their schedules, as of 2015.

References

  1. ^ "Television Broadcast Licensing Update October 2006". Ofcom. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  2. ^ "Ofcom | TV Cable and Satellite". static.ofcom.org.uk.
  3. ^ Joanne Oatts (5 July 2007). "Five launches +1 services". Digital Spy.
  4. ^ "Five US Rebranded to FiveUSA". Entertainment Interactive.
  5. ^ "New brand identity for Five US". Digital Spy. 22 January 2009.

External links