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+--- Thread: Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 (/showthread.php?tid=824)
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - TimGoodwin1991 - 27-11-2021
What do you remember from the day Channel 5 lauched in 1997? Did you watch any of the launch?
Also part of me thinks, was it necessary for this channel to launch?
Even though this channel was in the pipeline since 1987-88, why was this such a big deal after the launch of Sky's multichannels which can be said be more appealing?
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - BBCMeridian - 27-11-2021
TimGoodwin1991 post_id=55502 time= user_id=1249 Wrote:was it necessaryI'm sorry but what's the point of making a post like this, I mean it's like saying was it neccessary for the BBC to launch children's channels, beside's it's the home of it's children's programmes on Milkshake, Home and Away and Neighbours, so yeah there was every need for Channel 5 to launch, and it also used to have shows like the Pepsi Chart Show, Open House with Gloria Hunniford, Brainteaser and Family Affairs.
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - lobster - 27-11-2021
I remember publicity about maybe needing a new aerial or getting your vcr retuned due to interference. There was a lot of hype and publicity at the time - and you’ve got to remember that most people only had 4 channels back then.
Ultimately for me, I found C5 pretty disappointing- once the launch died down most of the programming was very low budget daytime / filler type stuff and I never really watched it. The Jack Dochety show was ok , but got boring quick - that’s the only thing I ever remember watching in the early days.
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - TimGoodwin1991 - 27-11-2021
BBCMeridian post_id=55504 time= user_id=2083 Wrote:TimGoodwin1991 post_id=55502 time= user_id=1249 Wrote:was it necessaryI'm sorry but what's the point of making a post like this, I mean it's like saying was it neccessary for the BBC to launch children's channels, beside's it's the home of it's children's programmes on Milkshake, Home and Away and Neighbours, so yeah there was every need for Channel 5 to launch, and it also used to have shows like the Pepsi Chart Show, Open House with Gloria Hunniford, Brainteaser and Family Affairs.
The channels which were launching in the 90s were mainly satellite, so I found it interesting why they went for a terrrestrial channel.
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - Brekkie - 27-11-2021
Were you born in 1991 by any chance?
The novelty of a channel launch has long gone considering it happened every few months in the noughties but back in 1997 it was the first new channel for most viewers in 15 years. It was a big deal.
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - Markymark - 27-11-2021
Brekkie post_id=55524 time= user_id=976 Wrote:Were you born in 1991 by any chance?
The novelty of a channel launch has long gone considering it happened every few months in the noughties but back in 1997 it was the first new channel for most viewers in 15 years. It was a big deal.
Yes, although it didn't seem anywhere as exciting as C4's launch. That was a mould breaking channel though
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - commseng - 27-11-2021
The law of diminishing returns, the first TV channel was exciting, the second less so, and of course many ideas have gradually been tried by the time you get to the start of Channel 5.
Now there are channels launched and closed before I even knew they existed, and the renaming of them just leaves me confused.
Why are some renamed just for Christmas for example?
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - Neil Jones - 27-11-2021
TimGoodwin1991 post_id=55502 time= user_id=1249 Wrote:What do you remember from the day Channel 5 lauched in 1997? Did you watch any of the launch?
Also part of me thinks, was it necessary for this channel to launch?
Even though this channel was in the pipeline since 1987-88, why was this such a big deal after the launch of Sky's multichannels which can be said be more appealing?
These days you snap your fingers and channels launch, rebrand, die at the drop of a hat.
In 1997 that didn't happen.
So yes it was a big deal, because as above, most people did not have satellite or cable or whatever, it was purely terrestrial. reception (particularly on second sets). So a new channel was a big thing. That and the whole test transmissions, the retuning Channel 5 had to do because they were planned to launch in the part of the spectrum where most video players were tuned to (usually UHF channel 37) so interference from said units...
And also for competition against ITV. It should have got off the ground in I think 1992 and indeed had it been successful would have seen Thames (and others) behind the consortium. But that never happened and the licence was withdrawn by the ITC.
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - Keirinthenorth - 27-11-2021
I remember the launch, and prior to that the pre-publicity and test transmissions very well.
Channel 5 at that time was necessary, it was the last launch of the big terrestrial channels. Born in 1981 and from a relatively poor household I only ever knew of 4 channels. If you had satellite around my area you were considered fairly wealthy!
Channel 5 aimed at a fairly young audience, stripped programme schedule and snappy hourly news updates right from early morning to sometimes past midnight. Yes the programming was cheap, I quite liked some of it actually and having the news on the hour was a novelty. Remember this was before any news channels (with the exception of sky news) were around. Not many people had access to the Internet and definitely no apps.
You could argue in the current situation now that satellite, cable, Internet and apps are so easily accessible and what with the plethora of streaming services out there is BBC THREE really necessary?
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - remlap - 27-11-2021
TimGoodwin1991 post_id=55519 time= user_id=1249 Wrote:The channels which were launching in the 90s were mainly satellite, so I found it interesting why they went for a terrrestrial channel.
To me Channel 5 was always a satellite channel here in Wales. I can remember its satellite launch very well.
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - JAS84 - 27-11-2021
Yeah, Channel 5's analogue reception was always patchy, so they actually broadcast on Astra 19.2E (FTA, but on the same platform as analogue Sky) as well as on terrestrial. The other terrestrial channels, of course, only launched on satellite when digital launched.
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - London Lite - 27-11-2021
Although I live in London, I watched it mainly on Sky analogue as the PQ in the early days south of the river was poor, although I tolerated it in 97 until it went up on 19E.
I remember having to have my VCR returned, but discovered the engineer did nothing, so did it myself.
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - Night Thoughts - 27-11-2021
Channel 5 also felt very distinctive when it launched - hourly news bulletins, the main bulletins presented stood up, the “stripped and stranded” schedule (not a million miles from Channel 4 now) with a film at 9pm, and the nightly Jack Docherty chat show.
A report from the time: https://mediatel.co.uk/news/1997/02/19/channel-5-schedule-launched
And, of course, its boss Dawn Airey later described its output as “films, football and f***ing”, which put the channel in a less flattering light. But it launched so late for a terrestrial channel - 18 months before digital TV began? - and had such patchy coverage for years that it always had to work harder to get even a modest audience. It seemed to take until switchover to find its niche, really.
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - Brekkie - 27-11-2021
Like with many things the promise was also much more exiciting than what was delivered - I remember the "Give Me 5" barker more than anything C5 showed in it's early years outside of it's news coverage - and it was 5News that gave it a bit of credibility. And as much as the 9pm films were a cheap way to fill a couple of hours in primetime they were largely welcome - back then primetime films, especially uninterupted, were rare other than for big premieres.
Channel 5 launch 30th March 1997 - Stanley Matravers - 28-11-2021
The arrival of any additional Analogue Terrestrial channel(s) was by 1997 never going to have as big a cultural impact as on the previous occasions between 1955 and 1982, because the television landscape had fundametally changed with the advent of satellite and cable platforms.
At the time of Channel 4's (and S4C's) launch(es), we wouldn't have even distinguished it as "Terrestrial" (less still prefixing that with "Analogue") - It was just, erm, "Television" because there wasn't any other kind!
Satellite and cable had gradually progressed from initally being something that only "the few" would be likely to have (e.g. more affluent households who could afford subscriptions, and/or those who just *have* to have the latest new tech) to something increasingly commonplace.
Most folk would by then have at least been *aware* of Sky etc, even if they themselves were still firmly a terrestrial-only household. They therefore would know that telly *could* be a lot more "multi-channel" than having a grand total of channels which can be counted on just one hand, and only increase at a rate of one new channel per decade.
With the launch of *Digital* Terrestrial already being in the pipeline by then - which was always going to eventually lead to Analogue Terrestrial being fully phased-out, thus making *all* households "multi-channel" - the launch of a fifth-and-final Analogue Terrestrial channel was arguably almost a bit of a "too little, too late" situation.