Does anyone care what happens to Five News anymore? 

24 November 2010 tbs.pm/1228

I guess we shouldn’t be particularly surprised, however on the other hand, I’m wondering if anyone even cares any more.

Five News in happier times

The news that Channel 5’s new owner Richard Desmond wants to make a more popularist, celebrity led news service, just makes me want to shrug and go “meh”.

There was a time I was interested in what our fifth channel did with its news. It started by breaking the mould – doing things different. It was about making trying to get people watching the news who didn’t normally. It had Kirsty Young sat on a desk and everything (although we all know they just nicked that from John Craven.)

However the whole operation seems to have long started sinking in to obscurity. No one really noticed its increasingly tabloid approach, and when the 7pm bulletin got axed in favour of Live from Studio Five few noticed or batted an eyelid. The bulletin’s reinstatement in August seems to have been noticed even less.

I suppose there should be some sort of outrage that it seems destined to become some sort of Daily Express News on TV however getting anyone to care, well that seems a difficult task.

Indeed whilst everyone’s watching Murdoch and his (as yet unfulfilled) dream of turning Sky News in to some sort of Fox News clone, maybe someone else is going to get there first and put it on our fifth channel… But then, given no one watches it, is anyone going to care?

You Say

1 response to this article

Glenn Aylett 10 December 2010 at 6:08 pm

I watched it twice last week and to be honest is I’m A Celebrity and The X Factor really news? People who want this kind of thing can get it in the Desmond owned Daily Star every day. Also I can’t see the point of promoting these shows at all as Channel 5 has nothing from promoting ITV shows, which surely would take ratings away from the station, and I don’t see ITN promoting Neighbours in the same way.

I think Channel 5, should ditch this dead end route which makes their 5.00 news look like news from ITV2 and maybe concentrate more on sports news as the station does have a considerable male following due its football coverage and action films.

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