Daily Express owner Richard Desmond has bought Channel Five from RTL for £103.5m.
The media mogul says he plans to invest in TV content for the embattled channel, which recently pulled out of Project Canvas, the cross-industry platform for delivering online content.
Shortly after the purchase, Desmond appeared on news show Live From Studio Five to make the announcement, saying “All we are going to do is add more programmes and put extra money on screen.”
Big Brother, on the way out from Channel 4, has been cited as a possible early purchase for the channel, and may indicated the direction in which Desmond might choose to direct the channel’s focus. He has also apparently spoken to staff about reviving Top Of The Pops.
Gerhard Zeiler, chief executive of RTL, said: “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. The disposal is in line with RTL Group’s strategy of being number one or two in each of our markets.”