Richard Desmond, the new owner of Five, is to ditch the TV station’s ‘Five’ branding and return to Channel 5, the original name which was used from its launch in 1997 until 2002.
The last rebranding cost millions and at the time was claimed to be necessary for the channel “to shed its image as the downmarket alternative to its terrestrial rivals”.
The other major shake-up is that Desmond has removed much of the senior management team, with chairman and chief executive Dawn Airey now reported to be moving to a senior role at Five’s former owner, RTL.
Seven out of nine executive board directors have already been announced as leaving the company, and staff have been informed that there will be 80 job losses to come as part of a £20m cost-cutting drive.
After the pain, Desmond hopes to gain from an annual investment of £300m in the channel to try to “go toe-to-toe with the biggest players in the TV world”.