Channel 5

World Screen Weekly, August 30, 2007

COUNTRY: Singapore

LAUNCH DATE: April 1963

OWNERSHIP: MediaCorp

DISTRIBUTION: Channel 5 has a weekly reach of 2.3 million viewers.

DESCRIPTION: Channel 5 is Singapore’s main English-language terrestrial entertainment channel, providing a mix of local programming and key international shows. It is operated by MediaCorp TV, which also runs Channel 8, a Mandarin-language entertainment offering, and Channel U, a Chinese news and entertainment service for young adults and working professionals.

EXECUTIVE VP, TV PROGRAMMING & PRODUCTION: Kenneth Liang

SENIOR VP, NETWORK PROGRAMMING

& BUSINESS STRATEGY: Siew Ping Tan

VP, NETWORK PROGRAMMING & SPECIAL PROJECTS: Selena Ho

VP, ACQUISITIONS: Joy Olby-Tan

VP, BRANDING & PROMOTIONS: Serene Choo

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: Owned by Singaporean media giant MediaCorp, Channel 5 is the leading terrestrial destination for English-language content in the island nation. According to Kenneth Liang, the channel’s executive VP of TV programming and production, about 75 percent of the network’s prime-time schedule is acquired, but, he notes, plans are under way to ramp up original productions from 25 percent to more than 50 percent next year.

Formats will likely play a role in that initiative, with the network already having developed local versions of Deal or No Deal, Idol, Wheel of Fortune and The Weakest Link. Liang notes: “We acquire formats when they have strong appeal for our local audiences and intrinsic branding values, or if there are production values we can learn from.”

Aside from formats, a host of other local productions have delivered audiences for Channel 5 and have picked up sales from other broadcasters in the region. Among the most successful local titles have been sitcoms like Under One Roof and Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd and the dance reality show The Dance Floor.

On the acquisitions front, the bulk comes from the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, Liang says. International series that have performed well for Channel 5 include Prison Break, Ugly Betty, Ghost Whisperer and Desperate Housewives, and reality imports like American Idol, America’s Got Talent, Project Runway and Survivor.

Hollywood blockbusters play a key role in the schedule, Liang says, often airing in the first half of the channel’s prime-time slot, which runs from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. The 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. slot is shared with “local tentpole programs,” Liang says, like the recently launched talent/variety show Live the Dream. Breaking for news at 9:30 p.m., the entertainment schedule returns at 10 p.m. with international movies and local productions aimed at “more mature audiences,” Liang says.

Late night, Channel 5 features a host of hit American dramas, among them Grey’s Anatomy, Boston Legal, Cold Case and Without a Trace. Daytime, meanwhile, is populated with lifestyle fare like The Martha Stewart Show.

WHAT’S NEW: As part of the efforts to boost local content on the channel, co-productions “will become very important to us in the immediate future,” Liang says. In addition, Channel 5 aims to broaden its slate beyond entertainment and lifestyle programming. “Attention will also be paid to factual content and issue-related shows in the coming year.”

The channel will also continue its efforts in the new-media space, encouraging viewers to interact with the network via websites, SMS-based contests and voting, ringtones, online forums and podcasts.

WEBSITE: ch5.mediacorptv.com

—By Mansha Daswani