Channel 5‘s operating profits and sales declined last year, but the Paramount Skydance-owned British network continued to invest in local content.
Published on the UK’s Companies House, Channel 5’s first earnings since the David Ellison-led Skydance merger were skewed by a £80.9M ($109M) payment from Sky Media in 2023 after the ad sales house accidentally underpaid its partners.
Channel 5’s operating profit stood at £21M last year, which was down 81% from £112.4M in 2023, when the Sky Media payment was received. Revenue declined by a fifth from £399M to £318M over the same period.
Strip out the Sky Media money and the picture was somewhat brighter for Channel 5, the network behind series including All Creatures Great and Small and BAFTA-winning White Nanny, Black Child. Operating profit was £12M in 2024, compared with £22.7M the year before. Revenue declined just 1% to £314M.
Either way, Channel 5 continued to be in the black. The broadcaster has returned an operating profit in nine of the past 10 years, with the exception coming in 2020, when the ad market plummeted during the pandemic.
Channel 5’s closest competitor in the UK is Channel 4, which recorded a pre-tax deficit of £2M last year on the back of revenues that inched up 1% to £1.04B.
Paramount’s UK chief content officer Ben Frow often trumpets Channel 5’s importance to the British creative community and its willingness to take risks, such as its fruitful move into drama in recent years.
Channel 5 earnings showed content spend at a three-year high of £216.6M in 2024, whereas competitor Channel 4 slashed spending by 3% to £643M, the lowest level since 2020.
Channel 5 also touted the performance of its streaming platform, now known as 5. The service increased its viewing by 53% compared to 2023, making it the fastest-growing streamer among the UK’s public service broadcasters. Its biggest title was My Wife, My Abuser, a documentary spotlighting a man who was abused by his wife for 20 years.
Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival in August, Frow said Channel 5 would be backed in a fresh era for Paramount, revealing that he received assurances from new international chief Kevin MacLellan. “I had a conversation with the new boss, who said he was very keen on Channel 5. We can do a lot more for the business. He speaks my kind of language,” Frow said.
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