Five US, yet another new channel, has commenced launch proceedings for this week and with it will bring eventually - picking up on a story on nudography a few days ago - Shark (with
Jeri Ryan) and Vanished (
Rebecca Gayheart), already having a strong tie up with CSI.
It's the last of the "big five" to branch out. BBC1 and BBC2 with Three and Four now, ITV with 2, 3 and 4, Channel 4 - e4 and More4 and now Five with US and Life.
I think with the title you can guess its style of programming, but the big money, successful, "sexy" imports is a very competitive market over here with a strong spread across the channels. The OC, Smallville, Lost, Desperate Housewives and The Sopranos (Ch4 and e4), Prison Break (Five and Uktv Gold), Deadwood (Sky One) with Battlestar Galactica, Bones, Rescue Me and Nip/Tuck all due back soon ,Living tv - Veronica Mars, The L Word and Grey's Anatomy, itv2 - Supernatural and Entourage and Bravo (with Alias finished) looking for another winner. FX and abc have started up their own channels over here in just the past couple of years as well.
Basically, the days of horny teenagers the likes of Russ and Audrey Griswold popping over for a visit and switching on the afternoon test card for an amount of channels you could count on one hand and still have fingers left over, are long gone! It will therefore be interesting if Five US can increase its programming and pick up enough viewers, or say in a years time will it have to change its identity perhaps?
Elsewhere this week, on itv2, romantic comedy Pretty Woman (
Julia Roberts) on Tuesday at 9pm and the following night at ten, on the same channel, tense thriller Single White Female (
Bridget Fonda and
Jennifer Jason Leigh).