Channel 5 to be sold to American broadcaster Viacom for £450m

As Viacom gears up for an assault on the UK’s free-to-air television market, it has been reported that it is set to acquire channel 5 for £450m.

13:26 01 May 2014

Viacom, the owner of MTV, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central, is set to acquire Channel 5 as it gears up for an assault on the UK’s free-to-air television market in a £450million deal. 

 

The move has been cited by numerous press outlets but is yet to be officially confirmed by either party. It would mark the first time that one of the five free-to-air core terrestrial channels was bought out by foreigners. 

 

Station boss Richard Desmond had been trying to sell Channel 5 for £700million but it is believed that the bids he got were well below that. However, Mr Desmond is still going to make a lot of profit in the £450m deal as he bought Channel 5 from German broadcaster RTL in 2010 for just £103.5million. 

 

In the first half of 2013, Channel 5 had reported an operating profit of £26million compared to the £16.1million loss a year earlier. This year, the broadcaster is expected to report an operating profit of £70million. 

 

Northern & Shell, Channel 5’s parent company, declined to comment.