Five News - Populist Bulletin to be introduced

Channel 5 plans revamp of news programmes

Owner Richard Desmond plans to end Sky News contract a year early to create a populist bulletin

It became famous for Kirsty Young perching on her desk, but Channel 5 News looks set for another kind of revolution with channel owner Richard Desmond wanting to stamp his inimitable mark on its news programmes.

The media mogul behind OK! magazine and adult television programmes such as Wobbling Whoppers 2 is looking at ending current news provider Sky News's £9m a year contract early and creating a populist, new-look bulletin.


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23-Nov-2010 @ 22:18

Another little snippet from that article.


So it could see ITN regain the contract again I suppose?

Well I'm not surprised as Dirty Des owns the Express & the Star & Sky are obviously connected with their rivals The Scum, The Screws Of The World & The Times!

Wonder how bad a tv news bulletin based on the Express, the Star & OK magazine would be?

(Not that I watch Channel Five on a regular basis I hasten to add. I've watched 'Cowboy Builders' & the odd 'Neighbours'!)

If Live from Studio Five is anything to go by, "populist" will mean deeply unpopular. Do the OFCOM requirements for "news" actually define "news"? The only saving grace in all this is the knowledge that ultimately Desmond's dallies with Channel 5 will see him lose a shed load of cash!

Yes - good for ITN in money terms, but definitely not good for its reputation... really poor move by Desmond to axe what has become a fairly decent news service and replace it with populist crap, but I guess it was on the cards.

On the other hand, if ITN wins the contract (I'm talking very prematurely, I realise), could we see Deborah Turness leave ITV News to become the editor of Five News (again)? She was the driving force behind it in its early days when it made its mark on TV news.

Yeah obvioulsy I agree with your first bit!

On the bit about Deborah Turness leaving - I think that might just be you hoping ! I couldn't possibly think of why your'd dislike her!

Although as you say she spearheaded the orginal Five News - would she really leave a more promentinent job being Editor of ITV News?

A silly move if he heads down that route. They have Studio 5 which covers everything celebrity, and an ideal show if you read all the celeb mags. Five News in its current form covers a mix of hard news and entertainment, which i think has found a balance. First half is usually main news, second half is some odd reports and entertainment.

But "populist" doesn't necessarily mean celebrity-oriented, right? Perhaps Five will go down the route of some US local stations and try glitzy graphics, a fast in-your-face style, an emphasis on crime and "news you can use" (health, fitness, consumer advice, etc.).

You may be right there.


Probably not likely actually! I guess it's just 'wishful hoping' (and I better be careful what I say, what with the ITN lurkers hanging round these boards...!) On a serious note, I wonder just how populist these bulletins will be. Will they go for an ITV News 2004-present style agenda or just go the whole hog and commission an essential Daily Express for TV?


I agree. I think that in its early years and into the 21st century was by no means considered a full-on credible news service, what with all the gimmicks etc., but it has definitely been coming into its own over the last few years. Not as formal as the others but certainly a decent news service. A shame to water it down!

Absolutely, after all The One Show is populist. However this is Richard Desmond who's in charge so it won't be something clever and populist.

It's no surprise that they want to ditch Sky nor that they want it to go more populist (although how can it get more populist than Sky's current offering!?). Why they're trying CNN is a bit of a mystery though, I can't imagine them providing what Channel 5 would want, unless they need them to do a minimum amount of hard news which they can then pad out with stuff about Jordan

Hasn't it already been announced/ reported that Matt Barbet will present one of the bulletins after Kaplinsky leaves, and a new weather girl only recently started? Does the latter work for Five, rather than Sky, and will the current Five News employees move over to the new contract?

Good luck to him. Five News and LFSF is pretty useless as it is.

Nothing Desmond is doing is surprising me. But if he's dead set against Sky, isn't ITN really the only other plausible option? I mean, unless you want to spend a lot of money on getting journalists around the country, the bulletin's going to end up reporting nothing but stories from near London, and anything they can get from agency feeds from overseas. Pairing up with an established provider means you can save money by sharing resources like reporters, camera crews, and sat trucks.

That said, we're not expecting any good quality product here, are we?