Kanal 5 (Channel 5) is a Swedish television channel that was launched in 1989. It is owned by the US-based media company Warner Bros. Discovery, changing its ownership from ProSiebenSat.1 Media in April 2013.
After a troublesome 1990s, Kanal 5 launched new strategies in the early 2000s (decade) that established it as a popular entertainment channel targeting young people. The channel's slogan is "Roligare TV" ("More Entertaining TV") and it only broadcasts entertainment, such as series, movies, reality series and infotainment documentaries. In 2006, the channel was the most popular channel among Swedes aged 15–24.
History Nordic Channel Åke Wilhelmsson and Kari Storækre through production company Karissima aired in 1988 God Morgon Scandinavia, a breakfast programme for Sky Channel, at the time when it was widely available on Swedish cable networks. When Sky announced that it would change its target group and started aiming at the British market, the couple began to prepare their own channel. In January 1989, the couple and lawyer Ingemar Drogell announced a prospect for potential shareholders on Nordic Channel."TV-kändisar söker delägare till nordisk kanal", Dagens Industri, 13 January 1989
On 8 March 1989, businessman Matts Carlgren announced at a press conference that he had entered the new channel as a financer. The launch of the channel was scheduled for 27 March and they had secured a transponder on an Eutelsat satellite. The idea since the beginning was that independent production companies would gain airtime on the channel."NY SATELLIT-TV-KANAL ÖPPNAR MED DIREKTSÄNDA ISHOCKEYLANDSKAMPER", TT, 8 March 1989 The channel launched on 27 March 1989, with broadcasts from a studio rented by Utbildningsradion in Stocksund. A few months after launching, Carlgren bought shares from the other owners."TUMULT PÅ NORDIC CHANNEL", TT, 23 June 1989 The director of programming was Henrik S. Järrel, who left the channel in 1991 to become a member of parliament."Nu vill Järrel sitta i riksdagen", Expressen, 1 February 1991
Among the companies that booked airtime on Nordic Channel was Utbildningsradion itself, who used the slots for a programming block financed by TV license fees. In December 1989 the "Scandinavian Business Channel" from Dagens Industri and Aktiefrämjandet started."Slå på TVn i dag 13:15?", Dagens Industri, 1 December 1989 Even the Pentecostal Church bought airtime instead of airing services from its American counterparts. On 1 January 1992, Miniatyr, a programme aimed at the Persian diaspora, premiered.Iranier satsar allt på TV-drömmen. Persiskt program via satellit med pengar ur egen ficka, Dagens Nyheter, 26 January 1992
Aside from these slots the channel also broadcast its "own" programmes, among them the American soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" which became its first ratings success. Other programmes in the lineup included older Swedish films, acquired crime series and music videos."Hotellchefen sticker upp", Expressen, 6 December 1990 Bingolotto was supposed to premiere on Nordic Channel, but subsequently had its national premiere on TV4.
American administration The channel made heavy losses during its first years. In September 1991, Carlgren sold 75% of the channel to TV1 Europa (later renamed Scandinavian Broadcasting System),"MATTS CARLGREN HAR SÅLT NORDIC CHANNEL", TT, 11 September 1991 headed by Harry E. Sloan, who had already bought Kanal 2 in Copenhagen and TVNorge in Norway. He renamed the channel TV5 and in November of that year moved to the Tele-X satellite where TV4 was already present.Fler kan se Nordic efter satellitebyte, Svenska Dagbladet, 1 November 1991MediaScan, SWEDEN CALLING DXERS, from Radio Sweden, Number 2143--Nov. 5, 1991 However, the French language TV5, complained and the channel had to be called TV5 Nordic. This was still in the early years of cable television and French TV5 still had widespread distribution in Swedish cable networks."Miljonkrav mot Matts Carlgren", Dagens Industri, 17 January 1992NJA 1993 s. 182 Fråga om säkerhetsåtgärder enligt 15 kap 3 § RB i mål om fastställelse av varumärkesintrång och om åtgärder enligt 41 § varumärkeslagen., Högsta domstolen, 26 April 1993 With the new owners, investments were being made in bringing more imported American TV series, such as Star Trek and Bonanza.Nordic satsar på säkra kort, Dagens Nyheter, 5 August 1992
In early 1993 the channel started airing short news updates, called 5i. They also took over the programme Vem tar vem? from SVT."Nordic satsar 400 miljoner. Lill-Babs första kapet i kampen om tittarna", Expressen, 27 April 1993 In March 1993 SBS was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, giving the channel an injection of capital. In January 1994 the channel left UR's Stocksund facilities to premises of its own.Töntkanalen som spottat upp sig. TV 5 Nordic tar upp kampen med TV 3, Dagens Nyheter, 11 December 1993
TV5 Nordic finally had to drop its name in 1994, after the Stockholm District Court appealed in favour of the French TV5 on 25 November 1993.TV 5 Nordic förlorade första matchen, Dagens Nyheter, 26 November 1993 Consequently, on 22 March 1994, the channel became known as Femman ("The Five"). In 1995, it premiered the American comedy Friends.
Autumn 1994 saw the premiere of Femman's first Swedish drama series, soap opera SoloFemman satsar på eget. "Solo", ny svensk TV-serie i skivbolagsmiljö, Dagens Nyheter, 23 August 1994 which didn't gain successful ratings. In general, at the time, the channel's main programmes were American imports. American sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air started airing in February 1994, becoming a success. In March 1995 Paramount Television became a part-owner of SBS and signed an agreement to provide its films and TV series to the channel for ten years, giving it the choice of first option in the Swedish market, improving the quality of the channel's programming.Ny partner ska höja Femmans kvalitet, Dagens Nyheter, 16 March 1995MediaScan, SWEDEN CALLING DXERS, from Radio Sweden, Number 2220, 21 March 1995
In 1994, TV3 founder Jan Steinmann was recruited to lead SBS's Nordic operations. The fact that Steinmann moved to the competitor too soon wasn't well received by Stenbeck and an agreement was reached in which Steinmann would be quarantined for six months before starting his activities at SBS on 1 July 1995.Stenbeck: En biografi över en framgångsrik affärsman, Per Andersson, 2012 Meanwhile, the channel's CEO at the time, Hans von Schreeb, became the president of the channel's executive council and former sales manager Lena Åhman was named the new CEO, the first woman to lead a Swedish national channel.Chefsbyte på Femman, Dagens Nyheter, 26 April 1995 When Steinmann arrived to SBS, he appointed his former director of programmes at TV3, Mats Örbrink, for the same post on Femman. Meanwhile a conflict emerged with Åhman who renouncesFemmans VD avgår efter tvist, Dagens Nyheter, 29 August 1995 and was replaced by Patrick Svensk, who also came from TV3. Brita Sohlberg, TV3's former leader of its news division, was appointed as vice-CEO of the channel.Svenskt "drömlag" leder Femman, Dagens Nyheter, 3 October 1995
The new leadership initiated a fundamental change to the network, which, among other things, led to increased investment in in-house productions. Agreements with independent production companies ended at the start of 1996, meaning that Miniatyr and the religious services were removed from the schedule.Persiska "Miniatyr" stoppas. Femman gör sig av med betalande programleverantörer, Dagens Nyheter, 25 January 1996
1996 relaunch as Kanal 5 On 4 February 1996 the channel changed its name again, to the current Kanal 5. The name change was preceded by a legal process involving complaints from a company in Umeå who used the name "Kanal 5" for its airport TV service. To solve this case, an agreement had to be reached.Registrering av varumärket KANAL 5 i visst utförande , Patentbesvärsrättens avgöranden, Målnr: 95-584, Beslutsdatum: 1996-07-18
Shortly after the rename new Swedish programmes premiered: Måndagsklubben with Caroline Giertz, Lusthuset, En ding ding värld with Johannes Brost, Fallet X with Walter Kegö, Det ringer på dörren, Emmas analys with Emma Sjöberg, Lotta with Lotta Aschberg, Ronnys rullar and Fråga Helene with Helene Backman."Femmans nya ansikte", Göteborgs-Posten, 28 January 1996Femman blir Kanal 5 med kvinnokvartett, Dagens Nyheter, 19 January 1996 That autumn saw the premieres of Stjärna mot stjärna and the circus entertainment format Colosseum.Stjärnor tävlar i Kanal 5, Dagens Nyheter, 29 August 1996
In 1997 Kanal 5 took over the rights of soap opera from TV3, until its conclusion in 2000. The network also premiered another original production, OP:7, a drama series set at a hospital.Svenska vita rockar i Kanal 5, Dagens Nyheter, 16 October 1997
Having operated at launch with a Luxembourgish license, the channel later received a British one. Initially, the channel continued having management and transmission from Sweden, but in August 1997 the British regulatory body ITC was notified that it needed to operate from the UK."Goodbye Sweden", Dagens Industri, 26 August 1997 Playout moved to London on 22 January 1998.
From the beginning, the channel aired unencrypted by satellite. The fact that the channel broadcast programmes in English without translation made it popular outside of Sweden, which infuriated programme rights holders, as the rights only applied to Sweden. The channel switched to the D2-MAC standard in the summer of 1998, but became encrypted on 19 October that same year, with a smart card required to watch the channel."Nu kodas den sista fria kanalen", Expressen, 7 October 1998
In November 1998 director of programmes Mats Örbrink left to be replaced in 1999 by Anders Knave. CEO Patrick Svensk left in November 1999 due to disagreements with SBS, with sales manager Manfred Aronsson taking the post.
Autumn 1999 bought the premiere of the reality show Villa Medusa and the sexual information programme Fråga Olle.
Roligare TV, sale to Discovery, under Warner Bros. Discovery The channel moved its Swedish offices in spring 2000 to a new facility in Rådmansgatan 42 (in the corner with Döbelnsgatan)."Modern arkitektur på jobbet, gammeldags mys hemma: De som säljer framtiden åt oss tror inte på den själva", Svenska Dagbladet, 17 December 1999
With the end of Vänner och fiender came a new local soap opera, Hotel Seger which turned out to be unsuccessful. The Swedish version of Big Brother was launched in autumn 2000, becoming successful and running for six seasons.
In 2001 it premiered the talent show Popstars, indoor renovation programme Room Service and the American crime series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
In 2003 High Chaparall aired, Filip och Fredrik's first show for the channel. It was the beginning for the team's long collaboration with the channel which later included 100 höjdare and Ett herrans liv for Kanal 5.
In the 2000s the channel specialised mainly in American drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and Criminal Minds. New sitcoms continued attracting viewers, such as later seasons of Vänner, Two and a Half Men, Cougar Town, The Big Bang Theory and Suburgatory. The last episode of Friends was broadcast on 15 December 2004, and attracted 965,000 viewers, one of the highest rated programmes in the channel's history up to then.MMS Hottop,