I seem to remember a very, very long countdown (days, possibly weeks), checking it now and again and hearing that bloody song. I was looking forward to seeing 5 and...it was dire, absolutely dire!
I remember at the time that Robbie Williams' 'Old Before I Die' had been released. He was performing it on TFI Friday and he changed one of the lines in the chorus to "I hope I live to receive Channel 5".
@@blahmcblahface3965 demanding harder stuff is a slippery slope. I got into harder and harder stuff, then I went down that rabbit hole, demanding harder and harder, it got bad, it got to a point where I couldn’t get turned on unless I was looking at a woman who was totally nude.
@@blahmcblahface3965I never had cable at that age, but I was always jealous of my mates who told me about it and were able to "beat the clock" on the free preview.
My dad was a retuner for channel 5. He ended up as a tuning specialist, someone that went out to difficult retunes to fault find the issue. Carrying on doing this beyond the launch of the channel. Usually walking away leaving the with better reception across all channels.
@@wisteela I was one who did - but then I'd previously been a BBC engineer. Round where I live (Berkshire) a lot of people had poor Channel Four reception simply because they'd tuned to the wrong transmitter (Crystal Palace not Hannington). I'd sort out the Channel 5 (what I was paid for) then "would you like me to see if I can improve your Channel Four?". Result - happy viewers. ☺
@@wisteela Problem was that Grenada (who did the training) underestimated how tricky it was. They thought that almost anyone could be trained in just a one day course, then let loose on the world. At the same time, Channel Five was recruiting using adverts that were overly optimistic about salary - "Earn up to £800 a week" "£400 typical!" (I think I ONCE received the £400). So customers were getting fed up with their equipment being b*gg*r*d up, while Retuners were fed up about not receiving the promised wages, and there were high levels of staff turnover. In practice, those of us who stayed were from an engineering background - TV repairs, satellite installations, amateur radio etc.
@@wisteela I went round Pebble Mill as part of my BBC engineering training. The main thing that I remember was The Archers studio, and all the things they had to do the sound effects. A door that could be opened and closed with various bells and knockers, trays of gravel to walk on, a short staircase with both wood and metal steps, an acoustically damped section for "outdoor" scenes etc.
Channel 5 had an uphill battle from the start. No money and limited availability plus the press constantly having a joke. The situation makes it truly amazing that the channel survived and found it's own identity. Very interesting and informative as always. I really look forward to your vids Adam ❤👍👍❤️
I remember the launch of Channel 5. I was 11 years old, and we were one of the lucky ones who could actually watch it, we had a decent signal unlike a large chunk of the country. I loved the fresh feel to it. 5 News was unlike anything we had seen before. No news desk, all done from the 5 newsroom. Jack Docherty Show every night at 11pm. Great fun in its first three years on air.
Channel 5's signal was effortlessly mint, in our house. Even on my portable in my bedroom, which had an indoor aerial on top. It was an effort to NOT get a strong signal. 5 News was a revolutionary service, for the way in which it genuinely appealed to a younger audience. Unfortunately though, I do think it had a bad influence upon the TV news industry as a whole. The copycatting spread like wildfire, It was painfully awkward to see the BBC and ITV stalwart hosts trying to nonchalantly sit on the desk. The place for that was really exclusively 5 News, and perhaps Newsround. Other than 5 News, which I praise for using the techniques to create a more dynamic bulletin for an otherwise disengaged young audience, I hate all the standing up, walking around, perching on desks which other news shows have had over the years in response. I find it pointless. BBC news bulletins on BBC One currently have the host switching between sitting at the desk, standing at the curved screen, or standing at the vertical screen. And I just don't see the point. They'll go to the screens merely to display an image of the PM or something, as though you wouldn't know who they were talking about if they didn't stand up and illustrate it. If other people do like that, fine. But I find it a bit silly and pointless, in news services not specifically targeting a young audience. 5 News though, a brilliantly innovative service in 1997.
We had a good picture on channel 5. Unlike bbc2 which was terrible, unfortunately as that was the channel I watched most at the time. Channel 4 had a perfect picture.
I don't remember the launch itself but I do remember my dad sitting, watching the count down to the launch. I was confused about why it was something worthwhile when cartoon network was there
Having grown up in Kent; Channel 5 was a luxury that I could only enjoy when I went on holiday to the north. To the best of my memory, we never ended up getting it here until the digital switch over
We never ended up getting channel 5 on terrestrial TV in some South Wales towns, not until we went digital. Same with Channel 4, only had S4/C. One of the more exciting parts of going to a caravan in Pembrokeshire during the summer holidays was getting Channel 4 and Channel 5 on the TV
One noteworthy thing is that when channel 4 launched it had limited availability for the first five years after it launched, even having a resources of a public entity, the IBA it still took until 1987 until all the relays were upgraded to carry the fourth channel. The issues facing channel five is short supply of available channel space in many areas. In a lot of places channel five where it could be transmitted it had to be at a much lower power to avoid on channel and adjacent channel interference.
We could barely get a signal when it launched. The sound was fine but the picture was very blurry. It wasn't until the 25th of December 1999 when I got a vcr for Christmas which was intended for my bedroom that I hooked up to the telly in the living room to check it worked OK that we actually got a clear signal. Once my parents realised this, they told me this vcr's staying in this room. I ended up getting another one the next day 😂
It was, wasn't it? Needed suspension of disbelief sometimes, but nevertheless a very imaginative piece of fantasy / sci-fi drama. Made in NZ - the world's adults have been killed by a mysterious disease, and children and teenagers have to build a new world. ♥
Thank you! I was thinking, even back then, most people knew how to tune a channel. (Especially if you had a new-fangled digital channel memory instead of tiny analogue tuners, then you quickly learned to do it every time there was a power cut!) But of course, by stark contrast, reconfiguring the VCR's RF-output frequency is usually far more obscure and difficult. At best, hidden inside a service menu; at worst, requiring changing internal components in/around the modulator.
@@kaitlyn__L Remember many devices at the time were really analogue - on our VCR there was a tiny screw next to the UHF output to turn to change the VCR's output signal frequency, so I did it myself before the retuner came to our house (my parents didn't believe that I'd taken care of it though, so they still let them come in to have a look).
Hi Adam, when I saw Greg Dyke in this video, I just laughed. When you are a TV station and you have to bring in Greg Dyke to help, you know you really are scared about your new channel. Greg was brought into London Weekend Television to kick it up the arse and succeeded. He came to TV-am breakfast service in 1983 to save it, and he did. He did the same in 1993 to save its successor GMTV. He came to TVS to help it. So when Channel 5 came along, Greg was there. I bet he was the one who got the Spice Girls to help, that was Greg's style.
I was always under the impression that the song was only created as a promotional song and not a promotional single? That's why it was only 90 seconds long. They had a job to do, and the promo song fit the bill, so it was never intended for release. My memory of Channel 5's release was the discovery of the soap 'Family Affairs' which I really got in to! I loved that show!
I remember as a teenage following all the build up, but not being able to receive it properly on the launch day and can't remember anyone coming to retune the TV.
I was in an area that would not be getting channel 5. But i was 70 miles from London & had a big aerial pointed at London. On the day they switched on their big transmitter i tuned in to some lovely colour bars saying give me 5. Happy days.
I could see the Croydon mast in South London that broadcast Channel 5 from where I lived about 8 miles to the south. Line of sight, but the picture was poor, grainy and ghosting. The other four channels came from Crystal Palace, which I could also see, about a mile more distant than Croydon. The pictures from the other channels were sharp and strong. They were easily received with even an indoor aerial.
I was about 11 when it first came on the air. I remember tuning my new TV in my bedroom (big deal in late 1996) and finding a channel which was just the 5 logo in a circle with a load of static overlaying. Of course, being 11, the channel contained all of my hopes and dreams and was bound to be absolutely incredible. Yeah, aside from a bit of softcore and that Chelsea match in the snow, I can honestly say I've watched Channel 5 for fewer than 24 hours in my life.
It’s possible the reason the song wasn’t released as a single is rights issues as it was a cover/reversion of the Manfred Mann song ‘54321’. And rather than pay the extra licensing cost they thought the money would be better spent elsewhere, particularly if their budgets were tight. Just a theory.
Fun fact: Channel 5 was the only terrestrial channel to be carried on Sky's analogue satellite service until its shutdown in 2002. Until Sky launched its now renowned digital satellite service, you had to get an ariel if you wanted to still watch the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. But C5 had its issues with its terrestrial reception and thats how it briefly became available on satellite weirdly enough.
I remember the problems when it launched with people complaining about not being able to tune it in. When Robbie Williams sang “Old Before I Die” on TFI Friday he changed the lyrics to “…I hope I live to recieve Channel 5….”
I find it funny how Channel 5 was meant to be for young people but most Channel 5 I've seen was US imported crime shows watched by my nan (I think on one of C5's sister channels like 5 USA)
I remember our vhs players being retuned, I also watched the launch, I was 19 at the time and new channels fascinated me. In the previous few years I’d been into finding new FTA Channels on Astra 19.2 via a magazine we used to get each month.
We couldn't receive channel 5 in Portsmouth, only a very weak snowy picture was able to be picked up, had to wait until about 2001, when it was carried on the then new digital TV platform 'ON digital' (now Freeview).
Happy memories! I was one of the army of Retuners who visited people's homes in the run up to the launch. Problem was that most VCRs and satellite receivers used UHF channel 36 to send a signal to the TV. In areas where Channel Five was due to operate on ch 35 or 37, there was a serious risk of interference. We had to visit, IIRC, 80% of homes in the affected areas, use a special signal generator to check for interference, and either retune the modulator or fit a notch filter to avoid problems. We had a few awkward customers, but on the whole it was a job I thoroughly enjoyed and met many interesting people. I was also able to help out with other minor problems - in our area, many people had poor Channel 4 reception simply because they'd tuned to the wrong transmitter (Crystal Palace when they had a Hannington antenna): a few seconds later, perfect reception! It was a bonus / commission scheme, so quite lucrative, too! ☺ Apart from the Spice Girls, the first advert was appropriate - Chanel Number 5. 😉
Great to hear from a retuner. What area was that? I remember getting the test transmissions loud and clear with no VCR problems and being disappointed that we didn't need retuning.
@BobSmith-s7j I was in the Reading area: a bit trickier than most as we had both the London transmitter (Channel 37) and the Southern one (Hannington, north Hampshire) on Channel 35 to take into account. The retuners were only active in areas where channel 35 and 37 were in use: other areas used different frequencies that weren't likely to cause problems and people were just left to set up their own gear.
I was a massive Spice Girls fan when I was younger, and was extremely disappointed that we couldn't get 5. In fact I don't think we were ever able to get 5 while terrestrial services were still broadcasting. Only managed to get it when we went digital. This is the first time I've heard that song. If it was ever released on CD, I would 100% have got it at the time. I remember drinking as much Pepsi as I could to send off enough ring pulls to get an exclusive song.
Back when they were doing the test transmissions, I was the only one in the house who could receive them on my bedroom telly, simply cos the house's aerial (which was hooked up to a rather janky distribution system) was pointing the wrong way, so only got BBC1, 2, ITV & C4, and me with my obsessive nature coupled with an argos special indoor aerial & booster kit, and of course pointing the aerial in a different direction (something I had to adjust every time when changing channels to C5!), it got me the 5th channel in, but it was still rather fuzzy, but I got to see the testcards, the "Give me 5" transmissions, the countdown and of course the song, and after that it was a bit of a "Now what?" moment, cos it wasn't that fantastic, especially for an 11 year old at the time like me... :P
still remember that day, sadly due to issues with my tv not able to get signal from crystal palace transmitter had to sign up to sky back in in 97 to get a clear signal and it was better as we go more channels then on Analogue tv
I was about 8-9 when the channel aired and I was interested in it as we had only terrestrial TV at the time and I was looking for more to watch. I remember the multicolour stripes on the original logo and liking Family Affairs and I watched that until it ended. I live in Northern Ireland and at the time our family lived in a big farm house in the country. I remember my dad going up to the attic to tune the ariel so we could get channel 5. As the living room where the TV was and the attic were far enough apart and the hallway with the stairs leading upstairs was quite high, I remember the constant shouting up and down the stairs of "How is that" and "Don't move it" "You've lost it again" etc...while my dad got frustrated trying to get a good signal. Nearby our house was a forest and a small hill right in front of the house with a few big trees on it. That made getting a clear signal tricky and I remember the signal being slightly fuzzy when Channel 5 first aired so I didn't see the Spice Girls well. I knew people who lived near a bottom of a hill and also had signal issues with Channel 5.
Channel 5 was never really officially or unofficially viewable in the Rep of Ireland. The cable networks didn’t take it up in 1997, Sky didn’t offer it either officially. Even to the present day you won’t find Channel 5 on official channels or EPG’s in Rep of Ireland. I imagine initially it was an reception issue but over time it probably became a rights issue. Channel 4 have always had a soft spot for Ireland for some reason, and 4 Player works too for most things.
Yep, Channel 4 even had Irish contestants on Countdown, and UTV in the 90s also started to embrace the unofficial viewers south of the border by accepting advertising from there.
Remember watching the launch at my nans before coming home to find we couldn’t get coverage. Eventually my Mum and Dad got a new TV in their bedroom and that was the only place in the house we could get reception. It wasn’t a massive hit in our house but I do remember some weird karaoke show with Suggs and some American sports show which was good!
Living in the North West, we weren't able to get a proper signal till TV switched to a digital signal. So many nights were spent watching late night movies on the lowest volume possible with a hardly visible movie are almost nostalgic lmao
I was 16 and buzzing for a new channel, like others have said i was lucky enough to get it. I watched 'family affairs' often 😂, and also enjoyed their football coverage and occasional movies. God i miss the 90s
11:25 Funnily enough, I remember getting Channel 5 with a great signal in my bedroom with indoor antenna. It was actually better than all the other channels, at least on my TV. I remember recording loads of old horror films on Channel 5. Good times haha
I remember i was randomly tuning the channels on my mums tv and i came across a new channel 5. I was really excited as a kid and it had alot of good anerican and Australien shows 😊
I remember our uncle came and retuned ours. The picture was fine downstairs with the roof aerial, but you couldn't watch it upstairs with the portable aerial. We moved house a couple of years after it launched and the signal was worse there
In that same spring of 1997 there was a general election. Amusingly, official polling cards (election notifications) issued in our area had a misprint and declared that they were "FROM THE RETUNING OFFICER"... I kid you not. Wish I'd kept mine.
I was at primary school but my mum and dad was at home when the tv guy came around to retune our kit to channel 5. There was a tuning screw on the back of my old vcr at the time that he tampered with. Anyway we did get it when new, although a little fizzy. Strange nowdays, as its just kinda there.
The Power of 5 was not a single, no, I suspect because it was all a bit rushed and more than likely the Spice Girls knew it was a bit pap. The Pepsi track was handled similarly.
I remember the launch of the channel. As an 8 year old it was quite exciting! Lol. Weekend late nights were always interesting to visit after watching s foreign film on channel 4’s film 4 lol. I’m sure sunset beach was on that channel too and i was hooked as a kid lol
Having my tv returned excited to see the spice girl launch. Turned on opening night and no signal. Was so gutted and never saw the spice girls opening until Internet came along
Remember watching the launch at my late grandparents, it was a fuzzy picture from memory but i was there for the spicegirls... Nowadays Channel 5 is my default station, more entertaining thats whats on the beeb.
A good video, though the criticism of the Spice Girls song not being released was way off the mark. At the time they had released 4 singles, all of which went to number one, and let’s be honest, all were decent pop tunes. This on the other hand is a 90 second okayish song with lyrics talking about a new TV channel. It would have received next to no radio play and would have sold poorly, breaking their run of number one singles. It would’ve been far more bizarre if it had been released.
I must admit I was that excited to get a new channel I had the test transmission on loop in my bedroom. I watched the whole of the the first night's programming in awe.
Yes that was probably a big mistake from the ITC. Just imagine how Thames might of had managed the channel 😅 although the sale of Thames Television plc in 1994 hardly helped. The local tv channels concept in the uk was a long term failure too. ITV probably had the strongest regional focus yet that was almost abandoned, but local tv channels didn’t seem to be sustainable in filling gaps in local regional programs, as the that channels don’t really cover it well. The more successful channels failed commercially such as STV 2.
Watched it live. Watched every day in the first year afterwards as the game show nut in me was served by the quickfire 100% with Robin Houston and the laidback low budget silliness of Whittle with Tim Vine. "Are you ready to be Whittled?" "Whittle away!" 5's seen better days, but hey, still here. The retuning was a bit of a nightmare in NI, as it meant TV and VCR signals needed retuning for the second time in just 6 months, after the launch of TnaG, now TG4, on Halloween night in 1996. It was fascinating to me though, because NEW channels! Taking us to a total of 8 compared to 5 in Britain. Luxury!
I don't remember them having to send people out to returne TVs and VCRs for the public but I do remember that we got a better picture on channel 5 through our TV aerial pointed at Winter Hill than what Telewest were able to give us through their cable service.. Fast forward just 6 years or so and we get Freeview and along with it, a seemingly constant need to retune the boxes as channels came and went, then DSO, then more changes..
We were lucky, we lived just 2 miles from the transmitter and we got a crystal clear signal. But I remember my friends who lived just 5 miles away couldn't get it, that is how weak the signal was.
I remember a couple of things from the launch. Those little grey dongle box things we had to put on the back of our videos as they decided to use the next channel up from what videos used. And a decent Stephanie Slater drama about a kidnapped estate agent on the opening night.
For some reason I have super vivid memory of one of the first things I ever watched on Channel 5 being "My Stepmother is an Alien" with Dan Aykroyd... imported movies were kinda their thing for a while I guess. C5 introduced me to the immortal classic "V" with a fitting five night event that year as well i think.
I remember the first show on the channel was a hospital comedy that I can't remember the name of. I also remember the first film they showed was Suburban Commando
I remember being fairly young and seeing a splashscreen saying Channel 5 would be coming off. Even though it was just a static image I was intrigued by it....I don't remember ever watching, (or enjoying) anything Channel 5 ever offered though.
Many of Channel 5's transmission sites were the old 405-line ones, such as Croydon (rather than Crystal Palace) and Black Mountain (rather than Divis).
I still remember on that very Easter Sunday in 1997 watching the clock ⌚⏰ countdown tick down to a brand new terrestrial channel in 15 years.(Since channel 4 launched in 1982). We had game shows like Whittle,100%,etc. Also there was major League baseball ⚾, Comedy panel games chat shows etc. Memories eh. 😂 😆
It was Easter Sunday I think, I was in year 7 and I waited all afternoon watching, waiting. Haha! It was a bit disappointing after launch 😂 we got a digibox the next year thank goodness!
We couldn't get Channel 5 in the village I lived in, but we had the Astra satellite system with all the Sky channels, and Channel 5 quickly launched on transponder 23. All I remember is a really bad soap opera about a family, a cheap gameshow called 100%, and Prisoner: Cell Block H in the early hours, which I watched drunk occasionally 😂
Ah the memories. I missed the Spice Girls' launch song on the night as 4-7pm was Top 40 time on Radio 1! I had an extended post-GCSE summer in 1997 so ended up watching a few shows on the less-than-perfect-reception C5, including 'Exclusive' with Julia Bradbury, '100%' with Robin Houston, 'Whittle' with Tim Vine, and action series like 'Cody' and 'Pacific Blue' even though I wasn't always totally sure what was going on in the stories. My two little sisters loved 'Sunset Beach' for its sheer awfulness, and I do admit that I occasionally watched the rather risque 'Red Shoe Diaries' when Mum & Dad had gone to bed. C5 was a bit of a national joke for the first few years and even now it seems better known for its imported shows than home-grown content, but it's ultimately still standing and not doing too badly for itself. The Spice Girls' 'Power of 5' song was never really meant for anything other than the channel launch and the lyrics wouldn't have made much sense out of context, unlike the more general lyrics of their Pepsi theme tune 'Move Over' which ended up on the Spiceworld album. It's a shame these were the days before download singles as 'Power of 5' would have been better suited to one of those rather than an expensive launch of a physical single for a 90-second song.
Best launch of a channel ever with the spice girls along with Julia Bradbury and comedian Tim Vine . My favorite shows were Jack Docherty and Family affairs along with prisoner in cell block H and the pulp sci-Fi show called OutTHere with Annika Svenska as Eden in early seasons replaced by Emily Booth in latter seasons that mainly featured grind house movies and many others in the pulp genre . To round it off with Emmanuel a series of soft core adult movies .
Remember this like it was yesterday. I was 14 at the time and it was the Easter Weekend 1997 and a couple of months later channel 5 had the rights to show an England world cup qualifying match V Poland away & Jonathan Pearce was the commentator & just like his Capital Gold footy commentating days he was over excited & apparently loads of people complained about his commentary of said Eng,and match away.
Grace Jones made a promo single for Syfy Channel's 'vampire week' called Love Bites, while it did get released as a single the version in the promo did not get that treatment.
Is it just me, or does this song sound like the Manfred Mans song called, "5,4,3,2,1?" Anyway, even though I was there at the time I do not remember this song being the launch of Channel 5. All I remember was a Channel 5 engineer coming round and adjusting our video recorder away from channel 36 so it didn't interfere with Channel 5's channel number. And I remember them putting a Retuned " sticker on the equipment, or something like that. I never watched the channel till about 4 months later. I wasn't an avid tv watcher back then. And even less so today. Though, I did think that Channel 5 was older than that.. Thanks for the memories!
I was lucky as I was able to get channel 5 from the beginning on my portable with indoor aerial. I’m guessing the Billsdale transmitter was ready to transmit at the launch.
I seem to remember a very, very long countdown (days, possibly weeks), checking it now and again and hearing that bloody song. I was looking forward to seeing 5 and...it was dire, absolutely dire!
Giiiive Me FIIIIVEE!! LOL
I remember at the time that Robbie Williams' 'Old Before I Die' had been released. He was performing it on TFI Friday and he changed one of the lines in the chorus to "I hope I live to receive Channel 5".
That line was on the actual track as well!
I watched this video outside in the snow for extra authenticity.
As a teenage boy in the 90s, I loved Channel 5’s late night lineup 😉
So did I, even though my tv couldnt pick it up properly, so i'd end up watching some blurry fuzzy mess, while making a mess of my sock.
Pffft too soft. The 10 min midnight preview on bravo was where it was at
@@blahmcblahface3965 demanding harder stuff is a slippery slope. I got into harder and harder stuff, then I went down that rabbit hole, demanding harder and harder, it got bad, it got to a point where I couldn’t get turned on unless I was looking at a woman who was totally nude.
Red Shoe Diaries
Compromising Situations
Hotline
Channel 5's gift to a young lad. So good they took over from Eurotrash for my late night viewing..
@@blahmcblahface3965I never had cable at that age, but I was always jealous of my mates who told me about it and were able to "beat the clock" on the free preview.
I remember this channel being a lot fuzzier than the other ones
Right? I never watched 5 because the signal *always* sucked.
My dad was a retuner for channel 5. He ended up as a tuning specialist, someone that went out to difficult retunes to fault find the issue. Carrying on doing this beyond the launch of the channel. Usually walking away leaving the with better reception across all channels.
That's excellent given that many they employed didn't know what they were doing.
@@wisteela I was one who did - but then I'd previously been a BBC engineer. Round where I live (Berkshire) a lot of people had poor Channel Four reception simply because they'd tuned to the wrong transmitter (Crystal Palace not Hannington). I'd sort out the Channel 5 (what I was paid for) then "would you like me to see if I can improve your Channel Four?". Result - happy viewers. ☺
@@wisteela Problem was that Grenada (who did the training) underestimated how tricky it was. They thought that almost anyone could be trained in just a one day course, then let loose on the world.
At the same time, Channel Five was recruiting using adverts that were overly optimistic about salary - "Earn up to £800 a week" "£400 typical!" (I think I ONCE received the £400).
So customers were getting fed up with their equipment being b*gg*r*d up, while Retuners were fed up about not receiving the promised wages, and there were high levels of staff turnover. In practice, those of us who stayed were from an engineering background - TV repairs, satellite installations, amateur radio etc.
@@Bartok_J A friend of mine's Dad was head engineer at BBC Pebble Mill.
@@wisteela I went round Pebble Mill as part of my BBC engineering training. The main thing that I remember was The Archers studio, and all the things they had to do the sound effects. A door that could be opened and closed with various bells and knockers, trays of gravel to walk on, a short staircase with both wood and metal steps, an acoustically damped section for "outdoor" scenes etc.
Shit you just gave me a flash back. I had a poster from the sun of the spice Girls promoting channel 5. I wish I still had that!
Channel 5 had an uphill battle from the start. No money and limited availability plus the press constantly having a joke. The situation makes it truly amazing that the channel survived and found it's own identity. Very interesting and informative as always. I really look forward to your vids Adam ❤👍👍❤️
It hasn't really found it's identity though. It has always been labelled as that "other" channel.
Adam, you are making doc after doc, and I LOVE IT!
I remember the launch of Channel 5. I was 11 years old, and we were one of the lucky ones who could actually watch it, we had a decent signal unlike a large chunk of the country. I loved the fresh feel to it. 5 News was unlike anything we had seen before. No news desk, all done from the 5 newsroom. Jack Docherty Show every night at 11pm. Great fun in its first three years on air.
Channel 5's signal was effortlessly mint, in our house. Even on my portable in my bedroom, which had an indoor aerial on top. It was an effort to NOT get a strong signal. 5 News was a revolutionary service, for the way in which it genuinely appealed to a younger audience. Unfortunately though, I do think it had a bad influence upon the TV news industry as a whole. The copycatting spread like wildfire, It was painfully awkward to see the BBC and ITV stalwart hosts trying to nonchalantly sit on the desk. The place for that was really exclusively 5 News, and perhaps Newsround. Other than 5 News, which I praise for using the techniques to create a more dynamic bulletin for an otherwise disengaged young audience, I hate all the standing up, walking around, perching on desks which other news shows have had over the years in response. I find it pointless. BBC news bulletins on BBC One currently have the host switching between sitting at the desk, standing at the curved screen, or standing at the vertical screen. And I just don't see the point. They'll go to the screens merely to display an image of the PM or something, as though you wouldn't know who they were talking about if they didn't stand up and illustrate it. If other people do like that, fine. But I find it a bit silly and pointless, in news services not specifically targeting a young audience. 5 News though, a brilliantly innovative service in 1997.
We could watch bits of it but the picture was very fuzzy!
We had a good picture on channel 5. Unlike bbc2 which was terrible, unfortunately as that was the channel I watched most at the time. Channel 4 had a perfect picture.
I don't remember the launch itself but I do remember my dad sitting, watching the count down to the launch. I was confused about why it was something worthwhile when cartoon network was there
I had a perfect picture for 5. I remember CSI being on alot in it's early days.
They could have launched Channel 5 at 5PM. That would have made it more crazy
Or 5:55pm. 5 mins of Spice Girls then news at 6 :)
@@Justahuman-vv15:55 *2*
Having grown up in Kent; Channel 5 was a luxury that I could only enjoy when I went on holiday to the north.
To the best of my memory, we never ended up getting it here until the digital switch over
I love the idea of C5 being thought of as a luxury!
We never ended up getting channel 5 on terrestrial TV in some South Wales towns, not until we went digital. Same with Channel 4, only had S4/C. One of the more exciting parts of going to a caravan in Pembrokeshire during the summer holidays was getting Channel 4 and Channel 5 on the TV
The Spice Girls were clever enough to not agree to the song being released as they didn't want to risk interrupting their number 1 run on the charts.
Probably more the record label than the girls but same outcome
Excellent production quality.
One noteworthy thing is that when channel 4 launched it had limited availability for the first five years after it launched, even having a resources of a public entity, the IBA it still took until 1987 until all the relays were upgraded to carry the fourth channel. The issues facing channel five is short supply of available channel space in many areas. In a lot of places channel five where it could be transmitted it had to be at a much lower power to avoid on channel and adjacent channel interference.
I love the launch of channel 5. This is a great documentary for the event. Another BRILLTASTIC video. Thank You.
These videos are terrific! Keep them coming my guy
We could barely get a signal when it launched. The sound was fine but the picture was very blurry. It wasn't until the 25th of December 1999 when I got a vcr for Christmas which was intended for my bedroom that I hooked up to the telly in the living room to check it worked OK that we actually got a clear signal. Once my parents realised this, they told me this vcr's staying in this room. I ended up getting another one the next day 😂
Mum wanted to record family affairs and the on goings of Pete Callan
She didn't want you enjoying channels 5's late night programming TOO much.
"Who said? Spice Girls! 1-2-3-4-5" Absolutely love it. Just amazing.
The thing I remember the most about Channel 5 in the 90s was the TV Series THE TRIBE. I remember how fucking good that show was.
It was, wasn't it? Needed suspension of disbelief sometimes, but nevertheless a very imaginative piece of fantasy / sci-fi drama. Made in NZ - the world's adults have been killed by a mysterious disease, and children and teenagers have to build a new world. ♥
@@Bartok_Jthat reminds me of Sparticle Mystery on CBBC from years ago
2:30 the need for retuning was because it was broadcast on channel 37 which was the same frequency used by the rf modulator in most vcrs
Thank you! I was thinking, even back then, most people knew how to tune a channel. (Especially if you had a new-fangled digital channel memory instead of tiny analogue tuners, then you quickly learned to do it every time there was a power cut!)
But of course, by stark contrast, reconfiguring the VCR's RF-output frequency is usually far more obscure and difficult. At best, hidden inside a service menu; at worst, requiring changing internal components in/around the modulator.
@@kaitlyn__L Remember many devices at the time were really analogue - on our VCR there was a tiny screw next to the UHF output to turn to change the VCR's output signal frequency, so I did it myself before the retuner came to our house (my parents didn't believe that I'd taken care of it though, so they still let them come in to have a look).
I forgot this, I think I managed to find the tiny screw and do it myself.
Thanks I was wondering about that because I did not have a VCR and retuned the TV myself.
Hi Adam, when I saw Greg Dyke in this video, I just laughed. When you are a TV station and you have to bring in Greg Dyke to help, you know you really are scared about your new channel. Greg was brought into London Weekend Television to kick it up the arse and succeeded. He came to TV-am breakfast service in 1983 to save it, and he did. He did the same in 1993 to save its successor GMTV. He came to TVS to help it. So when Channel 5 came along, Greg was there. I bet he was the one who got the Spice Girls to help, that was Greg's style.
Wasn't it Roland Rat who saved TV am?
@@champ10ns08 Yes, first time a rat stayed on a sinking ship
Greg I believe tried to add TVS to the "Big Five" and turn it into a Big Six.
I was always under the impression that the song was only created as a promotional song and not a promotional single? That's why it was only 90 seconds long.
They had a job to do, and the promo song fit the bill, so it was never intended for release.
My memory of Channel 5's release was the discovery of the soap 'Family Affairs' which I really got in to! I loved that show!
I also loved Family Affairs too!
I remember as a teenage following all the build up, but not being able to receive it properly on the launch day and can't remember anyone coming to retune the TV.
I was in an area that would not be getting channel 5. But i was 70 miles from London & had a big aerial pointed at London. On the day they switched on their big transmitter i tuned in to some lovely colour bars saying give me 5. Happy days.
I could see the Croydon mast in South London that broadcast Channel 5 from where I lived about 8 miles to the south. Line of sight, but the picture was poor, grainy and ghosting. The other four channels came from Crystal Palace, which I could also see, about a mile more distant than Croydon. The pictures from the other channels were sharp and strong. They were easily received with even an indoor aerial.
I remember the spice girls being involved in the promo of the station but I have no recollection of that song. 😄
I was about 11 when it first came on the air. I remember tuning my new TV in my bedroom (big deal in late 1996) and finding a channel which was just the 5 logo in a circle with a load of static overlaying. Of course, being 11, the channel contained all of my hopes and dreams and was bound to be absolutely incredible.
Yeah, aside from a bit of softcore and that Chelsea match in the snow, I can honestly say I've watched Channel 5 for fewer than 24 hours in my life.
It’s possible the reason the song wasn’t released as a single is rights issues as it was a cover/reversion of the Manfred Mann song ‘54321’. And rather than pay the extra licensing cost they thought the money would be better spent elsewhere, particularly if their budgets were tight. Just a theory.
Could not get Ch5 on analogue tv here in East Sussex, so had to buy a digital box [the ancestor of Freeview, do not remember what it was called].
ONdigital?
@BobSmith-s7j Yes, thanks, I remember now you have reminded me.
Fun fact: Channel 5 was the only terrestrial channel to be carried on Sky's analogue satellite service until its shutdown in 2002. Until Sky launched its now renowned digital satellite service, you had to get an ariel if you wanted to still watch the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. But C5 had its issues with its terrestrial reception and thats how it briefly became available on satellite weirdly enough.
Ah, you have just answered a question that I was about to post. I thought this happened but I wasn’t sure. Thanks for the confirmation.
Another fun fact. The first advert shown on Channel 5 was for Chanel Number 5 perfume.
@@footynutguy Yep, it was soft scrambled so you needed a decoder but no subscription or card.
Remember when you could barely get a picture on channel 5 unless you had sky
It's the Power of Five!
I remember the problems when it launched with people complaining about not being able to tune it in. When Robbie Williams sang “Old Before I Die” on TFI Friday he changed the lyrics to “…I hope I live to recieve Channel 5….”
I find it funny how Channel 5 was meant to be for young people but most Channel 5 I've seen was US imported crime shows watched by my nan (I think on one of C5's sister channels like 5 USA)
Yeah, it kinda seems like a "Granny" Channel now, talking heads nostalgia shows, all creatures great and small remake etc
Not to mention wall to wall programmes about the royals.
I remember our vhs players being retuned, I also watched the launch, I was 19 at the time and new channels fascinated me. In the previous few years I’d been into finding new FTA Channels on Astra 19.2 via a magazine we used to get each month.
I am not British, nor was I of sentience to even remember this time period. This is a great video though. Love hearing about television history.
same, it’s just kinda fascinating seeing what the Brits were up to during that time
We couldn't receive channel 5 in Portsmouth, only a very weak snowy picture was able to be picked up, had to wait until about 2001, when it was carried on the then new digital TV platform 'ON digital' (now Freeview).
Happy memories! I was one of the army of Retuners who visited people's homes in the run up to the launch. Problem was that most VCRs and satellite receivers used UHF channel 36 to send a signal to the TV. In areas where Channel Five was due to operate on ch 35 or 37, there was a serious risk of interference. We had to visit, IIRC, 80% of homes in the affected areas, use a special signal generator to check for interference, and either retune the modulator or fit a notch filter to avoid problems.
We had a few awkward customers, but on the whole it was a job I thoroughly enjoyed and met many interesting people. I was also able to help out with other minor problems - in our area, many people had poor Channel 4 reception simply because they'd tuned to the wrong transmitter (Crystal Palace when they had a Hannington antenna): a few seconds later, perfect reception!
It was a bonus / commission scheme, so quite lucrative, too! ☺
Apart from the Spice Girls, the first advert was appropriate - Chanel Number 5. 😉
Great to hear from a retuner. What area was that? I remember getting the test transmissions loud and clear with no VCR problems and being disappointed that we didn't need retuning.
@BobSmith-s7j I was in the Reading area: a bit trickier than most as we had both the London transmitter (Channel 37) and the Southern one (Hannington, north Hampshire) on Channel 35 to take into account. The retuners were only active in areas where channel 35 and 37 were in use: other areas used different frequencies that weren't likely to cause problems and people were just left to set up their own gear.
I was a massive Spice Girls fan when I was younger, and was extremely disappointed that we couldn't get 5. In fact I don't think we were ever able to get 5 while terrestrial services were still broadcasting. Only managed to get it when we went digital.
This is the first time I've heard that song. If it was ever released on CD, I would 100% have got it at the time. I remember drinking as much Pepsi as I could to send off enough ring pulls to get an exclusive song.
Back when they were doing the test transmissions, I was the only one in the house who could receive them on my bedroom telly, simply cos the house's aerial (which was hooked up to a rather janky distribution system) was pointing the wrong way, so only got BBC1, 2, ITV & C4, and me with my obsessive nature coupled with an argos special indoor aerial & booster kit, and of course pointing the aerial in a different direction (something I had to adjust every time when changing channels to C5!), it got me the 5th channel in, but it was still rather fuzzy, but I got to see the testcards, the "Give me 5" transmissions, the countdown and of course the song, and after that it was a bit of a "Now what?" moment, cos it wasn't that fantastic, especially for an 11 year old at the time like me... :P
still remember that day, sadly due to issues with my tv not able to get signal from crystal palace transmitter had to sign up to sky back in in 97 to get a clear signal and it was better as we go more channels then on Analogue tv
I was about 8-9 when the channel aired and I was interested in it as we had only terrestrial TV at the time and I was looking for more to watch. I remember the multicolour stripes on the original logo and liking Family Affairs and I watched that until it ended.
I live in Northern Ireland and at the time our family lived in a big farm house in the country. I remember my dad going up to the attic to tune the ariel so we could get channel 5. As the living room where the TV was and the attic were far enough apart and the hallway with the stairs leading upstairs was quite high, I remember the constant shouting up and down the stairs of "How is that" and "Don't move it" "You've lost it again" etc...while my dad got frustrated trying to get a good signal.
Nearby our house was a forest and a small hill right in front of the house with a few big trees on it. That made getting a clear signal tricky and I remember the signal being slightly fuzzy when Channel 5 first aired so I didn't see the Spice Girls well. I knew people who lived near a bottom of a hill and also had signal issues with Channel 5.
Channel 5 was never really officially or unofficially viewable in the Rep of Ireland. The cable networks didn’t take it up in 1997, Sky didn’t offer it either officially. Even to the present day you won’t find Channel 5 on official channels or EPG’s in Rep of Ireland. I imagine initially it was an reception issue but over time it probably became a rights issue. Channel 4 have always had a soft spot for Ireland for some reason, and 4 Player works too for most things.
That would be because it was involved in Father Ted lol
Yep, Channel 4 even had Irish contestants on Countdown, and UTV in the 90s also started to embrace the unofficial viewers south of the border by accepting advertising from there.
I remember launch day, I watched it at my grans house
Remember watching the launch at my nans before coming home to find we couldn’t get coverage. Eventually my Mum and Dad got a new TV in their bedroom and that was the only place in the house we could get reception. It wasn’t a massive hit in our house but I do remember some weird karaoke show with Suggs and some American sports show which was good!
The weird karaoke show was Saturday Night Fever.
Living in the North West, we weren't able to get a proper signal till TV switched to a digital signal. So many nights were spent watching late night movies on the lowest volume possible with a hardly visible movie are almost nostalgic lmao
I remember e4 lauching it was so good
Love learning about these stuff, they're so cool! ❤ Love from Greece 🇬🇷
Thank you very much! Recently saw one of your pop stars at a gig, Marina Satti! 🇬🇷
@@AdamMartyn that's great to hear, i personally love her!
Seemed so amazing at the time that a new channel was happening, me and my family were moving house the day it launched
Just the idea that the quality of TV will suffer because of a fifth channel is adorable
Did anyone get to watch channel 5 in crystal clear picture quality?
We did. In fact it was much better than the signal for Channel 4 which was sometimes unwatchable
I went blind watching it
As a 1990s lad, who loves the Spice Girls.
I never heard of this.
That song is such a bop!
Adding it to my playlist.
I was 16 and buzzing for a new channel, like others have said i was lucky enough to get it.
I watched 'family affairs' often 😂, and also enjoyed their football coverage and occasional movies.
God i miss the 90s
They showed Live at The Comedy Store every weekend. The Dylan Moran special lives in my heart to this day
11:25
Funnily enough, I remember getting Channel 5 with a great signal in my bedroom with indoor antenna. It was actually better than all the other channels, at least on my TV. I remember recording loads of old horror films on Channel 5. Good times haha
I remember i was randomly tuning the channels on my mums tv and i came across a new channel 5. I was really excited as a kid and it had alot of good anerican and Australien shows 😊
I remember our uncle came and retuned ours. The picture was fine downstairs with the roof aerial, but you couldn't watch it upstairs with the portable aerial. We moved house a couple of years after it launched and the signal was worse there
In that same spring of 1997 there was a general election. Amusingly, official polling cards (election notifications) issued in our area had a misprint and declared that they were "FROM THE RETUNING OFFICER"... I kid you not. Wish I'd kept mine.
Maybe someone in the printing works had a sense of humour.
I was at primary school but my mum and dad was at home when the tv guy came around to retune our kit to channel 5. There was a tuning screw on the back of my old vcr at the time that he tampered with. Anyway we did get it when new, although a little fizzy.
Strange nowdays, as its just kinda there.
I was around 8-9 when this debut, yet I don't remember this. My sister was a fan of the spice girls
The Power of 5 was not a single, no, I suspect because it was all a bit rushed and more than likely the Spice Girls knew it was a bit pap. The Pepsi track was handled similarly.
I remember the launch of the channel. As an 8 year old it was quite exciting! Lol. Weekend late nights were always interesting to visit after watching s foreign film on channel 4’s film 4 lol. I’m sure sunset beach was on that channel too and i was hooked as a kid lol
Having my tv returned excited to see the spice girl launch. Turned on opening night and no signal. Was so gutted and never saw the spice girls opening until Internet came along
Remember watching the launch at my late grandparents, it was a fuzzy picture from memory but i was there for the spicegirls... Nowadays Channel 5 is my default station, more entertaining thats whats on the beeb.
Channel 5 gave us Sunset Beach. And for that, we're forever in their debt
Yes i remember waiting to watch it i think we got it straight awsy brought us some good tv stuff
We couldn’t even get it here in Brighton until about (2003) and even then the picture signal was unwatchable.
A good video, though the criticism of the Spice Girls song not being released was way off the mark. At the time they had released 4 singles, all of which went to number one, and let’s be honest, all were decent pop tunes. This on the other hand is a 90 second okayish song with lyrics talking about a new TV channel. It would have received next to no radio play and would have sold poorly, breaking their run of number one singles. It would’ve been far more bizarre if it had been released.
Until I went digital, Channel 5 reception was a snowstorm, there really was no excuse
I must admit I was that excited to get a new channel I had the test transmission on loop in my bedroom. I watched the whole of the the first night's programming in awe.
What's forgotten was channel 5 was the 2nd attempt at a 5th channel. Thames was refused by the ITC in the 1st round of 'City TV francises'
Yes that was probably a big mistake from the ITC. Just imagine how Thames might of had managed the channel 😅 although the sale of Thames Television plc in 1994 hardly helped. The local tv channels concept in the uk was a long term failure too. ITV probably had the strongest regional focus yet that was almost abandoned, but local tv channels didn’t seem to be sustainable in filling gaps in local regional programs, as the that channels don’t really cover it well. The more successful channels failed commercially such as STV 2.
Watched it live. Watched every day in the first year afterwards as the game show nut in me was served by the quickfire 100% with Robin Houston and the laidback low budget silliness of Whittle with Tim Vine.
"Are you ready to be Whittled?"
"Whittle away!"
5's seen better days, but hey, still here.
The retuning was a bit of a nightmare in NI, as it meant TV and VCR signals needed retuning for the second time in just 6 months, after the launch of TnaG, now TG4, on Halloween night in 1996. It was fascinating to me though, because NEW channels! Taking us to a total of 8 compared to 5 in Britain. Luxury!
I don't remember them having to send people out to returne TVs and VCRs for the public but I do remember that we got a better picture on channel 5 through our TV aerial pointed at Winter Hill than what Telewest were able to give us through their cable service..
Fast forward just 6 years or so and we get Freeview and along with it, a seemingly constant need to retune the boxes as channels came and went, then DSO, then more changes..
We were lucky, we lived just 2 miles from the transmitter and we got a crystal clear signal. But I remember my friends who lived just 5 miles away couldn't get it, that is how weak the signal was.
I remember a couple of things from the launch. Those little grey dongle box things we had to put on the back of our videos as they decided to use the next channel up from what videos used.
And a decent Stephanie Slater drama about a kidnapped estate agent on the opening night.
For some reason I have super vivid memory of one of the first things I ever watched on Channel 5 being "My Stepmother is an Alien" with Dan Aykroyd... imported movies were kinda their thing for a while I guess. C5 introduced me to the immortal classic "V" with a fitting five night event that year as well i think.
@@MrSnaztastic Really? In 1997 all five episodes again? I remember it from some time in the seventies giving me an alternative to the Olympics.
5:34 LOVE THIS SONG
I remember the first show on the channel was a hospital comedy that I can't remember the name of. I also remember the first film they showed was Suburban Commando
I believe it was called Hospital! but was not the very first show broadcast
I remember being fairly young and seeing a splashscreen saying Channel 5 would be coming off. Even though it was just a static image I was intrigued by it....I don't remember ever watching, (or enjoying) anything Channel 5 ever offered though.
Many of Channel 5's transmission sites were the old 405-line ones, such as Croydon (rather than Crystal Palace) and Black Mountain (rather than Divis).
Can't believe you never mentioned the topless darts. Amateur! 😆 Seriously though, great video. I love these kinds of deep dive nostalgia vids.
I still remember on that very Easter Sunday in 1997 watching the clock ⌚⏰ countdown tick down to a brand new terrestrial channel in 15 years.(Since channel 4 launched in 1982).
We had game shows like Whittle,100%,etc.
Also there was major League baseball ⚾, Comedy panel games chat shows etc.
Memories eh. 😂 😆
It was Easter Sunday I think, I was in year 7 and I waited all afternoon watching, waiting. Haha! It was a bit disappointing after launch 😂 we got a digibox the next year thank goodness!
I remember watching this when it happens. I was a very excited 10 year old Spice Girls fan.
The only day in human history when watching Channel 5 was exciting.
Ah Geri Halliwell, she was a great wan.....watch.👍
The best program on channel 5 was Whittle with Tim Vine.
Loved that show,along with 100%.
We couldn't get Channel 5 in the village I lived in, but we had the Astra satellite system with all the Sky channels, and Channel 5 quickly launched on transponder 23.
All I remember is a really bad soap opera about a family, a cheap gameshow called 100%, and Prisoner: Cell Block H in the early hours, which I watched drunk occasionally 😂
I remember watching Suburban Commando on day one.
Man I remember when 5 was rainbow coloured and had the indent. Fair play it did help them stand out at launch
Ah the memories. I missed the Spice Girls' launch song on the night as 4-7pm was Top 40 time on Radio 1! I had an extended post-GCSE summer in 1997 so ended up watching a few shows on the less-than-perfect-reception C5, including 'Exclusive' with Julia Bradbury, '100%' with Robin Houston, 'Whittle' with Tim Vine, and action series like 'Cody' and 'Pacific Blue' even though I wasn't always totally sure what was going on in the stories. My two little sisters loved 'Sunset Beach' for its sheer awfulness, and I do admit that I occasionally watched the rather risque 'Red Shoe Diaries' when Mum & Dad had gone to bed. C5 was a bit of a national joke for the first few years and even now it seems better known for its imported shows than home-grown content, but it's ultimately still standing and not doing too badly for itself.
The Spice Girls' 'Power of 5' song was never really meant for anything other than the channel launch and the lyrics wouldn't have made much sense out of context, unlike the more general lyrics of their Pepsi theme tune 'Move Over' which ended up on the Spiceworld album. It's a shame these were the days before download singles as 'Power of 5' would have been better suited to one of those rather than an expensive launch of a physical single for a 90-second song.
I remember this so well.
Best launch of a channel ever with the spice girls along with Julia Bradbury and comedian Tim Vine .
My favorite shows were Jack Docherty and Family affairs along with prisoner in cell block H and the pulp sci-Fi show called OutTHere with Annika Svenska as Eden in early seasons replaced by Emily Booth in latter seasons that mainly featured grind house movies and many others in the pulp genre .
To round it off with Emmanuel a series of soft core adult movies .
Remember this like it was yesterday. I was 14 at the time and it was the Easter Weekend 1997 and a couple of months later channel 5 had the rights to show an England world cup qualifying match V Poland away & Jonathan Pearce was the commentator & just like his Capital Gold footy commentating days he was over excited & apparently loads of people complained about his commentary of said Eng,and match away.
Grace Jones made a promo single for Syfy Channel's 'vampire week' called Love Bites, while it did get released as a single the version in the promo did not get that treatment.
They now have quite a few hours dedicated to Air Fryers 😊
Is it just me, or does this song sound like the Manfred Mans song called, "5,4,3,2,1?" Anyway, even though I was there at the time I do not remember this song being the launch of Channel 5. All I remember was a Channel 5 engineer coming round and adjusting our video recorder away from channel 36 so it didn't interfere with Channel 5's channel number. And I remember them putting a Retuned " sticker on the equipment, or something like that. I never watched the channel till about 4 months later. I wasn't an avid tv watcher back then. And even less so today. Though, I did think that Channel 5 was older than that.. Thanks for the memories!
God I feel so old I remember watching launch night lol
I was lucky as I was able to get channel 5 from the beginning on my portable with indoor aerial. I’m guessing the Billsdale transmitter was ready to transmit at the launch.
I remembered when on my 23 birthday channel 5 was a thing, my most terrible birthday was this.
I always remember Channel 5 being fuzzy on our TV