Channel 5 remains part of the Paramount “ecosystem” as the Skydance sale progresses and the network’s American owners are even “envious” of its model, according to UK chief Sarah Rose.
Speaking at the VLV conference, Rose stressed she can’t comment on the ongoing $8B sale, which should complete in the first half of next year, but posited: “Paramount is being sold to another owner and therefore Channel 5 is being sold with it, we are part of that ecosystem.” Chatter has abound since Paramount went on the block over the future of the American giant’s local international channels, which includes Australia’s Network 10.
Under content boss Ben Frow, Channel 5 has nurtured a reputation for punching above its weight with hits including All Creatures Great and Small and Michael Palin in North Korea. Rose, who is also Paramount Global regional lead, said her American owners recognize this and are prepared to invest more in the network next year. Under Paramount, she said Channel 5 has doubled its number of annual UK productions on the channel per year to 400.
“It has massively helped that we return profits to them and they are about to get some more,” Rose told the VLV conference. “I’m not losing sleep about being left by the wayside.”
Paramount owning linear network CBS helps with its understanding of Channel 5, Rose added, and she said Co-CEO George Cheeks and the Paramount team are “a bit envious” of what Frow and his commissioners have achieved.
“They are a little wide-eyed at how much bang for the buck we get,” she said. “They find some of our more regional focused commissions have a certain British idiosyncrasy that is of curiosity to them.”
She was speaking at the VLV after BBC News boss Jonathan Munro.