Richard Desmond is exploring a sale of Ch5 [MERGED]

[arista]

[ Richard Desmond, the owner of Channel 5,
is exploring a sale of the television business.
Mr Desmond, whose Northern & Shell
also owns the Express and Star newspapers,
can expect to sell the business for many times
the £103.5m he paid for it three and
a half years ago, after returning Channel 5
to profit and amid
optimistic forecasts for broadcasters.
A sale would be likely to raise more
than £700m according to reports,
although it is understood that Mr Desmond
could look for up to £1bn. Northern & Shell
has appointed Barclays to work on the sale.
The process is in a very early stage, however.
Prospects for free-to-air broadcasters,
which have been gloomy during
the financial downturn, are looking much improved. ]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/10546638/Richard-Desmond-plots-Channel-Five-sale.html

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/02/richard-desmond-sale-channel-5

http://www.thejanedough.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Richard-Desmond.jpg


Sign of The Times

[Samm]

Don't understand what is he doing?

[Niamh.]

Don't understand what is he doing?

Making a fat return on his investment it seems

[arista]

Don't understand what is he doing?


Only if a buyer agree's with his Price
will he Sell Ch5.
To make a Mega Profit.

[arista]

Making a fat return on his investment it seems


Yes its all money making
that makes King Desmond tick.


But will a buyer agree to his price?

[Samm]

He's going to sell it what about all the programs will they still stay.

[T*]

He's going to sell it what about all the programs will they still stay.

Yes, of course they will :p

[T*]

Goodbye The Daily Star being connected to Big brother :amazed: :dance:

[arista]

He's going to sell it what about all the programs will they still stay.


He may
or he may not
as no buyers?

[Niamh.]

Yes its all money making
that makes King Desmond tick.


But will a buyer agree to his price?

I don't blame him if he can make that much on it tbh

[Jamesy]

Makes sense really. If he is able to get a bucket load of profit right now then he may as well go for it and head for the hills with the profit.

[BBfanUSA]

Inb4 C4 owners buy it to cancel Big Brother Again

[arista]

Inb4 C4 owners buy it to cancel Big Brother Again


No ch4 are not a buyer
they may be sold off

[Matt]

He's going to sell it what about all the programs will they still stay.

Not necessarily - the current Big Brother contract ends after this summer's series and a renewal's yet to be officially announced.

This is rather worrying news as far as Big Brother's concerned - Richard Desmond is the show's biggest champion at Channel 5 and it was him that decided they should buy it. If he decides to sell off C5 they may not feel as obligated to keep Big Brother.

Not to mention that if Desmond does sell C5 off, Big Brother loses its connection with his publishing empire - and as annoying as the Daily Star can be it is responsible for the vast majority of BB's press coverage.

[arista]

Not necessarily - the current Big Brother contract ends after this summer's series and a renewal's yet to be officially announced.

This is rather worrying news as far as Big Brother's concerned - Richard Desmond is the show's biggest champion at Channel 5 and it was him that decided they should buy it. If he decides to sell off C5 they may not feel as obligated to keep Big Brother.

Not to mention that if Desmond does sell C5 off, Big Brother loses its connection with his publishing empire - and as annoying as the Daily Star can be it is responsible for the vast majority of BB's press coverage.


thats OK
the Sun will take over

[Sawyer]

Article from Digital Spy, stating that Richard Desmond will sell Channel 5 for £700million after buying it in 2010 for £103million.

Possibly buyers include ITV and Time Warner.

I wonder what this could mean for Big Brother?

Article after the spoiler tag.


Richard Desmond is reportedly considering selling off Channel 5.

The Northern & Shell owner is said to be exploring the idea of a possible sale and has appointed Barclays to advise him.

The Financial Times, which first reported the news, states that Desmond - who bought the channel for £103.5 million ($171m) in 2010 - is seeking to get upwards of £700m ($1.15 billion) for the broadcaster.

ITV and Time Warner's Turner unit have both been tipped as potential buyers for the channel, while The Hollywood Reporter has also cited Discovery Communications, Liberty Global and Vodafone.

ITV, Barclays and Northern & Shell have all declined to comment on the reports.

Northern & Shell told the FT: "As a media group with a broad portfolio of assets we are often the subject of speculation, but it remains our policy not to comment on these matters."

Channel 5 - which airs shows such as Big Brother, Neighbours and CSI in the UK - was previously owned by German media company RTL Group.

Read more: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/news/a541205/richard-desmond-considering-selling-off-channel-5.html#ixzz2pGugOb5w

[Samm]

Big brother will still stay they have signed a contract for the House

[Rob!]

ITV don't seem to have too much against BB, so they may keep it and expand on it - but I do feel slightly concerned for the future of the show...

[MTVN]

Not necessarily - the current Big Brother contract ends after this summer's series and a renewal's yet to be officially announced.

This is rather worrying news as far as Big Brother's concerned - Richard Desmond is the show's biggest champion at Channel 5 and it was him that decided they should buy it. If he decides to sell off C5 they may not feel as obligated to keep Big Brother.

Not to mention that if Desmond does sell C5 off, Big Brother loses its connection with his publishing empire - and as annoying as the Daily Star can be it is responsible for the vast majority of BB's press coverage.

Yeah this is bad news for BB

[Samm]

Not necessarily - the current Big Brother contract ends after this summer's series and a renewal's yet to be officially announced.

This is rather worrying news as far as Big Brother's concerned - Richard Desmond is the show's biggest champion at Channel 5 and it was him that decided they should buy it. If he decides to sell off C5 they may not feel as obligated to keep Big Brother.

Not to mention that if Desmond does sell C5 off, Big Brother loses its connection with his publishing empire - and as annoying as the Daily Star can be it is responsible for the vast majority of BB's press coverage.

They have a contract for the house know?

[T*]

Itv would be fine unless they force TOWIE editing into bb.
Time warner would be okay I guess, they seem to know Whaat they're doing.

[Black Dagger]

Yeah, as much as Dirty Desmond can be a tool, he's very pleased with BB, the next buyer may not actually want it and it could be axed again, we'll have to see what happens.. but that was my instant worry when I read it.

[Nemo123]

"Richard Desmond, the owner of Channel 5,
is exploring a sale of the television business.
Mr Desmond, whose Northern & Shell
also owns the Express and Star newspapers,
can expect to sell the business for many times
the £103.5m he paid for it three and
a half years ago,.."

I always thought he owned it from the beginning.

[Sawyer]

People seem to be a little misinformed on this. Channel 5 was a £42million loss making organisation in the year prior to Desmond's takeover. Other than heavy cost cutting and a revamp of it's advertising techniques, Big Brother is mostly responsible for it becoming a £20million profit making organisation in little more than two years.

The buyer would not only see this, but be absolutely brain dead to kill the channels only headline making show and biggest ratings hit. People forget, it's not just the show itself, but the halo effect the show creates. It's lead-in and following programs are up, just by Big Brother being sandwhiched between the two.

So no, Big Brother would not be in trouble. The only negative being it wouldn't be attached to Desmond's media empire for promotion.

[dojo88]

They better renew the contract otherwise I will sue them.
And Desmond better NOT sell it because C5 is as fine as it is.

[Matt]

They have a contract for the house know?

The lease on the house doesn't have any effect on the contract for the show - Endemol renewed the lease on the house in 2010 before they'd signed the new deal with 5.


So no, Big Brother would not be in trouble. The only negative being it wouldn't be attached to Desmond's media empire for promotion.

You're forgetting that Big Brother is funded from a completely separate cash pot to the main Channel 5 programming budget. It's easily C5's most expensive show and if a new owner isn't as willing to dish out the money as Desmond is then the show's instantly in trouble.

[Sawyer]

The lease on the house doesn't have any effect on the contract for the show - Endemol renewed the lease on the house in 2010 before they'd signed the new deal with 5.



You're forgetting that Big Brother is funded from a completely separate cash pot to the main Channel 5 programming budget. It's easily C5's most expensive show and if a new owner isn't as willing to dish out the money as Desmond is then the show's instantly in trouble.

I didn't know that fact. Fair point.

[arista]

[BSkyB and BT rivalry could provide
a cash bonanza for Richard Desmond
The Channel 5 owner will be hoping
the pay TV giants get into a bidding war
if he wants to get near his £700m price-tag]


http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/07/bskyb-bt-richard-desmond-channel-5


he can hope
but lets see what happens?

[Headie]

"Richard Desmond has asked advisers to work on a possible sale of Channel 5, the British free-to-air TV broadcaster, that would seek to raise more than £700m for the media entrepreneur."

ITV is mentioned as a potential buyer alongside US networks. A sale is not definite.

Source: Financial Times. Full article (registration needed)http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b7a2a7f2-72d6-11e3-b05b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2pACWR5rx

I wonder what this will mean for Big Brother? Obviously they'll keep it as it's their biggest show, but will they expand on it or make any changes to it?

[Samm]

So would C5 have a name change to like ITV5 are something :laugh:

[Headie]

I want them to buy it so that Big Brother can get advertised during ad breaks of X Factor, BGT etc.

[T*]

So would C5 have a name change to like ITV5 are something :laugh:

No, not at all. It'd be that itv just own it and nothing else.
It's like when that German (I think) broadcaster RTL owned it, they didn't call it RTL5, it was just all the same.

[Jemal]

I would love big brother on ITV.
No doubt it would go back to attracting 4-5m daily.
Unless its not developed well.

[arista]

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/feb/23/channelfive-richard-desmond

Discovery and BSkyB may make joint bid for Richard Desmond's Channel 5


They are thinking of a Bid
Early Days

[T*]

As long as they change the branding from the crap it is now, I'm fine with it.