
Paramount Global on Wednesday unified the brand of its public service broadcast channel Five under a common identity with its companion streaming television app.
Moving forward, the broadcast network and the streaming app will share the “Five” (stylized as “5”) identity, a move first announced last August. As part of the change, Paramount has abandoned plans to merge Five and Pluto TV, and will keep them as separate offerings.
That said, some of Pluto TV’s influence is being felt within the newly-refreshed Five streaming app: In addition to streaming versions of Five’s multiplex broadcast network, Paramount has also launched a handful of Five-branded free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels that offer marathon viewing of British and American series from the TV network.
The channels include “MTV Catfish” and “MTV Georgie Shore,” which will operate in the overnight hours, starting at 9 p.m. GMT. It also includes a handful of channels offered through Pluto TV for more than a year — among them, “5 Destination Britain,” “5 Cops” and “5 Trucking Hell” — as well as new FAST channels that are exclusive to the Five app like “MTV Teen Mom” and “5 History.”
The Five app now offers more linear content streams than other public broadcasters, including Channel 4, which underwent a similar brand identity refresh last year. ITV has around a dozen linear content streams within its ITV X app, while the BBC includes simulcasts of its four main linear TV networks, as well as regional variants of its radio stations.
The Five app is free to download and access, with on-demand and linear streaming supplemented by advertising. Channel 5, 5 Action, 5 Select, 5 Star and 5 USA are offered as simulcasts within the app.
The refresh comes at a time when linear consumption of TV content is still strong in the United Kingdom, though more British households are opting to use streaming services like Netflix and Amazon’s Prime Video for their entertainment needs.