Channel has been promoted from slot 99 to slot 57 on the Freeview television guide in the UK following the ViacomCBS merger. The channel will also launch on Viacom-owned British broadcaster Channel 5’s streaming service My5 in the coming weeks. “We are thrilled to deepen our footprint in the UK as it’s been truly inspiring to see Smithsonian Channel’s programming resonate so strongly with international audiences,” said Tom Hayden, president of Smithsonian Networks.
Barney Francis, a key figure in the growth of Sky Sports, is leaving the Comcast-owned broadcaster after nearly 20 years. Francis played a pivotal role in tightening Sky’s stranglehold on Premier League rights as the managing director of Sky Sports, while more recently served as the CEO of future sport at Sky. “The time is right to move on to new adventures in a changing world,” he said.
Channel 5’s director of programs Ben Frow has hailed as “quite an achievement” that the broadcaster has grown its viewing share by 4% across its portfolio of channels in its first year withoutcash into new shows including drama, which achieved its highest ratings of 2019, averaging 2.6M viewers across its four episodes. Frow said: “It is no easy feat to have reinvented our peak schedule without a reality juggernaut like, and to have grown audience in the process is quite an achievement.