5USA

5USA is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global, which is grouped under Paramount Networks UK & Australia division. It was launched on 16 October 2006 as Five US and was the second digital terrestrial television channel in the UK to be launched by RTL Group (the owner at the time) as part of their multi-channel strategy, the first being Five Life (now 5Star). 5USA concentrates on showing imported movies and programmes from the United States.

History

The channel's original broadcast hours were from 4:00pm to 1:00am, however it extended its hours starting at 12:00pm in June 2007. On 1 November 2015, the channel began broadcasting from 7:00am until 3:00am. The channel changes its programme slots and shows from time to time.

British comedian Russell Kane was the 'face of the channel', presenting short clips between some programmes which acted as space fillers to comply with advertising regulations in the UK (UK regulations allows fewer minutes of advertising than in the US) until 16 February 2009. The music used during the pre-February 2009 idents was performed by Sufjan Stevens, and are four of Sufjan's songs: "The Dress Looks Nice on You", "Chicago", "Jacksonville" and "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts".

On 28 August 2007, Five US launched a timeshift channelTemplate:SndFive US +1Template:Sndavailable only on Sky. On 22January 2009, it was announced that Five US would be rebranded Five USA on 16 February. It became 5USA in March 2011 as part of a corporate rebranding.

Programming

Current programming

• The Blacklist (previously shown on Sky Living, Sky One and Sky Max)
• Blindspot (previously shown on Sky Living/Sky Witness)
• Blue Bloods (also shown on Sky Witness)
• Criminal Minds (series 1–15, previously shown on Sky Witness, also on Disney+ and Paramount+)
• Law & Order (previously shown on Universal TV)
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (also shown on Sky Witness)
• NCIS
• NCIS: Hawaiʻi
• New York Undercover
• The Good Wife
• The Resident (from 16th July)
• Person of Interest

Former programming

• Castle
• Chicago P.D. (now on Sky Witness)
• Columbo (now on 5Select)
• CSI (now on Paramount+)
• CSI: NY (now on Pluto TV)
• CSI: Miami (now on Pluto TV)
• The Enemy Within
• The Guardian
• Hannibal (previously shown on Sky Living)
• Justified (now on Disney+)
• La Brea (season 1 only, available on Paramount+)
• Longmire
• Lucifer (seasons 1 and 2 only)
• The Mentalist
• Murder in the First
• The Mysteries of Laura
• Person of Interest
• The Shield
• Sons of Anarchy (now on Disney+)
• War of the Worlds (on Disney+)
• Yellowstone (season 1 and 2 only, moved to Paramount+)

Ratings

The channel's highest ratings to date were on 12 February 2008 for the second part of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Without a Trace crossover. The show averaged 2.58million viewers between 10:00 and 11:00pm, equating to a multichannel share of 13.9%. Those numbers made the show the most-watched multichannel programme in its slotTemplate:Sndbeating every other channel (digital and analogue) aside from BBC One, and is currently one of the highest ratings for a multichannel in the United Kingdom.

Former logos

• Five US logo (16 October 2006Template:Snd16Script error: No such module "String".February 2009) Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  Five US logo
  (16 October 2006Template:Snd16February 2009)
• Five USA logo (16 February 2009Template:Snd7Script error: No such module "String".March 2011) Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  Five USA logo
  (16 February 2009Template:Snd7March 2011)
• 5USA logo (7 March 2011Template:Snd11Script error: No such module "String".February 2016) Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
  5USA logo
  (7 March 2011Template:Snd11February 2016)

External links

• 5USA on 5