Channel 5 airs a wide variety of programming that covers various genres and themes, with programmes about farming, trains and royalty being popular. The channel is notable for its travel and holiday shows, whether presented by comedians such as Susan Calman and Alexander Armstrong or whether they are programmes in a fly-on-the-wall reality format like Allo Allo! Brits in France or the Bargain Loving Brits... series. The channel has also become associated with a number of people and programmes from Yorkshire with shows including Jane McDonald, The Yorkshire Vet's Julian Norton and shepherdess Amanda Owen, (the latter two also contributing to episodes of This Week on the Farm, filmed at Cannon Hall Farm in South Yorkshire). Channel 5 is also notable for securing the rights to Home and Away in 2001, which helped boost early evening viewing figures for the channel, and acquiring Neighbours from the BBC after a bidding war with other broadcasters. However, where once imported drama made up a large part of its schedule, Channel 5 has increased the number of titles released under the banner of Channel 5 Original Dramas, with The Drowning and a new version of All Creatures Great and Small bringing in more than 4 million viewers to the channel, making it one of Channel 5's biggest hits of Autumn 2021 along with Our Yorkshire Farm and The Madame Blanc Mysteries (all with audiences of over 2.5 million viewers).
Public service Channel 5, as a British public service broadcaster, are required to broadcast a wide variety of programming. As opposed to Channel 4, whose programming remit targets the fringes of society and ranges a variety of cultures, Channel 5's remit is more like ITV's. The Channel's remit is laid out in the Communications Act 2003, Section 265 and is regulated by Ofcom. The section states that:
(1)The regulatory regime for every licensed public service channel, and for the public teletext service, includes a condition requiring the provider of the channel or service to fulfil the public service remit for that channel or service. (2)The public service remit— (a) for every Channel 3 service, and (b) for Channel 5, is the provision of a range of high quality and diverse programming As a public service broadcaster, Channel 5 is required to show a quota of news bulletins and educational programmes. Documentaries such as Hidden Lives, Revealed and Extraordinary People are examples of how the channel has met these criteria. In 2005, Channel 5 acquired the right to the annual Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, with the broadcasts occurring on the channel for three years (as they are now on BBC Four). The channel has also featured some short educational documentary series such as Your Sport focusing on sport in local communities.
Early scheduling Upon launch, Channel 5's programming followed a strict schedule with the intention that viewers could tune in and always know what to expect. Major features of Channel 5's early scheduling structure included daily soap opera Family Affairs at 6.30pm, a nightly news broadcast at 8.30pm, presented by Kirsty Young. That was followed by a film at 9pm every night and The Jack Docherty Show, a comedy chat show. Daytime programmes included Sunset Beach, the American soap opera, Leeza Gibbons' chat show, Leeza and 5 News Early. Weekend programming included Night Fever, a panel show presented by Suggs and the fantasy series Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
Channel 5's 10th anniversary programming For its 10th birthday on Friday 30 March 2007, the channel (then typeset as Channel 5) scheduled a few special programmes which resulted in the channel achieving its lowest viewing figures on a Friday for nearly 10 years and, for any day, its lowest peak time share performance since 2002. The birthday schedule started with the 7.30pm programme Gordon Brown Meets the 10-Year-Olds which got 200,000 viewers watching Channel 5, the channel's lowest amount of viewers for that timeslot in two years. Gordon Brown Meets the 10-Year-Olds was followed by The 10 Demandments at 8pm and I Blame the Spice Girls: The Monster Quiz of the Decade an hour later. The latter show, produced by Zeppotron was a comedy quiz presented by Liza Tarbuck, and featuring contestants Trisha Goddard, Johnny Vegas, Ben Miller and Frankie Boyle, which took its name from the fact that the Spice Girls had been the first act to be seen launching the service in 1997. Questions were based on stories from the news between the period 1997 - 2007, as well as shows that had been broadcast on the channel. Unlike Channel 4's The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, which has had numerous editions since December 2004, I Blame the Spice Girls remains a one-off, as only 600,000 viewers tuned in to see the 1 hour 30 minute 9pm quiz. The channels best ratings for its birthday night of programming was for The Most Shocking Celebrity Moments of the Decade at 10.30pm, a programme which attracted 900,000 viewers from 10.30pm on 30 March 2007, and a format which would be still commissioned by the channel (under various Most Shocking names) 15 years later.
Children and teenagers Channel 5's pre-school programming block Milkshake! is shown from 6 am to 9:15 am each day. The block has a number of presenters and features a range of pre-school programming, including Fifi and the Flowertots, Peppa Pig and Hi-5. Until October 2007, the channel also had a block called Shake! at weekends, which was aimed at an older audience. However, Channel 5 then removed the Shake! block from its schedules, as Neighbours was taking up the Sunday slot. Shake! made a return to the channel on 4 October 2009 every Sunday morning after agreeing a deal with Disney. The block features Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place and Snobs. It also saw the return of Channel 5's hit show The Tribe, a futuristic New Zealand teenage drama series which was shown in its entirety from 1999 to 2003.
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