Channel 5

Are children being spoilt for choice when it comes to TV?

Disney's Frozen

To many adults, the choice of viewing options for children is as incomprehensible as the whistling language of The Clangers. There is now a myriad of platforms, apps and subscription video-­on-demand (SVoD) services offering access to children’s shows. They include Amazon, Netflix, Freeview Play, YouView and Sky Go.

Children can watch their favourite CBBC shows, such as The Next Step, via the BBC iPlayer – or catch up with Nickelodeon brands, such as SpongeBob SquarePants, on the app Nick Play.

Channel 5 to show FIA World Rally Championship 2016

World Rally Championship, Channel 5, television, sport, driving, motorsport

The broadcaster will show highlights of every stage of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) over 15 countries. 

The season includes classic events such as Rallye Monte-Carlo and Rally Australia, while new to 2016 is the introduction of Rally China, which will take place in September just outside of Beijing.

Last year championship highlights were shown by ITV4, with live stages from each round being broadcast by BT Sport. 

Robot Wars returns to BBC Two

Robot Wars, Razer, BBC Two

The show is coming back to BBC Two having originally run from 1998 to 2001 on the channel, before moving to Channel 5 for a final series in 2003.

The six-part series promises even more innovative fighting machines thanks to a raft of technological advances in the 12 years since it was last on air, as well as a behind the scenes look at the science of the robots featured.

Alan Tyler, BBC Acting Controller of Entertainment Commissioning, promised “a mix of real people, real passion and raw power.”

TV’s poverty dividend

Poverty, Stockton-on-Tees

Who benefits from TV’s glut of poverty programmes? Is it the TV companies or the films’ protagonists? And what of the charities that are frequently involved in the making of this tele­vision sub-genre, which has been dubbed “poverty porn”?

These were some of the questions discussed at a conference held at the end of November and organised by the RTS, BBC, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

New Creative Skillset Series Producer Programme open for applications

Creative Skillset Series Producer Programme

The new Creative Skillset Series Producer Programme is open for applications, offering the opportunity to make the leap from Producer to Series Producer. 

Backed by the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5, this year-long scheme will find the next generation of SPs to help the industry advance and grow.

Who Benefits? TV and Poverty

This was one of the key findings of new research undertaken by the BBC looking at a style of television often described as “poverty porn” by TV reviewers.

The study was unveiled at a conference in Manchester, Who Benefits? TV and Poverty.

The event was backed by the RTS, the BBC, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.

Click here to watch the full video of the event.