5USA

5USA is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Channel 5 Broadcasting Limited ,^[2] 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 4:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., however it extended its hours starting at 12:00 p.m. in June 2007. On 1 November 2015, the channel began broadcasting from 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 a.m. The channel changes its programme slots and shows from time to time.

British comedian

On 28 August 2007, Five US launched a timeshift channel – Five US +1 – available only on Sky.[3] On 22 January 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.^[4][5]

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 2.58 million viewers between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m. equating to a multichannel share of 13.9%. Those numbers made the show the most-watched multichannel programme in its slot – beating 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 2006 - 16 February 2009)
• 
  Five USA logo
  (16 February 2009 - 7 March 2011)
• 
  5USA logo
  (7 March 2011 - 11 February 2016)

Notes

• ^1 Series nine through fourteen were aired first-run on Channel 5. From the eighteenth series, 5USA obtained the first-run rights to the series.
• ^2 Series one through three and the first two episodes of the fourth series were aired first-run on 5Star. From the third episode of series four, 5USA obtained the first-run rights to the series.
• Universal Channel has first-run rights to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
  in the United Kingdom, as of 2014. Universal Channel is currently airing the sixteenth series. Channel 5 had second-run rights to all series, up until the twelfth series. From the thirteenth series, aired in 2015, 5USA has second-run rights to the series. Universal Channel UK closed down on 27 January 2020 and their programming was moved to Sky Witness.
• ^4 5USA has finished airing episodes to this first-run or second-run series and is currently rerunning episodes in their schedules, as of 2015.