Almost gets a 5 (Five)

Member Name: davey_26

Product:	Five
Date:	13/10/09 (24 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Terrific crime dramas, good selection of sports

Disadvantages: Still some filler content

I remember when five first hit the airwaves, it launched with the big coup of having secured the rights to the England vs Poland match. The picture quality was terrible due to the very limited bandwidth they had and I questioned whether this was dead before it had even begun but after some very bland programmes and thankfully after the hiccups, things have improved markedly.

So what does channel 5 offer? during the morning and early afternoon it offers the usual mix of talk shows, cooking programmes and this is not something of any interest to me. However the night time channel 5 really is an entirely different proposition as for football fans like myself, they cover friendlies and competitions such as the UEFA cup.

I am admittedly a sucker for U.S crime dramas though and in this respect, the selection and quality of the dramas is fantastic. There is the superbly crafted and delivered Law and Order and all of it's off shoots. The original and involving show the mentalist, the always bizarre but captivating CSI and the excellent prison break.

Channel 5 could be criticised for not showing enough british dramas but is has to weigh up the cost implications and secondly, I have yet to see any crime dramas deliver with the same quality and consistency as the mentioned u.s dramas.

It now competes on very equal grounds with the more well established tv channels and is testament to the fact that there was room for one more terrestrial channel. This is a very good channel and actually offers more in my opinion than most of it's older rivals.

Summary: Great channel for U.S crime drama fans and sports fans