Channel 5 has been given the all clear by Ofcom following its acquisition by Northern & Shell.

Following a review by regulator Ofcom, the broadcaster is on track to deliver the minimum 260 annual hours of news coverage it is obliged to carry as a public service broadcaster following its renegotiation of the terms in March. 

The move allowed it to cut the duration of its lunchtime news and drop weekend simulcasts of Sky News breakfast output. Sky News produces C5’s news content. 

The Ofcom review, which ran for the 12 months from 1 June 2009, also found that C5 over delivers the amount of current affairs shows it airs, with over 346 hours which is mostly accounted for by daily phone-in show The Wright Stuff.  It is obliged to broadcast 130 hours of current affairs.

C5 spend on shows from outside the M25 accounted for 23.4% of its entire expenditure, against its target of 10%, but this is due to the relative expense of those shows. On volume alone the figure falls to 10.9%, a level that C5 plans to sustain.

Ofcom said there was no need for any action to be taken.

“Delivery of other quotas for the benchmark period is approximately in-line with existing quota requirements. We have not therefore considered there are grounds for reviewing the quota obligations in these areas,” it said.

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