The star power of Dan Walker and Jeremy Vine helped viewing figures for ITN-produced daily news and current affairs on Channel 5 surge in 2024.
5 News at 5pm, which is anchored by Walker, increased its audience by four per cent to a 3.4 per cent market share.
The figure means 2024 was the highest year for the programme since 2018. 5 News’ share year-on-year in London, Ulster, Midlands and Scotland also increased.
5 News editor Debbie Ramsay said: “I am proud of how hard everyone in the newsroom has worked over the past year to produce such a distinctive, engaging and informative programme for the viewers every night.
“We are laser-focused on our audience, who value the range of stories that 5 News covers, with Dan Walker guiding them through the day’s events with thoughtful authority.
“It’s brilliant to see more viewers are tuning in, and we’ll continue to approach 2025 with the same care and attention to the audience’s needs.”
Guy Davies, commissioning editor, unscripted, Channel 5 for 5 News, added: “Debbie, Dan and the team have made 5 News the programme that not only breaks stories before the other main evening bulletins, but they also really know our audience and the news they want.
“From brilliant news specials, fascinating features and in-depth stories across the news agenda, 5 News’ growth and reach is a major and continuing success story for the channel.”
The Jeremy Vine Show enjoys UK growth
The Jeremy Vine Show attracted a six per cent share across 2024, up two per cent for individual viewers year-on-year, making it joint highest year on record- tied with 2019.
The programme also increased share year-on-year in Scotland, London, the Midlands and Yorkshire.
Federico Ruiz, commissioning editor, unscripted, Channel 5 for Jeremy Vine show, said: “The Jeremy Vine Show is the jewel of our daytime schedule.
“Often heated, often funny, and always entertaining, it’s a great destination for viewers to spend a couple of hours every weekday morning.”
Ian Jones, editor of The Jeremy Vine Show, added: “Audiences turn to The Jeremy Vine Show when they want to have their say on the big news stories affecting the country, which has always helped to make the show a ratings winner so it’s brilliant to see these annual figures reflect that impact.
“When we cover topics, we know resonate with viewers, like the cost of living, we can get hundreds of calls while we are on air, and the programme was recently extended in its slot by 15 minutes to reflect that volume.
“Online interaction is also a big part of our show and we’ve seen huge growth in the views of our clips online last year as we refocussed on Facebook, and growing audiences on Instagram and TikTok.
“It’s also great to see our growth in particular regions around the UK in these figures.
“Our callers come from all over the country and the team works extremely hard each day to ensure we are reflecting a diverse range of voices throughout the programme – from the panellists to the callers we put on air.”
Channel 5 set for major rebrand in April
The viewing figures come after Channel 5 insisted its operating model remains stable despite losing almost £160m during 2023.
The channel, which is set to rebrand simply as 5 in April 2025, slumped to the loss as a result of the value of its investment in Viacom Interactive – a subsidiary of parent company Paramount Global – and unrelated to Channel 5’s trading business – was impaired by £273m “due to adverse global market conditions”.
This, the firm said, led to its pre-tax loss of £159.5m for 2023, after having posted a pre-tax profit of £78.1m in 2022.
Accounts with Companies House also showed its turnover rose from £370m to £398m helped by a payment of £80.9m, plus £9.1m in interest, from Channel 5’s sales partner because of a correction in that firm’s internal reporting between 2017 and 2023. Excluding the payment, the channel’s turnover totalled £318m.
The channel’s operating profit increased from £80.1m to £112.4m in the year. However, excluding the payment, its profit totalled £22.7m.