5Spike
5Spike was a British free-to-air television channel owned by ViacomCBS Networks UK & Australia. Launching on 15 April 2015 on Freeview, it was a multiplex channel of Channel 5 and localised version of the American cable channel Spike. It primarily aired entertainment programmes, including action and drama series, police documentaries, and programming from its U.S. counterpart, as well as mixed martial arts.
On 7 January 2020, the network was discontinued, with Paramount Network assuming its channel placements and programming.
History
Following Viacom's acquisition of Channel 5, it was reported that a local version of the male-skewing U.S. channel Spike would be launching in the United Kingdom. These reports were confirmed in late 2014, with the channel proposed to replace Viva on Freeview. The channel was operated under the auspices of Channel 5's programming director Ben Frow; of Spike's lineup, he described the service as a "driven, high-energy channel offering a point of view and program mix I think is different from anything else on British TV right now."Spike launched on 15 April 2015 on Freeview channel 31, displacing 5USA; although it was originally announced that Spike would replace Viva entirely on Freeview, Viva was instead moved to a different channel and reduced to two hours per day to conserve bandwidth for Spike, with 5USA taking on its previous channel allotment. Among its first programmes, the premiere of Police Interceptors Unleashed was seen by 137,000 viewers.
On 31 October 2017, Spike was rebranded as 5Spike to more closely associate itself with its sister channels and the Channel 5 brand.
A British version of Spike's successor in the US, Paramount Network, was launched on 4 July 2018. On 7 January 2020, 5Spike was shut down, with Paramount Network assuming its channel positions on Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media, and carrying some of the network's former programmes.
Programming
The channel's lineup drew primarily from the original programmes produced by its U.S counterpart, including Catch a Contractor and Lip Sync Battle among others. The channel also aired imported U.S dramas, from modern dramas such as Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, and The Walking Dead, to classic shows such as The X-Files, The A-Team and Knight Rider. Spike also carried original British productions, such as Police Interceptors Unleashed, and repeats of some of Channel 5's factual programmes.As in the U.S, mixed-martial arts also comprised a portion of Spike's lineup, with British TV rights to Bellator MMA and, under a long-term deal, exclusive rights to BAMMA events beginning with BAMMA 20 on 25 April 2015.
Original programming
- BAMMA
- Car Crash TV
- Criminals: Caught on Camera
- Fights, Camera, Action
- Outrageous Stunts
- Police Interceptors Takedown
- Police Interceptors Unleashed
- Seconds From Death: Caught on Camera
- Sewermen
- Tattoo Disasters UK
- Trucking Hell
- Ultimate Boxxer
- Under Attack
- World's Deadliest Weather: Caught on Camera
- World's Wildest Flights
From Spike US
- Bar Rescue
- Bellator MMA
- Caraoke Showdown
- Catch a Contractor
- Cops
- Framework
- Frankenfood
- Hungry Investors
- Life or Debt
- Lip Sync Battle
- Sweat Inc.
From Channel 5
- Bad Tenants, Rogue Landlords
- Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild
- Can't Pay? We'll Take It Away
- Chris Tarrant: Extreme Railways
- Cowboy Builders
- The Gadget Show
- It Takes A Thief To Catch A Thief
- Nightmare Tenants, Slum Landlords
- Police Interceptors
- Robson's Extreme Fishing Challenge
- Traffic Cops
- UK's Strongest Man
- Weather Terror
- Winter Road Rescue
- World's Scariest...
- World's Strongest Man
Imported
- Airport Security: Peru
- Airwolf
- Animal Fight Club
- The A-Team
- Battlebots
- Black Sails
- Boy to Man
- Behind Bars: The World's Toughest Prisons
- Breaking Bad
- Cimarron Strip
- Fail Army
- Fugitive Black Ops
- '
- Gangland Undercover
- Helix
- High Alert
- Impact Wrestling
- Justified
- Klondike
- Knight Rider
- Lockdown
- Megastructures
- 19-2
- Olympus
- Powers
- The Player
- Running Wild with Bear Grylls
- Six
- 60 Days In
- Sons of Anarchy
- Spartacus
- Street Hawk
- Strongman Champions League
- '
- The Walking Dead
- Vikings
- The Virginian
- Weather Gone Viral
- Wild Catch
- Wynonna Earp
- The X-Files
Most watched programmes
Rank | Show | Episode | Number of Viewers | Date |
1 | The Expendables 2 | N/A | 359,000 | 27 March 2016 |
2 | The Guns of Navarone | N/A | 343,000 | 20 May 2018 |
3 | Centurion | N/A | 328,000 | 12 February 2017 |
4 | The Expendables 3 | N/A | 335,000 | 27 December 2017 |
5 | The Expendables 3 | N/A | 327,000 | 26 March 2017 |
6 | Battle of Britain | N/A | 311,700 | 27 December 2019 |
7 | Battle of Britain | N/A | 306,500 | 9 March 2019 |
8 | 2.07 - Sex, Lies and Video Tapes | 303,000 | 19 February 2016 | |
9 | Trucking Hell | 1.02 - Episode Two | 294,000 | 24 May 2018 |
10 | Hummingbird | N/A | 286,100 | 13 March 2019 |