# Canale 5

Canale 5 (Italian:) is an Italian free-to-air television channel of Mediaset, owned by MFE - MediaForEurope. It was the first private television network to have national coverage in Italy in 1980. On 4 December 2012, Mediaset launched Canale 5 HD, a simulcast of Canale 5 in high-definition. The channel is aimed at a primarily adult audience, mainly offering entertainment, movies and TV series. Since January 2013, Canale 5 has been directed by Giancarlo Scheri.

## History
### 1970s

In 1974 in Milano 2, a satellite city built by Silvio Berlusconi, Giacomo Properzj and Alceo Moretti, the private cable television station Telemilanocavo was founded, and the first transmissions began on 24 September. The channel was able to broadcast via cable after a verdict of the Constitutional Court in July of that year, which liberalised regulations pertaining to this type of television broadcasting. Approximately 5,000 households were connected to the cable system, which corresponded to ca. 20,000 viewers.
Following the liberalization of terrestrial local broadcasting, many other television stations were founded and competition, causing a drop in revenues, led the owners to sell the station in 1976 for the symbolic price of one lira to a company that was part of the Berlusconi group, based in a basement of an apartment building near the Palazzo dei Cigni, also condoning the unpaid rent.
With the transition from cable to terrestrial, Telemilanocavo moved its studios to the Palazzo dei Cigni and became Telemilano 58, from the name of the UHF channel frequency used and taken over by the local broadcaster TVI Television International of Milan, with a system in Hotel Michelangelo. At the same time, technical investments were made with the alliance of an entrepreneur who specialized in the production of equipment for the reception of television signals, Adriano Galliani, who assumed an important role in the production of the broadcaster's television equipment. Success came in the 1979–1980 season with several broadcasts conducted, among others, by Mike Bongiorno, Claudio Lippi, Claudio Cecchetto and I Gatti di Vicolo Miracoli.
On 23 February 1979, the trademark Canale 5 was registered in Milan. A few months later, on 12 November, the trademark Canale 5 Music S.r.l was also registered in the same city. The name was chosen by Berlusconi with Adriano Galliani "for a matter of euphony" but also because a local name like that of Telemilano was starting to feel tight for a broadcaster that aspired to become a major national television network. During this time, Berlusconi bought several local private broadcasters scattered throughout Italy: the idea of the 'pizzone' (the shipment of pre-recorded videotapes from one broadcaster to another) emerged after Berlusconi bought Tele Torino International from FIAT.

### 1980s

On 10 January 1980, Silvio Berlusconi and Mike Bongiorno held a press conference at the Telemilano studios. With a view to create a national network, Berlusconi agreed with about 50 private broadcasters (even those not owned by him) scattered throughout Italy, to broadcast the same programmes at the same time on all stations. The experiment officially began with the game show I Sogni Nel Casetto (Dreams in the Drawer), hosted by Mike Bongiorno and produced by Reteitalia. The game show, together with other Reteitalia productions, would have largely positive audience results, mostly due to the "pizzone" technique, thanks to which Reteitalia's productions were broadcast nationwide.
Thus began, in this period, the broadcasts of Canale 5 as a network at an extra-regional level throughout the north. In the centre-south, the network was called Canale 10 and had the same programming, logo, branding and ownership as Canale 5. In Lombardy, programming covered the whole day, while in the other regions, it could be broadcast starting in the late morning or only in the evening thanks to the interconnection with the local broadcasters associated with the circuit.
On 11 November 1980, the Canale 5 logo replaced that of Canale 10 also in the center-south; this also marked the official start date of transmissions of the national network of Canale 5. The opening and closing theme of the programmes began with the song Rondò Veneziano by Gian Piero Reverberi, chosen by Berlusconi under the advice of Freddy Naggiar of Baby Records.
The first sporting event of great interest broadcast was the Mundialito (from 30 December 1980 to 10 January 1981), a football tournament held in Uruguay to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first edition of the World Cup. Reteitalia secured the European television rights but then sold them to RAI and in exchange, was able to broadcast the matches of the tournament, except those of the national team and the final, live in Lombardy and delayed in the other Italian regions. The matches reached an audience of eight million viewers.
In 1981 Canale 5 obtained legal recognition as a unitary circuit that broadcast over the following stations:
* Telemilano 58 (Lombardia);
* Tele Emilia-Romagna (Emilia-Romagna);
* Tele Torino International (Piemonte);
* Video Adige (Trentino-Alto Adige);
* Video Veneto (Veneto);
* A&G Television (Liguria);
* Tele Toscana 1 and Teleamiata (Toscana);
* Videoumbria (Umbria);
* Roma TV (Lazio);
* Sole TV (Abruzzo);
* Ischia TV (Campania);
* Puglia TV (Puglia);
* Tele Calabria 1 (Calabria);
* TVR and Tele Monte Lauro (Sicilia);
* Sardegna TV (Sardegna).
The companies related to these stations were then absorbed by the Canale 5 S.p.A company in 1990.
In 1981, the first variety show produced by Fininvest on its own was created, Hello Goggi, hosted by Loretta Goggi. Although Mike Bongiorno had already hosted some successful programmes on Canale 5, Loretta Goggi was the first RAI personality to leave public TV to work on Canale 5. However, the programme did not get the ratings it expected, due to the network's inexperience in the production and creation of variety shows and the lack of live coverage, then reserved for RAI and local broadcasters.
With Buongiorno Italia presented by Marco Columbro and Antonella Vianini, the broadcasts were also extended to the morning and around 8 pm, even if Canale 5 did not have a newscast due to the lack of live coverage, an information programme called Canale 5 News - Speciale was broadcast.
Also in 1981, Canale 5 bought the rights to broadcast the American soap opera Dallas, which, in the following years, was the focus of a true "audience war" against rival show Dynasty on Mondadori's competitor Rete 4.
In the early 1980s, Canale 5 also broadcast container programmes such as Pomeriggio Con Five and Okay, which featured a variety of cartoons from North America, Europe and Japan.
Between 1980 and 1981, however, advertising revenues increased from 13 to 75 billion lire. There were also 6,000 hours of cinema in the network's film warehouse.
Between September and December 1981, the average daily audience was 1,400,000, equal to 10% of the total, while in 1983 the percentage rose to 13%. The advertising turnover was 110 billion, equal to 20% of the total. From 1982, after Loretta Goggi and Mike Bongiorno, many other Italian television personalities from RAI signed a contract with Fininvest such as Corrado, who led to the debuts of morning quiz show Il Pranzo è Servito, which occupied the noon time slot, and the variety show Attenti a noi due, presented by couple Sandra Mondaini and Raimondo Vianello. In 1982, the Speciale Canale 5 - News segment changed its name to Canale 5 News and began to be broadcast in the late evening time slot. In 1983, the evening television audience amounted to over 8 million, equal to almost 30% of the total; in 1984, according to the ISTEL survey, they exceeded 9 million, equal to 33%.
Among the successes of the period were the television series Dallas and miniseries The Thorn Birds, both with 15 million viewers, and the afternoon schedule was filled with American series and soap operas while the morning schedule with quizzes and game shows such as Encore, hosted by Mike Bongiorno.
In 1982, Fininvest bought Italia 1 from Edilio Rusconi and made it its second network. Later, in 1984, it also took over Rete 4 from Mondadori; following this, some programmes first seen on Rete 4 moved to Canale 5, such as The Maurizio Costanzo Show, which would be broadcast for over twenty years, and Nonsolomoda.
In October 1984, the National Independent Radio Association filed a complaint against Fininvest which, in fact violated the law on the radio and television monopoly; subsequently, the group's three networks were shut down in the Lazio, Abruzzo and Piedmont regions, but the First Craxi government intervened, issuing a decree-law later known as the Berlusconi Decree (which legalized national broadcasting over the air, including by private radio and television broadcasters), and repealed the RAI monopoly law. A few days before the blackout, Canale 5 began to offer a schedule based on information, with new programmes hosted by Arrigo Levi, Guglielmo Zucconi, Giorgio Bocca and Peter Nichols. Due to the blackout, the debut of all these broadcasts took place in December that year.
In 1985, programmes such as Buona Domenica and Forum first aired, which would become the longest-running programmes on the Mediaset networks.
In 1987, Canale 5 achieved a historic record: the prime-time premiere of the film The Woman in Red on 14 January, was followed by almost 13 million viewers, reaching over 48% share. Also in 1987, Caffelatte first aired, airing cartoons, which would then move to Italia 1 the following year.

### 1990s

Following the Mammì law of 1990, Canale 5 (together with Italia 1 and Rete 4) obtained the authorization to broadcast live nationally; the direction was assigned in 1991 to Giorgio Gori. The first live broadcasts on the network were Cos'è cos'è, directed by Jocelyn Hattab, Non è la Rai, directed by Gianni Boncompagni and Buona Domenica, which, in this period, finally managed to result in Domenica's cancellation, broadcast on Rai 1 in the same slot. However, the programming in the 1990s was similar to the previous decade, with morning and early evening quizzes such as Tutti x uno and La Ruota della Fortuna, which became the most watched programme in that time slot for the entire first half of the decade. Furthermore, Striscia La Notizia, from Italia 1, enjoyed enormous success during this time and is still broadcast in the prime access slot of the network. The programme then acted as a "driving force" for TG5, which first aired on 13 January 1992, under the direction of Enrico Mentana.
Some programmes aired on Italia 1 were promoted on Canale 5, such as Paperissima - Errori In TV and Scherzi A Parte.
There was no shortage of programmes for children and teenagers, such as Bim Bum Bam, broadcast from 1991 to 1997 (which previously aired on, and then moved to Italia 1), every afternoon, within which imported animated shows, both American and Japanese, and live-action TV series were broadcast; in the 1993/94 season A Tutto Disney was also aired, replacing Bim Bum Bam (for this season airing only from Monday to Friday) on Saturday afternoons and offering classic Disney cartoons interspersed with segments and games presented by Irene Ferri and Riccardo Rossi. However, the programme was little appreciated, and was eventually cancelled and replaced by Bim Bum Bam, which also returned to air on Saturdays.
In April 1996, Fininvest 's television activities were brought together under the Mediaset brand.
During this period the Canale 5 schedule was based on self-produced TV series and programmes such as Ore 12, Stranamore, Beato Tra Le Donne and Tira & Molla.

### 2000s

In 2000, reality shows arrived in Italy with Grande Fratello which was a huge success, reaching 16 million viewers for the final of the program, and which, during the show's initial run, saw numerous controversies. Other programmes destined for a long life first aired during this time, including C'è Posta Per Te presented by Maria De Filippi and Chi vuol essere Millionario?, presented by Gerry Scotti. Striscia La Notizia, thanks to its success and the consequent greater demand for advertisements, extended its duration. Other hits of the period included Stranamore and La Corrida.
The programmes on Canale 5 during the 2000s were much like those of the previous two decades, with self-produced TV series such as Carabinieri and District of Police, as well as programmes such as Ciao Darwin and Zelig.
On 22 May 2001, in conjunction with the Notte dei Telegatti, Canale 5 renewed its on-screen branding and idents, presenting a stylized version of the logo. This new logo appeared for the first time after the end of the episode of Striscia la Notizia and at the same time as the usual announcement of Fiorella Pierobon's prime time. On the same day, The Sopranos premiered.
In November 2004, Enrico Mentana left the direction of TG5 to Carlo Rossella and then to Clemente Mimun on 3 July 2007.

### 2010s

During this period, all the network's programmes were reconfirmed, both on weekdays and on holidays, with no change in hosting. The only significant change was the move from Italia 1 of the late evening broadcast Chiambretti Night, hosted by Piero Chiambretti and promoted to the flagship network Mediaset due to satisfactory ratings data, which flanked Matrix and, during the broadcasting period of the reality show, Mai dire Big Brother.
On 19 September 2012, Canale 5 aired the first Champions League match in HD on 506 of terrestrial television channel on Mediaset HD, which temporarily replaced the high definition version of Italia 1.
On 5 December 2012, Canale 5 HD was activated on Mux La3 visible throughout Italy with the exception of northwestern Tuscany, where the Monte Serra transmitting centre switched off the multiplex for interference.
On 16 April 2018, the logo and graphic design were renewed ahead of the 2018 World Cup broadcast on the Mediaset networks. The same rebrand also applied to TG5.

### 2020s

The channel secured the 2021-2024 rights cycle for the Coppa Italia, starting from the round of 16.

## Carriage

Since 2003, the channel is free of charge in digital terrestrial areas in areas covered by Mediaset 2 and Mediaset 4 Mux, and from 26 November 2010 also in the areas covered by the Mediaset 6 Mux through the deferred version of one hour Canale 5 +1, Transferred from 11 July 2011 on Mux Mediaset 5.
It was also available until 11 July 2011, in high definition (though forced) Canale 5 HD in regions where transition to digital terrestrial switch-off occurred and reached by Mux Mediaset 6. From the end of July, the high-definition channel has been re-activated on Mux Mediaset 6 and is only visible in Sardinia.
Anyone who has a set top box or MHP (Multimedia Home Platform) television can enjoy the interactive features included in the broadcaster's signal (interactive TV), called Canale 5 Plus.
On 12 May 2009, with the movie Remembered for Me, airing for the first time, Canale 5 broadcast at 16:9; Transmissions and a new format was made exclusively via the digital terrestrial signal. From 1 November of the same year, the advertising space, promo and bumpers of the Mediaset networks were also broadcast.
On analogue television (with a definitive broadcast date on 4 July 2012) and on satellite signal (until 18 July 2012), programmes were transmitted in 4:3 format with letterbox format. Furthermore, the original language of the digital terrestrial audio track was not and still is not possible.
Since 1 October 2009, in regards to satellite broadcasting, Canale 5's entire programming has been coded in Mediaguard 2 (a system used previously for service by Mediaset networks to encrypt foreign broadcasts) and Nagravision: Full use of the issuer is only possible using a Tivùsat smart card.
Mediaset always has Hotbird 13° E of service frequencies to power terrestrial DTT / DVB-H repeaters (transmitted in a professional mode with dedicated equipment, so it can not be tuned by the end-user) only sporadically in case of testing you can receive from the standard DVB-S2 decoders. In these frequencies, there are all Mediaset channels present on digital terrestrial but still encrypted on satellite.
To continue providing service to non-card users, a second satellite frequency has been activated from the same date (the channel identifier is capitalized) on which you can continue to receive the signal clear: Which do not hold foreigners' rights, however, are obscured by an information notice where users are invited to have a Tivùsat decoder.

## Programming

Canale 5 has always been the flagship channel of Mediaset, in correspondence with Rai 1: for this reason the programming varies from major events (Film Festival, New Year's Eve, Christmas concert) to information, insight and entertainment.
* TG5, a newscast.
* Amici di Maria De Filippi, a talent show presented by Maria de Filippi.
* Avanti un altro!, a game show presented by Paolo Bonolis.
* Caduta libera, an (Italian version of La'uf al HaMillion, a game show) presented by Gerry Scotti.
* C'è Posta Per Te, a people show presented by Maria de Filippi.
* Forum, a judicial show presented by Barbara Palombelli.
* Mattino Cinque, a news show presented by Federica Panicucci and Francesco Vecchi.
* Pomeriggio Cinque, a news show presented by Barbara D'Urso.
* Tu si que vales, a talent show.
* Uomini e donne, a reality show and talk show presented by Maria de Filippi.
* Striscia la notizia.
* New Amsterdam.
Youth programmes:
* Bim Bum Bam.
Live-action:
* Laverne & Shirley.
* Married... with Children.
* Roseanne.
Animated series:
* Miracle Girls.
* Sailor Moon.
The channel airs movies and soap operas, including Acacias 38 and The Baker and the Beauty.
Like Rai 1, the Holy Mass is transmitted on Sundays at 10.00 AM.

## Services
### Canale 5 Plus

Canale 5 Plus is the channel's interactive television service on DTT. It provides access to current news, weather forecasts, programming guides and games coded in MHP.
In the summer of 2006, an app was launched that allowed viewers to watch archive Mediaset television series such as Odiens, La Sai L'ultima? and Il Pranzo è Servito.

## Logo history

The current logo of the network is a number 5 overlapped by the stylized head of Biscione (a reference to the Visconti family and the city of Milan), from whose mouth, unlike the original, emerges a flower. There is also a second interpretation, according to which, the queue of the Biscione is placed at five (even if the 5 is written with a typographical font).
* Canale 5's fourth logo used from 1980 to 1981
* Canale 5's fifth logo used from 1981 to 1985
* Canale 5's sixth logo used from 1985 to 1987
* Canale 5's seventh logo used from 1987 to 2001
* Canale 5's previous logo from 2001 to 2018

## Management

| Name | Period |
| Giorgio Gori | 10 June 1991 – 11 May 1997 |
| Gianpaolo Sodano | 12 May 1997 – 28 October 1997 |
| Maurizio Costanzo | 29 October 1997 – 3 November 1999 |
| Giorgio Gori | 4 November 1999 – 29 April 2001 |
| Giovanni Modina | 30 April 2001 – 15 October 2006 |
| Massimo Donelli | 16 October 2006 – 31 December 2012 |
| Giancarlo Scheri | since 1 January 2013 |

## Announcers

In the past, Canale 5 had several continuity announcers.
The first announcer of the network was Eleonora Brigliadori, who was active from September 1980 to May 1984.
After that, Fiorella Pierobon, who was the longest continuity announcer of the network, was active for 19 years, from May 1984 to June 2003 (previously Pierobon was Italia 1's announcer).
In June 2003, Pierobon, reporting directly to Striscia la notizia, announced that he would leave the role as continuity announcer to engage in other projects. Pierobon was replaced (after a long selection in the 2003 Velone Summer Program) by Lisa Gritti, who was active for a little more than a year, from September 2003 to December 2005, before the position was abandoned following a scandal involving Striscia la notizia, where the announcer was also involved.
After the resignation of Gritti, the network decided to forgo this figure (as was the case with Italia 1 in 2002, after the resignation of Gabriella Golia).
Other announcers of Canale 5 (for short periods) have included Fabrizia Carminati, Alba Parietti, Paola Perego, Susanna Messaggio, Michela Rocco of Torrepadula, and Daniela Castelli. Another announcer of Canale 5 was Barbara D'Urso, who, by the end of the 1970s was Miss Telemilano 58; the local television broadcaster that later became Canale 5.
The background music of the advertisements used from 1980 to 1993 was composed by Augusto Martelli, whereas the accompanying advertisement music used from 1993 to 2005 was composed by Alessandro Radici. The first background music jingle was never officially released by RTI, whereas the second jingle (the full version being 1 minute and 33 seconds long), was released for digital download from Mediaset.

## Audience
### Audience share

| Year | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December | Average per year |
| 2011 | 17.81% | 17.42% | 18.49% | 18.17% | 17.71% | 16.88% | 18.381% | 16.01% | 16.00% | 16.00% | 14.92% | 15.62% | 16.45% |
| 2012 | 16.73% | 16.62% | 17.00% | 16.78% | 15.62% | 12.86% | 11.80% | 11.03% | 15.50% | 15.93% | 15.96% | 14.85% | 15.05% |
| 2013 | 16.00% | 15.69% | 15.62% | 14.76% | 14.18% | 13.39% | 12.66% | 11.88% | 15.35% | 16.34% | 16.20% | 15.14% | 14.76% |
| 2014 | 15.22% | 16.07% | 17.32% | 15.55% | 16.18% | 13.20% | 12.28% | 11.69% | 14.58% | 16.69% | 17.32% | 15.15% | 15.10% |
| 2015 | 16.10% | 16.48% | 17.46% | 16.21% | 16.53% | 14.75% | 13.59% | 12.04% | 14.92% | 15.65% | 15.56% | 13.97% | 15.27% |
| 2016 | 15.56% | 15.52% | 16.60% | 17.19% | 17.06% | 13.85% | 13.71% | 11.90% | 15.48% | 16.80% | 16.89% | 15.25% | 15.48% |
| 2017 | 16.04% | 16.06% | 16.73% | 16.48% | 16.63% | 14.46% | 13.60% | 11.73% | 14.64% | 16.87% | 17.10% | 15.20% | 15.46% |
| 2018 | 16.32% | 16.21% | 16.92% | 16.63% | 16.25% | 13.53% | 15.46% | 11.07% | 13.88% | 16.16% | 17.06% | 14.81% | 15.47% |
| 2019 | 15.52% | 15.93% | 17.04% | 16.21% | 16.71% | 14.80% | 13.78% | 12.00% | 14.63% | 16.04% | 16.03% | 14.86% | 15.42% |
| 2020 | 15,77% | 15,82% | 15,19% | 14,20% | 15,12% | 14,07% | 13,50% | 12,72% | 15,13% | 16,29% | 16,26% | 14,54% | 14,89% |
| 2021 | 15,42% | 16,01% | 16,18% | 16,54% | 15,99% | | | | | | | | |
* Average Monthly Day on Target Individuals 4+