Brit Tab Mogul Buys UK TV Doormat

[Mark J.]

Richard Desmond owns the right-wing tabs the Daily Express (semi-
respectable) and Daily Star (trashy) and the weekly celeb mag OK!
(which has a U.S. edition)--his Northern & Shell now owns Channel 5
(or just Five), the youngest and least-watched of the UK's five
terrestrial networks best known as the UK home of the "CSI" and "L&O"
franchises, Aussie soaps "Home and Away" and "Neighbours" and airing
softcore porn during overnights:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/business/media/26five28.html?src=un&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjson8.nytimes.com%2Fpages%2Fbusiness%2Fmedia%2Findex.jsonp

Desmond bought the channel for $161MUS from the German media
conglomerate Bertlesmann's RTL Group, which had wanted to dump the low-
performing (and in their view, hobbled by UK government requirements
for news, cultural and children's programming) net for some time now.
Desmond is probably hoping that sister commercial net ITV will
convince the regulators to be relieved of some of the "public service
broadcasting" requirements (most notably, the requirement of local
news shops for their stations, which would give the BBC a TV local
news monopoly) and that he can then jump in and get relieved, as well,
since his track record doesn't speak too well for the possibility of
quality programming.