There is a spring in the step of Channel 5’s charismatic director of programmes Ben Frow as he leads me into his office, which is decorated with a flamboyant union jack dress once worn by Big Brother host Emma Willis. The “palpable tension” caused by being owned by Richard Desmond has disappeared from the broadcaster since Viacom bought it for £450m almost two years ago, and its ratings are up following a buoyant January.
Former costume designer Frow says he had a good relationship with Desmond but concedes that there may have been a “little bit of fear” at C5 before. “I was very fond of Richard, don’t get me wrong. We had a great relationship. I take my bosses very seriously and work hard to give them what they require from me. It was even fun under Richard, it was just kind of mad fun: crazy, slightly-hysterical fun.”
The man who moved into television via “washing Judy Finnigan’s tights” (more on that later) has gone back to C5’s roots since returning in 2013 when it was “well thought of” but had gone through “trauma … healing and adjustment” after many people left following Desmond’s acquisition.
He built on that and in January ratings for the family of channels rose 5%; they were up 2% among ABC1s and a whopping 20% among 16 to 34s year on year. How have they done it? “I can’t quite believe it myself, but you never rest on your laurels!” exclaims Frow. “It was the youngest ever Big Brother, driven by a love triangle. Lip Sync Battle was incredibly young for us. X Files was incredibly huge for us, the most successful drama ever on the channel.”
The Great British Benefits Handout was also popular and Frow hopes to bring it back “in some form” because “I’ve not done a show on this channel that has had quite such an impact in terms of appreciation”. When I ask if so-called “poverty porn” is on the wane, he says he is evolving the channel to become “slightly more aspirational, slightly more feel-good, slightly less dark” but “while shows resonate with the viewers I will do them”.
It also helps that budgets have risen by double digits to over £200m but what is it like under new owners Viacom? “It’s quieter. Slightly less emotionally stressful. They are very supportive … very easy to work with … We are a commercial channel and I can do anything I want to do. But I understand I have responsibilities, you can’t be indulgent.”
C5 has had a rebrand (“Spirited TV with an emotional heart”) and with its ratings sometimes beating ITV or Channel 4 there is renewed confidence. Frow says he went right back to the beginning of the channel for inspiration, drawing on its 18-year history of being “fun, a little bit challenging, a little bit naughty … but [delivering] on its promise.”
“I think in the past we’ve lost some of that spirit. I think we’ve been cowed sometimes by other people’s opinion of the channel,” he says, adding that, “everyone is very welcome of course to be critical but I do ask, before you blanketly criticise C5, look at what we do.”
New show Lip Sync Battle is reminiscent of the channel’s early karaoke hit Night Fever, while the ground-breaking Body Donors reflects its reputation for innovative documentaries.
Frow commissions on “gut instinct … what I’m really good at is knowing what viewers want, finding the things they would like, positioning them in a way that will make viewers want to watch it” and “coming up with a great title” to make shows stand out on electronic programme guides, though “once you’ve got them there you have to deliver”.
Psycho Pussies: When Cats Attacks was a favourite and “I do like Beaver Las Vegas, which is coming up in a few weeks”. He describes its inception: “It’s a title we made up for a laugh … we were having dinner and talking about crazy titles we could come up with. Then it turns out that beavers are being used to protect Las Vegas from environmental disaster. So we were able to make the programme!” he chuckles.
A firm believer that as a public service broadcaster C5 “has a responsibility” to cover all genres, the former chorister is also keen on original content and has increased it so the ratio to acquired is now 60% to 40%. He describes television as cyclical and is honest enough to say the main channels are not “dissimilar”.
“It’s like a Rubik cube, you keep turning the idea - property, food, gardening, adventure, history … Henry VIII say, it’s been done on every single channel. It’s one of the great subjects. I want to do it so what’s our take on it?” An upcoming documentary looks at the second world war through the eyes of Hitler’s mistress Eva Braun.
The confidence of C5 enabled Frow to commission an evening chatshow, starting in May, fronted by X Factor’s Rylan Clark, the first since the days of Jack Docherty and Graham Norton. And he is planning more Lip Sync Battle episodes and expects a move into scripted drama within the next six months, as well as, encouraged by Viacom, more comedy – including a mockumentary from Ralph Little’s company.
Also on the cards once the broadcaster moves to Viacom’s offices in Camden in September is a rebrand of Channel 5 News - now fronted by Sian Williams, who has brought in more upmarket viewers. And Frow would like to take the successful long-running magazine show The Wright Stuff (which “mustn’t be taken for granted”) out to the regions to do more live shows with host Matthew Wright.
Being part of Viacom inevitably means working closely with other parts of the group such as stablemate children’s channel Nickelodeon, although C5 is still “very protective” of its admired children’s block Milkshake “because its brand values are so strong”, explains Frow. There is also a co-commissioning strategy with MTV and Comedy Central – C5 has made a UK version of Impractical Jokers which will then play back on the comedy station. With female-skewing channel 5Star and Spike, which is aimed at young males, plus 5US, there are other options to get value out of C5 content but “not at the expense” of great ideas, he says.
His background is as a fashion designer - starting out at the National Theatre, “sewing up Peggy Mount’s hem” and getting into television “by styling Richard and Judy, which meant doing the washing and ironing” - and he is known for being entertaining. He explains: “I want to be good at my job and my reputation’s important to me, my work ethic is important to me. But I do think if you’re on panels etc you should be entertaining because we work in an entertainment industry.”
When asked if he might move on, he replies: “I’m ambitious in that I like a challenge but I’ve never had a plan in my life. I’ve never applied for a job. I’m very proud of what we do, when I do go I hope I leave C5 in rude health.”
Curriculum vitae
Age 54
Education St Paul’s Cathedral Choir school, London; Woodberry Down comprehensive school, London; London College of Fashion
Career 1985 costume maker and designer, various London theatres 1990 producer, presenter, ITV, Liverpool 1995 senior producer, GMTV, London 1997 executive producer, BBC, Manchester 1999 head of factual entertainment and features; head of features, Channel 4 2004 controller, features and entertainment, Channel 5 2007 director of programming, TV3, Dublin 2013 director of programmes, Channel 5
