UK broadcaster sold to porn entrepreneur

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Richard Desmond made his fortune with skin mags and adult pay-TV channels. But lately he’s turned legit, buying the Express Newspapers, OK! magazine and now the UK’s Channel Five television operation.


RTL Group, Europe’s largest broadcasting company, put Channel Five up for sale after failing to stem its flow of red ink. It announced Monday (7/26) that the UK network had been sold to Desmond’s Northern & Shell company for 125 million euros ($162 million).

The Guardian newspaper (not a Desmond property) noted that the controversial porn entrepreneur is likely to face a grilling by Members of Parliament on the House of Commons Culture Committee, but there are no competitive issues to preclude his acquisition. UK rules bar his from cross-promoting his other media properties on Channel Five, but the MPs reportedly want to be sure he doesn’t intend to make the network a sea of tabloid TV shows.

The story in the Guardian noted that Desmond had invested heavily in OK! and turned it around, losing money for six years before making the celebrity-focused publication highly profitable. Critics complain though that he has only cut costs at the Express Newspapers (Daily Express, Sunday Express and Daily Star) since buying them 10 years ago.

Desmond divested his sex magazines some time ago, but still owns several adult pay-TV channels.