Five US launches with ‘all American’ ad break

Five is launching digital channel Five US with an “all American” first ad break.

Five is launching digital channel Five US with an “all American” first ad break.

The RTL-owned broadcaster approached a num- ber of “classic” American brands to support the channel’s Monday night debut next week. It launches at 8pm with the first episode of crime drama CSI.

Cadillac will be the first advertiser on the channel through a deal brokered by media agency Starcom. It will advertise its diesel DLS car model as part of a pan-European campaign. Other advertisers signed up include American Airlines, Budweiser and bakery brand New York Bagels.

Five’s marketing drive for the new channel has been aimed at championing the best of America. It is also thought to be another way for the channel, which will show a range of “slick” American dramas and movies, to distinguish itself from other digital channels.

Five US will feature idents up to ten minutes long, starring comic Russell Kane on a road trip across America.

The broadcaster sparked a number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for a non-branded teaser campaign for the channel, after posing the statement “Nothing good ever came out of America”, as revealed on marketingweek.co.uk.

The complaints prompted a Five spokesman to urge people to wait for the reveal, which answers with “Who says nothing good ever came out of America”.

The channel launches on Freeview a day after Five Life, a sister digital station aimed at women. An estimated 6m is being spent promoting the two launches.