Five to decide its future this week

The fate of broadcaster Five could be decided as early as this Friday, according to reports.

Channel Five

It’s understood parent company RTL will hold a board meeting, attended by RTL CEO Gerhard Zeiler and Five CEO Dawn Airey, during which a decision will be made as to which bids to pursue.

Express Newspapers owner Richmond Desmond has been tipped the favourite, having offered £100m for the broadcaster, the highest sum of the three bidders including NBC Universal and Channel 4.

This month Five announced its plans to withdraw from the BBC-led IPTV joint venture Project Canvas. But Desmond is understood to be willing to pay the broadcaster’s £20m share to keep it in the venture.

Desmond, who bought Express Newspapers a decade ago, is understood to have £1bn to play with.

This story first appeared on newmediaage.co.uk