Channel 5 Transmission Discussion/Updates

[James Martin]

On 04/03/2026 at 17:07, Red Ranger 1 said:

iPlayer contains all of EastEnders from 2008 onwards, plus selected earlier episodes. It's got all existing episodes Doctor Who from 1963 onwards, aside from a few where the joint copyright holders haven't given permission. That's just the ones I can think of offhand. Surely they haven't all been shown in the last year?

No.  Some shows have infinite streaming rights, others have a 12 month expiry but providing it's repeated linearly it gets another year.

[James Martin]

So it's confirmed Seven have the rights to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland (at least they're free to air!) with coverage starting each night at 7pm.

However I've noticed that we're catching up very quickly; on Monday we will be just 15 episodes behind Australia ( 8732 & 8717.) We will catch up by another 10 episodes during the Games so that's just another 5 weeks of us airing 5 episodes a week and Australia airing just 4 before we sync up completely!

So I'm wondering if we're going to be taking a Summer break this year, or will Channel 5 & RTÉ have to drop their Friday episodes, at least temporarily?

[630si]

5 minutes ago, James Martin said:

So it's confirmed Seven have the rights to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland (at least they're free to air!) with coverage starting each night at 7pm.

However I've noticed that we're catching up very quickly; on Monday we will be just 15 episodes behind Australia ( 8732 & 8717.) We will catch up by another 10 episodes during the Games so that's just another 5 weeks of us airing 5 episodes a week and Australia airing just 4 before we sync up completely!

So I'm wondering if we're going to be taking a Summer break this year, or will Channel 5 & RTÉ have to drop their Friday episodes, at least temporarily?

This was my first thought too! 

I'm convinced now we will have a summer break. 

[James Martin]

13 hours ago, 630si said:

This was my first thought too! 

I'm convinced now we will have a summer break. 

I hope not, I'd rather we dropped down to 4 a week if we get dangerously close.

Whatever happens RTÉ will need to work in tandem with 5, as they're a day behind us.

[James Martin]

No point starting a new thread for this there's disruption for evening Irish viewers.

Despite the controversy of the World Cup they've decided to still broadcast it on RTÉ Two rather than air Father Ted.

All joking aside, the Irish audience is now bigger than the British one so here's what you need to know:

Monday: Lunchtime Only (RTÉ One)

Tuesday: 18:30, as normal 

Wednesday: 16:30 

Thursday: Lunchtime Only (RTÉ One)

Friday: 18:30, as normal

[James Martin]

Vanessa is reportedly being axed!  Ratings have been quite short of what Home & Away was getting.

Maybe a reprieve for our favourite show?

[Bri1231]

I have a feeling we will have a 4 week break in August. With Channel 7 continuing to air triples on Thursdays even if sporadically, by the end July we are just 2 weeks behind. So perhaps a Summer break? Or will they just let us finally catch up? 

[Red Ranger 1]

Depending on how long Channel 7 shows 6 episodes a week for, that gap that was closing should start opening up again.

[James Martin]

If the Thursday night triples are back the gap should widen back up.  I'd still expect a longer Christmas break this year, coming off air in mid November.

It all really hinges on whether Seven have ordered a 220 episode season due to the Games or they've gone for a full 230 and will just go hard on the triples. 

Incredibly, they've been shooting the season finale this week; British soaps tend to shoot 6 weeks in advance so to shoot nearly 6 months out is wild.

[Red Ranger 1]

We had a shorter than usual Christmas break last year, which I'm wondering if Channel 5 are regretting now but maybe there was more co-ordination than it seemed there was. Channel 7 never seem to reduce the episode order whatever else is going on, so I imagine they'll be packing them in the second half of the year again.