Five has announced it will launch two new digital sister channels on Freeview in the autumn. "Five Life" will be aimed at a female audience with dramas and soaps, and will also show children's programmes under the Milkshake! brand; "Five US" will showcase first-run US drama such as CSI, Law and Order, Greys Anatomy and Criminal Minds.
The capacity for the new channels will come from the channel slots currently leased to Top Up TV, meaning the subscription television package currently offered by the company will no longer be possible from autumn. Without access to as many primetime streams as before, a new service "Top Up TV Anytime" will see the company switch from providing conventional channels to "on-demand" style programming. Using overnight capacity, programmes will be "downloaded" to a new set-top box, the Anytime PVR, for viewers to watch later in the day at their leisure.
