Channel Five will as of today be known as Channel Five, or rather, Channel Five has regained the "Channel" it lost when it decided that "Five" was a more happening moniker for a TV station.
Five years after its 1997 launch*, Channel Five spunked not inconsiderable amounts of cash to rebrand as Five, in an attempt to reinvent itself as something more than UK telly's downmarket neighbourhood.
The resulting brand frontage, a continually evolving redefinition of the Five paradigm, was latterly given the whalesong and joss-stick treatment by agency DixonBaxi, which described an expensive and colourful reinvention as "more vocal, expressive and creative".
Enter Richard Desmond's Northern & Shell, which acquired the station last July and swiftly engaged in a "bloodbath" aimed at cutting £20m in costs.
Amid the carnage, Desmond announced the channel would be going back its roots, and as of today viewers can enjoy the new "Channel Five" look.
It's evident that Northern & Shell is fully committed to radical cost-cutting initiatives, and we'd be surprised if it paid more than a tenner for the new logo.
Perhaps, though, it should have upped the budget to 50 quid, since reaction to the fresh look isn't exactly positive. ®
Bootnote
* It was quite a moment. The "Power of Five" indeed:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/02/14/five_rebrand/
