My5 was a channel based on the most popular TV shows that are broadcast across all of the Channel 5 network. It was originally launched as Channel 5 +24, a 24-hour timeshift of the main Channel 5 schedule, and began broadcasting on 4 February 2014, available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media.[4] The channel replaced 5* +1 on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media. The channel was originally announced as 5 Later, but changed shortly before launch. 5* +1 returned on Freesat channel 132 on 16 September 2014, and launched on Sky on 4 November 2014, replacing the timeshift of BET UK. Until 1 February 2016, two versions of Channel 5 +24 were broadcast: evening primetime content was the same on both, but the version carried to Freeview had continuous teleshopping presentations outside the primetime block, whilst the version carried to satellite and cable viewers interspersed teleshopping 'windows' with a three-hour programming block, broadcast at 10am, 4pm and 3am daily, comprising replays of the previous day's Channel 5 Neighbours and Home & Away episodes and the matinée movie shown on Channel 5 the previous afternoon – this was to get around restrictions that platform operators place on the amount of continuous teleshopping that can be broadcast on entertainment-category channels.
On 10 August 2016, Channel 5 +24 was renamed My5. The channel was no longer a 24-hour timeshift of the Channel 5 schedule but showed a selection of programmes from across the network of channels, similar to 4seven. The renaming brought it in line with Channel 5's online on demand service, also called My5. On 17 December 2017, it was announced that My5 would be replaced by a new channel, 5Prime,[5] with the channel showing critically acclaimed premium content and new commissions such as The Secret Life of Owls and The Yorkshire Vet Casebook.[6] It was going to be a catch-up channel, launching in January 2018.
However, on 3 January 2018 it was confirmed that the launch would not go ahead until at least early spring, with the broadcaster rethinking the new channel's strategy, look and potentially changing the name.[7] A month later, 5Prime was rebranded as 5Select. The new channel was launched as 5Select on 13 February 2018, with the My5 brand being used for an on-demand service that, by 2019, also included programming from Pluto TV, Together and Spark.[8] It launched at 9:00am on 13 February 2018, with the first programme, Access, being shown.[9] On the 1st of July 2021, 5Select moved from the SDN (COM4) MUX to the BBC B HD Mux on Freeview. As a result, viewers with older Freeview equipment lost the channel while viewers with DVB-T2 compatible Freeview TVs or Freeview+HD boxes feature could receive the channel.
Then & Now (subjects have included British Airways,[17] London Transport[18] and various British rivers, with some programmes re-titled by Channel 5 and shown on the main channel under names such as Secrets of the River Clyde)[19][20]
Thirties in Colour: Countdown to War[21] (with the channel also broadcasting 2009 series World War II in Colour in a similar timeslot, once the three episodes had been shown)[22]
How the Victorians Built Britain (documentary series with Michael Buerk)[31]
ITN Royal Documentaries (with titles such as Fergie vs Diana: Royal Wives at War, Beatrice and Eugenie: Pampered Princesses? and Princess Margaret: Rebel Without A Crown)[32]
The Story of the Songs (most episodes were broadcast back-to-back with Britain's Favourite 80s Songs on Channel 5, though selected episodes with rock bands like Metallica or The Police debuted on 5Select with no Channel 5 transmission dates)[34][35]
