Channel Five quits on comedy

Channel Five controller Richard Woolfe has warned that his channel will not be able to commission original comedy until after the recession.

Woolfe, speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, said he has more money to spend at Five than at Sky 1, where he was director of programmes, but that until the economy improves he will not be spending it on any home-grown comedy shows.

He said: "When the recession ends and budgets are less challenging I'd love to do more [comedy and drama]. I've got nothing against comedy. I loved comedy at Sky 1. We had The Simpsons but the thing about comedy is that getting comedy right is a really tricky and risky area. When budgets are challenged, you've got to go where you think you can get instant success."

Woolfe stressed to the audience he was speaking to that Five will still include comedic elements in its shows with presenters like Justin Lee Collins.

As reported earlier in the week, Five have signed an exclusive two-year deal with Justin Lee Collins, thought to be worth more than £1m. The channel is still yet to find a comedy hit. Its early attempts into the genre with the sitcoms Respectable, Suburban Shootout and Angelo's failed to produce the required audience figures.

In 2008, the channel announced that it was giving up on scripted formats and looking to move into producing cheaper formats like panel shows. However, the only panel show to appear was The What In The World? Quiz, hosted by Marcus Brigstocke. The programme was pulled after just a few weeks as it is believed the ratings were far below the expected.