Channel 5 TV Guide: Listings, Schedule & What’s On Channel 5 Tonight

Channel 5 is the UK’s third commercial terrestrial broadcaster, free to air and funded by advertising, and it streams live and on demand through My5. Below: tonight’s full schedule, the shows the channel is built on, its channel numbers on every platform, and how to watch online.

Saturday 5 September 2026 belongs entirely to the British Open snooker semi-finals, live from The Centaur in Cheltenham with Katie Shanahan presenting. Both semi-finals air in full on Channel 5: 12:45pm to 4:30pm, then 6:30pm to 10:30pm — roughly four hours of the evening given over to one event, a step up from a single afternoon-into-evening session on previous days of the tournament. Full times are in the table below.

Channel 5 Schedule: Saturday 5 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 5 schedule for Saturday 5 September 2026, on Freeview 5.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Late night

What’s on Channel 5 today — the daytime schedule

Saturday’s daytime on Channel 5 opens overnight with The Highland Vet and Yorkshire with Jane McDonald, before Milkshake! takes over the channel from 5:15am with its usual run of pre-school favourites.

Kids’ programming continues through the morning with The Smurfs, Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom and Clifford the Big Red Dog, alongside short Entertainment News on 5 bulletins, before The Royals Uncensored and Bargain-Loving Brits in the Sun take the late-morning slots.

From 12:45pm, the schedule clears entirely for the British Open snooker semi-finals, live from The Centaur in Cheltenham. The first runs to 4:30pm, then Alexander Armstrong in India and Althorp House: Diana’s Family Home hold the gap before 5 News Weekend and the second semi-final from 6:30pm.

Channel 5 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Snooker takes up almost the entire evening tonight, the second of two semi-final sessions rather than the single quarter-final slot the tournament has run on previous days.

Live Snooker: British Open Semi Finals — Channel 5, 6:30pm

The concluding semi-final, best of 11 frames, live from Cheltenham. Katie Shanahan presents with Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty and Joe Perry on analysis, and the winner goes through to Sunday’s final. 5 News Weekend gets five minutes beforehand.

Britain’s Favourite Ads of the 70s & 80s — Channel 5, 10:30pm

A nostalgia clip show running through decades-old commercials with input from advertising figures and a few celebrity talking heads, once the snooker’s finished for the night.

Popular shows on Channel 5

Drama

The Fortune is the channel’s newest drama, a four-part psychological thriller with Eleanor Tomlinson. The Madame Blanc Mysteries is the long-runner to track if cosy crime is more your thing: Sally Lindsay plays an antiques dealer turned amateur sleuth, with the whole thing set in the south of France.

Factual and documentary

The Yorkshire Vet has run for well over fifteen series since 2015. It follows the team at Skeldale Veterinary Centre in Thirsk, and Peter Wright has been the anchor throughout, though by now the supporting cast of vets is familiar enough that it watches more like an ensemble drama than a documentary.

Police Interceptors has aired without a break since 2008, riding along with specialist road traffic units, cameras in the cars and helicopters overhead. Motorway Cops and the other road-policing titles follow the same format.

The countryside strand is the channel’s calling card. Reuben Owen: Life in the Dales and A Yorkshire Farm rotate through the schedule across the year rather than every night, so which one is on depends on the week. Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly with Graeme Hall rounds out the animal side.

Daytime favourites

Milkshake! has held its spot every morning for over twenty years, surviving more than one change of ownership in the process. Jeremy Vine inherited the mid-morning slot from The Wright Stuff and has not let go of it since.

How to watch Channel 5

Channel numbers

My5 — watch online for free

Channel 5 streams live and on demand through My5 at channel5.com and the My5 app, which runs on smart TVs, phones, tablets and the usual streaming boxes. There’s no subscription, though you’ll see adverts. A free account unlocks catch-up, where most shows stay up for 30 days and a few longer as boxsets. My5 also carries the wider Paramount stable, so Comedy Central, MTV, BET and CBS titles sit alongside the Channel 5 stream.

The Channel 5 family of channels

Four sister channels run alongside the main service, all free to air on Freeview and carried on Sky and Virgin:

5Star is the entertainment sibling, heavy on reality and acquired US shows. Freeview 32, Sky 128.

5USA runs American drama, crime and procedurals. Freeview 21, Sky 141.

5Action is the home for films, action drama and motorsport. Freeview 33, Sky 150.

5Select is the odd one out, a grab-bag of factual, documentary and lifestyle that doesn’t fit the main channel’s primetime. Freeview 50, Sky 153.

All four live inside My5 too, so streamers get the whole family in one place.

Frequently asked questions

What channel number is Channel 5 on Freeview?

Channel 5 is on channel 5 on Freeview. If you have a Freeview HD receiver or an HD-capable television with a built-in Freeview HD tuner, Channel 5 HD is on channel 105. Both carry the same national broadcast.

What channel is Channel 5 on Sky?

Channel 5 is on channel 105 on Sky, which applies to Sky Q, Sky Stream and Sky Glass. As of March 2026, the SD version of Channel 5 on satellite has been removed. Channel 105 is the only place to find it on Sky, and it broadcasts in HD.

What channel is Channel 5 on Virgin Media?

Channel 5 is on channel 105 on Virgin Media. It is included as standard on all Virgin TV packages and carries advertising.

What channel is Channel 5 on Freesat?

Channel 5 is on channel 105 on Freesat. The SD version was removed in March 2026, so the channel is HD-only on satellite.

What kind of shows is Channel 5 known for?

Channel 5’s schedule is built on British factual and countryside television: The Yorkshire Vet and its Dales farming series, true-crime documentaries and daytime entertainment such as Jeremy Vine. Alongside that sits a growing slate of original British drama, and every morning opens with children’s programming under the Milkshake! banner.

What’s on Channel 5 tonight?

Saturday 5 September 2026 gives the whole evening to live sport. The British Open snooker reaches the semi-finals, live from The Centaur in Cheltenham with Katie Shanahan presenting, and both semi-finals air in full on Channel 5: 12:45pm to 4:30pm, then 6:30pm to 10:30pm. Britain’s Favourite Ads of the 70s & 80s closes the night at 10:30pm. The final is Sunday 6 September. Full times are in the schedule table above.

Can I watch Channel 5 online for free?

Yes. Channel 5 streams live and free on My5 at channel5.com and via the My5 app. No subscription is needed, though the service carries advertising. A free account registration is required for catch-up and on-demand content.

Is Channel 5 free?

Yes. Channel 5 is a free-to-air commercial broadcaster. There is no subscription or pay-TV requirement to watch it on Freeview, Freesat, Sky or Virgin Media, and My5 online is also free. The channel is funded by advertising.

Verdict

Saturday’s Channel 5 is the British Open snooker semi-finals, and there’s very little else to it. Both semi-finals run live from The Centaur in Cheltenham across two sessions, 12:45pm to 4:30pm and then 6:30pm to 10:30pm — roughly four hours of the day given over to one event, more than the tournament’s earlier single-session days. Britain’s Favourite Ads of the 70s & 80s takes what’s left of the night once the final frame is played, and Sunday settles the title.

Watch

Related: What’s On TV Tonight | Channel 5 Schedule | My5 Streaming Guide | Films on TV This Week