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

Published: 12 September 2026

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.

Sunday 13 September 2026 swaps the usual factual mix for live sport. 5 News Weekend at 6:25pm and Sweets & Treats We Loved & Lost at 6:30pm lead into a new episode of 22 Kids & Counting at 8pm, before Channel 5 hands over to a live NFL doubleheader shared with sister channel 5Action: Green Bay Packers away at Minnesota Vikings from 9pm, kicking off at 9:25pm and running deep into the night. Full times are in the table below.

Channel 5 Schedule: Sunday 13 September 2026 (Full Listings)

Here is the complete Channel 5 schedule for Sunday 13 September 2026, on Freeview 5.

Overnight

Breakfast

Morning

Afternoon

Early evening

Primetime

What’s on Channel 5 today — the daytime schedule

Sunday’s overnight run stays with entertainment and cruise-ship factual: Cruise TV with LoveitBookit, GPs: Behind Closed Doors and back-to-back episodes of Cruising with Susan Calman, plus two editions of The Wonderful World of Chocolate, before Milkshake! takes over from 5:35am with PAW Patrol, Mixmups and Peppa Pig.

Breakfast stays with children’s programming — Milo, then a longer Milkshake! block running Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go!, Fireman Sam and The Adventures of Paddington through to 8am, followed by a new The Creature Cases, The Smurfs, Ben and Holly’s Little Kingdom and The Patrick Star Show.

Cruise-and-crime factual carries the rest of the day. Two more editions of The Cruise: Fun-Loving Brits at Sea and a further Cruising with Susan Calman run through late morning, before two episodes of Warship: Life in the Royal Navy take the early afternoon. The Hunt for Red October gets a double airing either side of a 3:10pm news break, and The Day The Queen Died: Minute by Minute closes out the afternoon from 4:55pm ahead of tonight’s line-up.

Channel 5 tonight — primetime and the evening schedule

Here’s the Channel 5 primetime line-up for tonight, Sunday 13 September 2026.

5 News Weekend — Channel 5, 6:25pm

A short weekend news bulletin ahead of the evening’s entertainment.

Sweets & Treats We Loved & Lost — Channel 5, 6:30pm

A nostalgia-driven look at discontinued confectionery, with contributors picking apart which bygone chocolate bars and crisps deserved to survive and which didn’t.

22 Kids & Counting — Channel 5, 8pm

A new series opener for the Radford family documentary. This edition follows Sue marking World Book Day dressed as a grasshopper, one small sign of how far the format has drifted from its original “Britain’s biggest family” hook into general domestic chaos.

Live: NFL on 5: Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings — Channel 5, 9pm

Channel 5 hands its Sunday night over to American football, with Green Bay travelling to Minnesota for a divisional-rivalry kick-off at 9:25pm. Dermot O’Leary anchors alongside Sam Quek and Osi Umenyiora, and coverage is expected to run well past midnight — 5Action carries a separate live game earlier the same evening, so it’s a two-match NFL Sunday across the “5” channels.

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?

Sunday 13 September 2026 opens with 5 News Weekend at 6:25pm and Sweets & Treats We Loved & Lost at 6:30pm. A new episode of 22 Kids & Counting follows at 8pm, before Channel 5 switches to live NFL from 9pm: Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings, kicking off at 9:25pm with Dermot O’Leary, Sam Quek and Osi Umenyiora presenting. Coverage runs well past midnight. 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

Sunday hands the schedule over to sport rather than the usual factual mix. 22 Kids & Counting opening a new series at 8pm is a reliable, low-effort watch if the Radfords are your thing, but the real draw is what follows: a live NFL game from 9pm, with Green Bay and Minnesota renewing one of the division’s older rivalries. Dermot O’Leary leads a presenting team that knows the sport, and the broadcast is built to run long — worth clearing the evening rather than half-watching it. Sweets & Treats We Loved & Lost earlier at 6:30pm is disposable but pleasant, the kind of nostalgia programming that asks nothing of the viewer.

Watch

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