Logo of Tele5 used until mid-1992, after the channel was bought by Leo Kirch and scheduled for closure. On air, the white parts were transparent and the red parts were solid white
Tele 5 replacedGermany's second music television channel,Musicbox, which existed from 1984 to 1988. Prior to 1987,Silvio Berlusconi bought part ofMusicbox and rebranded it as Tele5 on 11 January 1988. Its programming was produced in the same building asMusicbox, a music video show namedMusicbox remained part of Tele5's regular schedule, and severalMusicbox show hosts transferred to Tele5. From 1988 to 1992, Tele5 was part of Berlusconi's Europe-wide network of sister channels, all with the number 5 in their names and a stylized flower in their logo, which includedCanale 5 in Italy,Telecinco in Spain (originally also styled as Tele5), andLa Cinq in France (which was later replaced byFrance 5). Tele5 timeshared withRTL Television (then RTLplus) on terrestrial television from 8:00am or 9:00am to 5:00pm, and at night.
During the channel's four-year lifespan, its children's programming in particular increasingly took market share fromLeo Kirch's German television networks, which prompted Kirch to buy the channel in 1992, and rebrand itDSF (Deutsches Sportfernsehen,German Sport Television) on January 1, 1993 (Berlusconi's Europe-wide network would be later reborn asMFE - MediaForEurope, after buying Kirch's former networks, known asProSiebenSat.1 Media).
At the time, most other channels had a few weekly or daily series for children. Some channels had "Double Features".Bim Bam Bino was the first big all-week program block for children and teens on German television. Initially broadcast in the morning hours, the show soon grew to encompass afternoons and eventually even early evenings. At the time the channel went off-air,Bim Bam Bino made up the biggest part of Tele 5's schedule and ran from about 9 AM, to 6 or 7PM.
Some shows which had their German premiere on Tele5's first incarnation went on to find a new home.Bim Bam Bino was taken up bykabel eins, while the originalBim Bam Bino crew went on to produce a similar children's programming puppet announcer show, "Vampy" onRTL II. Many cartoon shows previously broadcast on Tele5 as part ofBim Bam Bino initially reappeared on the Kabel 1 version ofBim Bam Bino, and onRTL II'sVampy.
Bitte Lächeln (a format based uponAmerica's Funniest Home Videos) was the only Tele5 show that was briefly taken up by its successor DSF before moving on toRTL II, and later ran under the new titleSchwupps - Die Pannenshow onTm3, and which was hosted by Mike Carl for its entire run across all three channels. By the timeBitte Lächeln akaSchwupps had moved to Tm3, a few of the cartoon shows originally on Tele5 were also taken up by Tm3 for its morning slots.
The most successful survivor of the old Tele5 was the game showRuck Zuck (based onBruce Forsyth's Hot Streak), which remained in production for over a decade on various channels after the closure of the old Tele5, appearing on RTL II, tm3, and even the new Tele 5 (see below).[citation needed]
In April 2002,Tele München Gruppe relaunched the channel, now centred on movies and entertainment. Tele 5's second incarnation originally started with Jochen Kröhne as CEO, who had beenprogram director ofMusicbox (1984-1988) as well as of Tele5's original incarnation (1988-1992). Kröhne left the new Tele 5 in 2005 and was replaced as CEO by Kai Blasberg. Jochen Bendel, a host on the original Tele5, appeared on the channel from the beginning, including by hosting new editions of the game showRuck Zuck, until he left the network in 2005.
The channel was sold fromLeonine Holding toDiscovery Inc. in 2020. At the end of 2023, the last in-house produced series, "The Worst Films of All Time" ("Schlefaz"), came to an end. According to Oliver Kalkofe, the reason was the almost complete elimination of the remaining jobs by Discovery Germany. The entire Discovery Germany channel group then had only two employees left, and at Tele 5, there was literally "no one there anymore"—they were simply broadcasting films.[3] Broadcasting via freenet-TV was discontinued in spring 2024.
An Austrian feed of Tele5 started broadcasting on May 1, 2012. It is a simulcast of the main channel with localised advertising, handled by the Austrian channelATV which acts as the advertising sales representative; in turn ATV airs promotions for the latter.[5]
Since October 19, 2011, Tele 5 broadcasts in HD onHD+, a satellite television platform owned bySES-Astra. Like most channels in Europe broadcasting in HD, its SD feed is a downscaled version of its main high-definition programming.[6] Tele5 HD is also distributed inVodafone andTelekom Entertain.
