From 2027, Channel 4 Sales will sell airtime for 5, MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon alongside its own portfolio. For anyone buying TV late and at a discount, the number of doors to knock on just went down by one, and that changes how the next round of deals should be approached.
What’s happened
Channel 4 and Paramount announced on 15 September that Channel 4 Sales will become the exclusive advertising sales partner for Paramount’s UK linear and digital brands from 2027. That covers the whole 5 family (5, 5USA, 5Star, 5Select, 5Action and the preschool block Milkshake!) plus MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. Paramount+ and Pluto TV stay in-house with Paramount’s own advertising team. Until now 5’s airtime has been sold by Sky Media, so this is a straight move of a sizeable chunk of commercial impacts from one sales house to another. According to Paramount’s announcement, 5 reaches 96% of UK homes and 28.5 million people a month, and the deal is the first time two public service broadcasters have had their advertising sold under one roof.
Why it matters to TV advertisers buying late space
The UK TV market has effectively been a three-sales-house market for years: ITV, Sky Media and Channel 4 Sales. When we go looking for unsold airtime in the final fortnight before a sale, a fight night or a claims campaign, those are the three conversations we have. From 2027, the Sky conversation gets smaller and the Channel 4 conversation gets bigger.
That matters for three practical reasons. First, leverage. Channel 4 Sales will be bringing a broader set of audiences to the table, and a larger sales house generally has less need to discount aggressively to fill a schedule. It also has more places to put a late booking, which can cut the other way and work in a buyer’s favour. Its first big product, Channel 4 Instant Re4ch, already guarantees same-evening peak spots across Channel 4, 5 and UKTV from January 2027, which shows how quickly the combined inventory is being packaged up. We will not know which effect wins until the 2027 trading round, but it would be naive to assume late-space pricing on 5 stays where it is today.
Second, audience mix. 5’s daytime and early-peak schedule has long been a cost-efficient way to reach older, ABC1 adults across the regions, which is exactly the profile a country house sale or a regional auction wants. Bundling it with Channel 4’s younger-skewing portfolio gives a planner more range in a single deal, but it also means we need to be precise about which stations actually deliver the audience rather than accepting a portfolio spot mix.
Third, timing. The transition lands in 2027, so the current deal year is unaffected. What happens now is that Sky Media will be trading 5 for its final months, and sales houses in that position tend to behave differently. That is worth watching closely for anyone with Q4 2026 or Q1 2027 activity in the plan.
What we’d do
Lock in any 5 activity for late 2026 and early 2027 through the current arrangement. If a client relies on 5 to reach older regional audiences, we would rather agree that airtime now than be first in the queue when a new sales house is still bedding in its systems and its pricing.
Rebuild station-level plans, not sales-house plans. When two portfolios merge, the temptation is to buy the bundle. We will keep specifying stations and dayparts by audience delivery, so that a combat sports promotion still gets its 5Action and late-peak weighting and an auction house gets its daytime and early evening.
Keep Sky Media warm. Sky will still have a substantial portfolio to sell after losing 5, and a sales house with a gap to fill can be a very good friend to a late-space buyer. We expect the best distressed inventory in early 2027 to come from wherever the pressure is, not necessarily from the biggest house.
More on the changing TV and radio market
- Channel 4 Instant Re4ch: what it means for TV buyers — the new sales house’s first big product: guaranteed same-evening peak spots across Channel 4, 5 and UKTV from January 2027, and what it does to the airtime left over for late buyers.
- Sky-ITV merger scrutiny: what TV buyers should do now — Channel 4 has asked the regulator to look hard at Sky’s purchase of ITV’s broadcast business, which could shrink the market to even fewer sales houses.
- YouTube overtakes BBC on viewing minutes: what TV buyers do now — what Barb’s August figures mean for anyone buying linear airtime late.
- Global Radio Plus: what ad-free radio means for advertisers — Global’s paid, ad-free tier and who it takes out of reach.
- BBC local radio cuts: what they mean for radio advertisers — more change in the broadcast market, and what it means for anyone buying commercial radio in the regions.
- UK digital adspend hits £21.2bn: what smaller advertisers do now — the digital side of the picture, and why late buying still works when costs creep up.
If you buy TV and want to understand how this reshapes your options, we can help. VCM has been negotiating late-space TV airtime with all three sales houses for over a decade, and we know where the value sits when a market shifts. Have a look at our TV advertising service, then get in touch — call 0333 577 1848 or email James@vcmweb.co.uk — and we will talk your 2027 plan through, no obligation.
