Five Life to be renamed Fiver

Five Life is to be renamed Fiver with several new shows lined up to support the brand change.

The move is the first step in a "refresh" of all the broadcaster's channels under director of content Lisa Opie, who took over marketing late last year, the broadcaster said today.

Five Life will be renamed at the end of April and given "a completely new on and off air look" with a supporting advertising campaign.

"Its new position will complement the Five family perfectly," said Opie. "It’s absolutely the right time to refresh the channel’s identity to better reflect its development in content. Fiver is the first step toward an invigorated and refreshed portfolio."

Hannah Barnes, director of programmes for Fiver and Five US, said the new-look channel would be "younger, faster and louder".

She added: "I’m really pleased with the evolution of Five Life. The channel has enjoyed considerable success since launch 18 months ago and the time is right to build on that success with an exciting raft of new programming."

New shows announced today include US reality import Celebrity Rehab, five-part celebrity fashion show Glamour’s Best Dressed List and travel adventure series Madventures.

Five said Fiver's on-air look, developed with brand consultancy Dave, would be "based on a constantly moving cursor delivering unpredictive text to the viewer". The cursor "will reference popular culture and will change to reflect seasonal and topical events".