Five commissioners enter MySpace

Five's managing director of content Lisa Opie has spoken of how she wants to reconnect viewers with the channel.

Speaking at a Royal Television Society dinner last night, Opie said that by "flinging open our door to the viewers" the channel hopes to discover new talent which will "enable us to produce distinctive, surprising programming which will set us apart from our rivals."

Opie said that Five's commissioning editors would be setting up MySpace pages where viewers can post their ideas, thoughts and suggestions.

Opie added that recent events in the industry, including TV phone-in problems, were eroding viewers trust in television as a medium and that her priority was to gain viewers trust by giving them an "unprecedented amount of input into the content we produce."

She added: "We will put people and passions at the heart of everything we do. We will offer transparency in the way we operate, making them a part of the process, enabling us to be a more open and straight-talking organisation."

Five News will also have a revamp, including expanding its user-generated-content strand Your News, which will become a focal point.

Opie said: "In the same way Five News redefined news when it launched ten years ago, I want it now to be in the vanguard of citizen journalism with more direct input from viewers."