You will not find Channel 5 (or the related Five US and Fiver) mentioned anywhere on this website (other than here...).
The reason for this is because the 'five' channel are not 'free to air'. They are, in fact, 'free to view'.
The primary difference is, while you do not need to subscribe to a service to receive these additional channels, you do need to purchase a card which you insert into the Digibox in order to receive these channels; hence they are not available to everybody.
Also - technically - because the channels are 'encoded' and require a card in order to view, this means that the channels will not, currently, be watchable on a receiver that is something other than a Digibox.
Sorry...
I am informed that the five channels are in a contract with Sky and will not be FTA on satellite anytime soon. But please take heart in the fact that two years ago we all said the exact same thing about the four channels, and now I can watch lots of nice American imports, and finally see if I can figure out what all the fuss is regarding Lost and Desperate Housewives...
After all, "anytime soon" is not "never". Keep your fingers crossed and be very patient!
UNCONFIRMED 'RUMOUR': The unofficial and unconfirmed rumour regarding Channel 5 is "this Autumn".
So if you would like various CSI clones, girls that sit on desks to read the news (it's where Natascha Kaplinsky went), Tricia, House, Grey's Anatomy (I have the printed one!), and all the Aussie soaps... keep your fingers very tightly crossed!
In early 2005, ITV3 was launched and it was fully free to air (FTA). In November 2005, ITV1 and ITV2 also became FTA. If you know where to look, the ITV1 regions may be selected individually, if you don't like the default Central West. A week later, the new channel ITV4 was launched on satellite, also FTA.
The problem with Channel 4 and Channel 5 is that they have a long-term contract with Sky, which prevents them from 'deciding' to become FTA. It is to be hoped that when the contract expires, they choose this option instead of staying with the Freesat service. Time, and money, will tell...
...however... in August 2006 one of Channel Four's separate ventures - Film4 went free-to-air. This is channel #315, or #316 for the one-hour-delay version.
The change to them? They now insert advertising into the movies. Some ex-subscribers don't like this, but it is tolerable. Certainly, Film4 show some impressive movies. From their point of view, they've gone from around 300,000 subscribers to a potential audience of millions. Film4 is available on digital terrestrial, satellite, and (I think) some cable services. Lots of great movies, lots of original movies, all free.
The story doesn't end there. I did a scan on 2008/05/05 and came across what appeared to be Channel 4 without sound. The very next day, Ewen SMS'd me to tell me that the four channels were FTA as part of the BBC's FreeSat service. Consequently I added the channels and then watched a double-episode of Friends. I know, I know. Friends is kinda cheesy, but after a smidgen over half a decade without, it was great to see the programme and how little had changed. Kinda like an old friend, you know? ☺