Five Network Home Of 'america's Finest'

Jeff Ford, one of Britain's most influential television programmers, is a one-man band when it comes to singing the praises of American dramas.

Ford, managing editor and director of acquisitions at the United Kingdom's Five network, is bucking worldwide programming trends by successfully driving up viewer numbers with a slickly marketed package of blue-chip American dramas. While most foreign broadcasters now favor locally made reality and scripted programs, Five has built up a reputation for what it has dubbed its "America's Finest" offering with "Law & Order," "Law & Order: SVU," "The Shield," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "CSI: Miami."

Ford also has recently licensed the third series in the Dick Wolf "Law & Order" franchise, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," from Universal Network Television. "As a network, I think we are disproving the perception that (American studio) programs don't attract big audiences in other countries anymore. In that sense, we are bucking the trend," Ford says.

All of the shows he has acquired are extremely well-written and acted, Ford says, adding, "That's the whole thing about quality dramas like these -- when you have that kind of quality, it will find a home anywhere."

"Law & Order" averages 1.7 million viewers and a 10% share of viewing in the U.K. market, while "Law & Order: SVU" averages 1.9 million viewers and a 10% share of the market. "CSI" hits the 3.5 million-viewer level and a 16% share. Starting this month, Five's primetime "America's Finest" package will be scheduled over two nights, Thursday and Saturday.

"When we started seven years ago, we programmed mostly movies (in primetime), and as we developed and matured, we went down the one-hour path, dabbling in the early days with shows like 'Xena' and 'Hercules," Ford says. "But the first big break for us was with 'Martial Law.' From that, we expanded to 'CSI,' which replaced our Saturday movie. We put it together with 'Law & Order' and marketed the package as 'Partners in Crime,' and it became a huge hit for us."

It's that kind of marketing savvy that has helped Five create a valuable programming franchise with American dramas. "Branding is a very big thing for us, and it's another reason we are scoring over our competitors," Ford says. "When we acquire something, we promote it and market it and try to get the public to know about it and the press to write about it, and we get the message out that it's something we are proud of -- we treat our acquired shows just the same as we treat shows that we produce ourselves."

Ford also praises Universal and Alliance Atlantis (which licenses "CSI" internationally) for backing Five's successful local marketing campaigns to the hilt.