Channel 5 hands out first BBC Studios commissions

Viacom-owned UK broadcaster Channel 5 has ordered its first shows from BBC Studios’ Science Unit, which will explore the science behind weight gain and sleeping issues.

Why Do I Put On Weight? (1 x 60 minute, pictured) draws on the latest research to challenge long-held assumptions about getting fat, while Why Can’t I Sleep? (2 x 60 minutes) looks at why UK people are sleeping on average two hours less per night compared with 50 years ago.

Andrew Cohen, head of BBC Studios Science Unit, said he hoped the shows “would help people understand the very latest science around common health issues like obesity and the sleep crisis and offer a real takeout for people to positively change their own lives.”

Since launching as a commercial subsidiary, BBC Studios Science Unit has secured commissions including: Fatberg Autopsy: Secrets of the Sewers for Channel 4; Sex, Knives and Liposuction for UKTV’s W channel; and Stargazing for ABC.

Both the new Channel 5 commissions are being produced by BBC Studios Science Unit in Glasgow and are due to air later this year.