De Mol makes Five bid

Big Brother creator John De Mol has teamed with Greek broadcaster Antenna to make a bid for UK commercial broadcaster Five, according to press reports.

De Mol, via his Cyrte Investments fund, submitted the offer for the RTL-owned network before its submission deadline last week. Investment bank JP Morgan, which is running the sale, is expected to narrow down the bidders over the next three weeks before compiling a shortlist of two. Other interested parties are thought to include pay broadcaster BSkyB and US media giant Time Warner.

De Mol currently owns one-third of Big Brother producer Endemol after buying it back in association with Italian broadcaster Mediaset and Goldman Sachs. He is currently chief executive of Dutch formats house Talpa Media, which produces series including Dating in the Dark and I Love My Country.