TOP PERFORMERS OF 2002: Medium of the Year - Five.

In a generally bad year for commercial TV broadcasters, Five stood out through its investment in programmes and benefited with a 23 per cent increase in revenue.

Last year was one of the most tumultuous in the history of commercial television. Against a backdrop of an on-going advertising recession, a well-funded and commercially focused BBC, the new and controversial Barb panel as well as the Government's dogged commitment to introducing digital TV, most TV companies struggled.

But amid all the doom and gloom, one TV station surprised everyone by bucking the trend and performing well above expectations. This station was Five, the RTL and United Business Media joint venture, which celebrated its fifth birthday with impressive increases in both audience and ad revenue, the prize of Best Terrestrial Channel at the Edinburgh TV Festival and, now, its coronation as Campaign's Medium of the Year.

Last year can justifiably be seen as a watershed for the station. Under the stewardship of its chief executive, Dawn Airey (and, latterly, Nick Milligan), it finally achieved recognition as a mainstream entertainment network.

Elsewhere, things weren't so happy - Carlton and Granada finally put their disastrous digital television venture, ITV Digital, to sleep, after it had haemorrhaged pounds 1.2 billion of shareholders' funds. The shockwaves from the collapse of ITV Digital were to be felt for the rest of the year at the Network Centre as the tempered investment in the core ITV1 channel became obvious.

Channel 4, under its new chief executive, Mark Thompson, was also suffering from the combined effects of the new Barb panel and the depressed TV market.

Thompson took decisive action and Channel 4 underwent its biggest shake-up for 20 years, with more than 200 staff losing their jobs and international ambitions curtailed.