Telly addicts in Sussex can now enjoy programmes such as Angel and House Doctor without satellite or cable - but it's too late to catch At Home With The Eubanks.

On Friday, for the first time since the channel's launch six years ago, Five went live.

Until now viewers in most parts of Sussex have been unable to watch the channel through regular aerials.

Previously there had been a risk of transmitters interfering with signals from France and the Continent.

Five is now using smaller masts which cover a smaller area.

Transmitters in Hastings and Whitehawk Hill, Brighton, are now in place.

There are a further two across the Surrey border in Tunbridge Wells and Reigate.

The launch was too late for Brighton households to catch At Home With the Eubanks, a fly-on-the-wall documentary about Hove boxer Chris Eubank and his family, which finished at the end of last month.

However, a special compilation of highlights will be shown on Christmas Eve.

Channel Five was launched in a blaze of publicity in 1997.

But to begin with, the success of the channel was hampered by down-market programming.

In a bid to close the viewing gap with its rivals Channel 4 and BBC2, station bosses began buying more arts shows, populist documentaries, US dramas and Hollywood blockbusters.

The channel, which is owned by German broadcasting giant RTL, has ploughed money into its homegrown soap Family Affairs and has picked up the hugely popular Buffy The Vampire Slayer spin-off Angel, as well as Australian soap Home And Away.

Last year, the station underwent a massive rebrand and was relaunched as Five in a bid to give it a more mature image.

Anyone having trouble tuning in can log on to www.five.tv/aboutfive