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BBC Three was a British

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service operated by the

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. It was launched on 16 February 2016 as a replacement for the linear BBC Three television channel, which closed down the same day but was later relaunched on 1 February 2022. The service produces and streams

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and

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

aimed at the demographic of 16 to 34-year-olds, with a particular focus on

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

and documentary programming. BBC Three content is primarily streamed on BBC iPlayer, while the service's other content, including

and other materials, are also distributed through presences on

social networks A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for a ...

. All full-length original programming commissioned for BBC Three must eventually be broadcast on the linear

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

and

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

television channels following their online premiere. Beginning in March 2019, BBC One introduced a dedicated timeslot for BBC Three programmes on Mondays through Wednesdays following the ''

BBC News at Ten ''BBC News at Ten'' formerly known as the ''BBC Ten O'Clock News'' or the ''Ten O'Clock News'' is the flagship evening news programme for the BBC News channel and British television channel BBC One on weekdays and Sundays at 10:00pm. Huw Edwa ...

''. On 20 May 2020, it was announced within the BBC's annual plan that the corporation is "considering the case" for returning BBC Three to linear television, four years after it was taken off air. The annual plan also stated that the BBC would be "backing the success" of the channel by doubling its budget, after producing a variety of critically acclaimed series including ''

Normal People ''Normal People'' is a 2018 novel by the Irish author Sally Rooney. ''Normal People'' is Rooney's second novel, published after '' Conversations with Friends'' (2017). It was first published by Faber & Faber on 30 August 2018. The book became a ...

'', ''

Fleabag ''Fleabag'' is a British comedy-drama television series created and written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, based on her one-woman show first performed in 2013 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It was originally produced by Two Brothers Pictures for d ...

'' and ''

This Country ''This Country'' is a British mockumentary sitcom, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Three on 8 February 2017. Created by, written by and starring siblings Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper and directed by Tom George, the series f ...

''. Research released in September 2020 showed that BBC Three was being viewed for 89% less time per-year since the closure of its linear broadcast platform, and 72% if rebroadcasts of its content on other BBC linear channels were included. In the year after it closed its linear broadcast platform its weekly audience of viewers aged 16–34 declined 69% compared with the year before the closure. On 2 March 2021, the BBC Press office announced that BBC Three would return to digital terrestrial TV in February 2022, subject to regulatory approval which was approved in 2021.

History

Proposal

In February 2014 at the Oxford Media Conference, BBC Director-General Tony Hall stated that as part of the ongoing "Delivering Quality First" initiative at the corporation (which, as motivated by the government freeze of

television license A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set where some broadcasts are funded in full or in part by the licence f ...

fee costs, aims to reach £700 million in cost-savings across the BBC up to the end of the 2016–17 television season), the BBC was in the process of finalizing plans to make another £100 million in cuts to be announced the following month. Believing that general budget cuts across the entire corporation would compromise the quality of its in-house productions—especially

dramas Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been c ...

, which he described as being the "essence" of the BBC—Hall stated that these cuts could require "hard decisions" to be made. He explained that the corporation had "reached the point where salami-slicing would affect quality and distinctiveness. Rather than seek to preserve a less good version of our past, we decided to focus on what we do best: from drama to taking

iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available on a wide range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets, personal computers and smart televisions. iPlayer services de ...

into the next generation." On 5 March 2014, the BBC announced several cost-savings proposals, subject to the approval of the

BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...

. Among them were plans to discontinue

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...

as a television channel, and convert it into an online service. In its proposal, the BBC stated that while motivated by financial considerations, the conversion was a "future-facing move" that would "develop a ground-breaking new online service which will bring high quality, distinctive UK-originated long form and new form interactive content to 16–34 year olds", and take advantage of the increased use of online services by the channel's target demographics. It was outlined that the service would have to leverage the "strengths" of BBC Three, such as curation, original productions, and "best-in-class storytelling", and adapt them to the "immediacy" and interactivity of digital. As the service would not be bound to the limitations of linear schedules, the scope of the new BBC Three would fall under three "editorial pillars" as opposed to programming genres: "Make Me Laugh" reflects comedic and "personality-driven" programmes, and "Make Me Think" reflects current affairs, drama, and other factual programming. A third pillar, "Give Me a Voice", reflects that the service's content would be of topical interest to the 16–34 year-old demographic, and would encourage discussion and participation especially via

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

. The overall programming budget of the service would be reduced by nearly half in comparison to the BBC Three channel. While it would have a larger focus on short-form

, the service planned to continue investments into commissioning long-form programmes and "comedy at near current levels", and serving as an incubator for new talent. The service's output would primarily be delivered through iPlayer, but plans called for a revamped "branded space" to showcase the content, as well distributing short-form productions via alternative outlets such as

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. The proposal faced criticism from notable parties, including

Greg James Gregory James Alan Milward (born 17 December 1985) is an English radio and television presenter, comedian and author. He is the host of BBC Radio 1's breakfast show, co-presenter on the cricket podcast '' Tailenders'' alongside Felix White and ...

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...

and

Jack Whitehall Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall (born 7 July 1988) is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. He is known for starring as JP in the series '' Fresh Meat'' (2011–2016) and Alfie Wickers in the series '' Bad Education'' (2012–2014, 20 ...

. Media writer

Roy Greenslade Roy Greenslade (born 31 December 1946) is a British author and freelance journalist, and a former professor of journalism. He worked in the UK newspaper industry from the 1960s onwards. As a media commentator, he wrote a daily blog from 2006 to ...

considered the change to be "unquestionably the most sensible or perhaps the least worst" way of cutting costs. While admitting BBC Three's recent success in targeting its demographic and its role as a launchpad for new talent, he argued that BBC Three was "a marginal channel with a small share of the overall television audience", and that "'Hard decisions' are just that. If the BBC is to have any hope of sustaining its quality core output then a sacrifice had to be made."

Approval and launch

The transition was finalised by the BBC Trust in November 2015. The trust cited the shifting viewing habits of BBC Three's target audience from linear TV to digital services, and that the discontinuation of BBC Three as a television channel would allow the BBC to "deliver more distinctive content online, while bearing down on costs". Conditions were imposed on other BBC properties to complement the changes;

and

Two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...

will be required to develop "distinctive programmes designed for younger audiences", as well as air repeats of all full-length programmes commissioned for BBC Three. The trust also approved related proposals to allow first-run and third-party content on iPlayer, and extend

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

's broadcast day to 9:00 p.m. (CBBC signed off at 7:00 p.m. to conserve

Freeview Freeview may refer to: * Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia * Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), ...

bandwidth for BBC Three) with a focus on an older youth audience. On 4 January 2016, it was announced that the new BBC Three digital service would launch on 16 February 2016. The same day, a new logo for the service was unveiled. Inspired by the iconography of

mobile application A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on des ...

s, the new logo incorporates the

Roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...

for the number three, with the third bar replaced by an exclamation mark. Marketing head Nikki Carr explained that the three bars represented the aforementioned "editorial pillars" (with the exclamation mark representing the "Give Me a Voice" aspect). The new logo received mixed reactions from the public, with some drawing comparisons to the album cover of

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B En ...

's ''

Ill Manors ''Ill Manors'' (stylised as ''ill Manors'') is a British crime drama film written, co-scored and directed by Ben Drew AKA musician Plan B. The film revolves around the lives of eight main characters, played by Riz Ahmed, Ed Skrein, Keef Cog ...

'', a Roman numeral "2" with an exclamation point ("

!"), and a proposed redesign of the BBC's logo seen in an episode of the comedy ''

W1A The W (Western and Paddington) postcode area, also known as the London W postcode area is a group of postcode districts covering part of central and part of West London, England. The area originates from the Western (W1) and Paddington (W2-14) ...

''. In regards to the ''W1A'' comparison, Carr joked that "thanks to ''W1A'' we're cursed at the BBC when it comes to marketing and I don't want to come across all Siobhan Sharpe but forgive me some lingo." The channel also parodied the comparisons in a

Vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

video. BBC Three controller Damian Kavanagh explained that the new digital service would feature the "same award-winning programmes freed from the constraints of linear TV", emphasizing the ability to distribute content across "whatever format and platform is most appropriate". Hall described the internal atmosphere surrounding the new BBC Three as being like a " startup", explaining that "I love the feeling of going and being with Damian's team. It feels creative, energetic and mischievous as well, just as it should be." Kavanagh felt that the concise "pillars" of BBC Three, combined with its new structure, would give creators more flexibility and immediacy in how they produce content. He explained that "we can allow people to do things that I don't think other broadcasters can really do at the moment—in terms of giving people room to try things and also play around with form in a way we couldn’t have done if we'd stayed on television", with the remainder of the BBC's content ecosystem as a "safety net". Kavanagh also emphasized a continued goal to use the service as an incubator for new talent, hoping that it will be remembered as "the place that spotted the next James Corden, the next

Aidan Turner Aidan Turner (born 19 June 1983) is an Irish actor. He played the roles of Ross Poldark in the 2015–2019 BBC adaptation of ''The Poldark Novels'' by Winston Graham, Dante Gabriel Rossetti in ''Desperate Romantics'', Ruairí McGowan in '' Th ...

, the next whoever." On 13 February 2016, prior to the service's launch, it was reported that the BBC was considering merging BBC Three and

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

under unified management if the digital BBC Three service is not successful. Kavanagh stated that he himself was unaware of this proposal, but added that BBC Three was "a really powerful youth brand with 13 years' heritage" and that he " idn'tsee the logic in winding down something that has that audience, and has that badge of quality, and has that heritage." The BBC Three television channel formally signed off during the early morning of 16 February 2016, concurrent with the official re-launch of the new BBC Three. The last programme aired was an episode of ''

Gavin & Stacey ''Gavin & Stacey'' is a British sitcom written by James Corden and Ruth Jones about two families: one in Billericay, Essex; one in Barry, South Wales. Mathew Horne and Joanna Page play the titular characters Gavin and Stacey and the writers ...

'', introduced by its co-star James Corden from the set of his current U.S. chat show '' The Late Late Show'' in Los Angeles.

Linear relaunch

On 2 March 2021 the BBC announced that BBC Three would relaunch as a linear broadcast channel from 2022, reversing the action of 2016. In November 2021 regulator Ofcom confirmed that the channel would return to television in February 2022. The relaunched BBC Three linear television channel would be available on Freeview, Sky, Virgin and Freesat from 1 February 2022.

Content

The new BBC Three service is delivered primarily via

, offering new, original content, as well as full series of previous BBC Three programmes (branded as " Box Sets"). New content consists of full-length programmes, and short-form

and features; Kavanagh explained that the new BBC Three would focus primarily on original comedies and documentaries. All long-form programmes commissioned for BBC Three must be aired at a later date on

. In February 2019, it was announced that BBC Three programmes would air Mondays through Wednesdays on BBC One on following the '' News at Ten'', beginning on 4 March 2019. Despite the refocus on comedy, the proportion of the channel's output (in minutes) devoted to comedy actually fell post-switch, from 41% to 33%. By contract, the proportions of the channel's output devoted to factual programming did increase. BBC Three produces two curated content channels, such as ''The Daily Drop''—which features blogs, videos, photo galleries, social network content, and other content trending online—and ''The Best Of''. 20% of the outlet's budget will go towards web series. Programmes from the former BBC Three channel were carried over, including new series of ''

Cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals and anis. The coucals and anis are sometimes separ ...

'', '' Life and Death Row'' and ''

People Just Do Nothing ''People Just Do Nothing'' is a British television mockumentary sitcom, created and performed by Allan Mustafa, Steve Stamp, Asim Chaudhry and Hugo Chegwin. The programme follows the lives of MC Grindah, DJ Beats and their friends, who run K ...

''. The initial slate of new programs to debut through BBC Three included the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' spin-off ''

Class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

'' (which was cancelled after a single series), the new dramas ''

Clique A clique ( AusE, CanE, or ), in the social sciences, is a group of individuals who interact with one another and share similar interests. Interacting with cliques is part of normative social development regardless of gender, ethnicity, or popular ...

'' and ''

Thirteen Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

'', ''Live from the BBC'', a stand-up comedy series focusing on up and coming comedians; the three-part web series '' The Man Who Witnessed 219 Executions''; and ''Unsolved: The Boy Who Disappeared''. Promoted as being a British equivalent to the web series '' Serial'', ''Unsolved'' would feature weekly instalments investigating a real-life crime story. The service will also produce a series of short films in collaboration with

Idris Elba Idrissa Akuna Elba (; born 6 September 1972) is an English actor.

and up and coming talent. In 2017, the millennial relationship series

Just a Couple ''Just a couple'' is a British comedy-drama television miniseries created by Sebastian Thiel. Originally pitched by Upshot Entertainment in 2013, it was then further developed by Big Talk Productions in 2016. The show explores the trials and ...

premiered With the service's budget cut to £30 million, some of BBC Three's historic staples, such as panel shows, '' Don't Tell the Bride'', and U.S. animated comedy ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'' were dropped. Some BBC Three series had already been moved to other outlets in anticipation of the shutdown; ''

Russell Howard's Good News ''Russell Howard's Good News'' was a British comedy and topical news television show which was broadcast on BBC Three between 2009 and 2014, and on BBC Two between 2014 and 2015. Hosted by comedian Russell Howard, it offered his commentary on ...

'' was moved to BBC Two in 2014, and ''Don't Tell the Bride'' was moved to BBC One for a single series before being dropped and acquired by

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...

acquired rights to new episodes of ''Family Guy'' and other

Seth MacFarlane Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, comedian, and singer. He is the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orville'' (since 2017), and co-creator ...

series in March 2015, although the BBC continued to hold rights to past episodes of ''Family Guy'' until 2017. The annual minutes of programming being made available by BBC Three on iPlayer after the channel closed its broadcast platform was around 80% less than the annual minutes of programming broadcast before the closure. The comedy-drama ''

'' premiered on BBC Three in 2016, and was renewed for a second series premiering in 2019. The series achieved critical acclaim, with its second series receiving 11 nominations at the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards (on behalf of U.S. co-production partner

Amazon Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service pri ...

) and winning in six categories—including Outstanding Comedy Series. The following year, ''

'' received four nominations at the 2020 Primetime Emmy Awards (on behalf of U.S. co-production partner

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...

). In 2019, BBC Three premiered ''

RuPaul's Drag Race UK ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' is a British reality competition television series based on the American television series of the same name. The television series, a collaboration between the BBC and World of Wonder, premiered on 3 October 2019. T ...

'', an adaptation of the American reality drag competition series ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

''. In 2020, it was announced that BBC Three had acquired the UK broadcast rights to ''

Canada's Drag Race ''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to th ...

''.Kelly Townsend
"Canada’s Drag Race sashays away to the U.K."
'' Playback'', 15 June 2020.

References

External links

* {{Portal bar, BBC, Television, United Kingdom 2016 establishments in the United Kingdom 2022 disestablishments in the United Kingdom BBC New Media Internet television channels Internet properties established in 2016 Internet properties disestablished in 2022