BBC Three to be axed and move online only.

evilivor

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-26447089

BBC Three is to be axed from television schedules and move online, as part of the BBC's cost-cutting plans.

It means shows such as Don't Tell The Bride and Pramface will only be available through the iPlayer, rather than Freeview, satellite or cable.

The BBC will make an official announcement on Thursday, media correspondent David Sillito said.

Before moving BBC Three online, however, the director general must get approval from the BBC Trust, the corporation's governing body, which represents the interests of licence fee payers.

Skid X

If it means BBC Four is saved I'm happy enough.

squonk

I'd do the opposite. Move BBC4 online and keep 3 on sattelite. 3 is more entertaining and I'd happilly watch the excellent 4 music shows online.

r3nu4l

Skid X wrote: »

If it means BBC Four is saved I'm happy enough.

Amen to that. BBC 4 is excellent and I'm happy to see that saved. Then again I'm biased, my preference is for cultural programming in the arts and sciences rather than the dross served up by BBC3.

mike65

I don;t think this actually stands a chance of passing the trust vote - if there is a vote.

The joke as I pointed out on the broadcasting forum is that BBC1 spend £11m per season for the rights to the Voice, plus a few million to actually make the programme.

brian_t

I think that BBC4 has more programming best suited to watching in HD on television.

Not everyone has a good internet connection.

Mr Pseudonym

I love BBC4, but there's no doubt that it is not as impressive as it was five years ago.

Regarding the BBC 3 decision: I imagine that, as they are aiming to cut £100m from BBC budget, the cleanest thing to do is to axe the ~£90m BBC3, rather than the ~£50m BBC4, especially considering there is little difference in their audience share. Having said that, though, BBC4 could have been incorporated into BBC2, whereas the moving online of the BBC3 "brand" is likely to much diminish it because, presumably, the bulk of their budget was spent on programming rather than transmission, etc.

irishfeen

Thank Christ BBC4 has been saved - best channel in UK/Ireland bar none, some great stuff on there.

mike65

This will no doubt be discussed on the Media Show which starts/ed at 4.30

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/player/bbc_radio_four?rpSt=bbc+radio+4&rpSrp=3.0

r3nu4l

Mr Pseudonym wrote: »

I love BBC4, but there's no doubt that it is not as impressive as it was five years ago.

Regarding the BBC 3 decision: I imagine that, as they are aiming to cut £100m from BBC budget, the cleanest thing to do is to axe the ~£90m BBC3, rather than the ~£50m BBC4, especially considering there is little difference in their audience share. Having said that, though, BBC4 could have been incorporated into BBC2, whereas the moving online of the BBC3 "brand" is likely to much diminish it because, presumably, the bulk of their budget was spent on programming rather than transmission, etc.

It's also likely that BBC 4 was saved because it is more in line with the remit of the BBC for education and cultural preservation. BBC3 provides little other than light entertainment and pretty rubbish lowest common denominator entertainment at that (coming from someone who loves Family Guy and American Dad ). The best of their shows could perhaps be incorporated into BBC1 but not much of it at that!

Just looking at the schedules for tonight brings it into perspective:

BBC3
Total Wipeout
Don't Tell the Bride
Festivals, Sex and Suspicious Parents
Ja'mie: Private School Girl
Bad Education
Family Guy
Family Guy
American Dad!
Festivals, Sex and Suspicious Parents
Ja'mie: Private School Girl
Pramface
Hair
Great Movie Mistakes
V: Revenge of the Fifth,
Pramface




BBC 4
World News Today
Great British Railway Journeys
Bombay Railway
Pressures
Dancing in the Blitz: How World War 2 Made British Ballet
Great Barrier Reef
Nature's Miracle
Parks and Recreation
Parks and Recreation
Lost Kingdoms of South America
Bombay Railway
Pressures
The Golden Age of Canals
Dancing in the Blitz: How World War 2 Made British Ballet

Far easier for BBC to justify cutting BBC3 based on remit alone, rather than have to justify why 'Don't tell the Bride' is more important than 'Great British Railway Journeys'.

eireannBEAR

As long as the likes of E4 takes up American Dad and Family guy im fine with this,This is a massive loss for freesat. I enjoy BBC4 but for me it only airs one show per week worth watching.

BBC4 Should be aired from 7 to 11 with BBC3 on afterwards on the same EPG.

phasers

that's a shame, BBC Three has had some great shows over the years like the Mighty Boosh and bad education. There's been a lot of dross but those are gems that I don't think any other BBC channel would commission.

I'll miss my nightly dose of Family Guy and American Dad too.

FloatingVoter

BBC4 was the channel that the original BBC charter would recognise. Programming that might leave you a little smarter an hour after watching without being bored or assaulted by the teacher in the meantime.
Dumping it would be surrender to bad US reruns (that can be downloaded easily if you really care) and reality TV that ...eh...didn't make the cutting edge of X Factor. Which describes BBC3. Good choice.

fryup

bbc3 = sky 1

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

mike65

BBC3 = E4/ITV2 plus a bit of SKY ONE.

eireannBEAR

mike65 wrote: »

BBC3 = E4/ITV2 plus a bit of SKY ONE.

I will agree with that, for me even though its only o from 7 in the evening its by far and away the best entertainment network.

mikeym

Why dont the BBC put ads on BBC3 and 4 between programs.

Will Irish viewers be able to watch BBC3 online?

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

GarIT

I disagree with a lot of the posts here, just because you don't have an interest in something and because it is not informative or educational does not mean something is not good television.

mikeym wrote: »

Will Irish viewers be able to watch BBC3 online?

Able: Technically yes by making it appear that you live in the UK. Allowed: No.

brian_t wrote: »

Not everyone has a good internet connection.

BBC's only concern is the UK who have much less people without a good internet connection.

Wendolene

fryup wrote: »

bbc3 = sky 1

That's harsh on BBC3.

Hootanany

Will BBC4 become BBC3 then?

Sound of Silence

mikeym wrote: »

Why dont the BBC put ads on BBC3 and 4 between programs.

Will Irish viewers be able to watch BBC3 online?

There are no ads because the BBC is funded entirely by TV license fees.

You can always use a proxy like "Hola! Better Internet" to get access to BBC shows on the web if you're not living in the UK.

Mr Pseudonym

Hootanany wrote: »

Will BBC4 become BBC3 then?

The BBC3 "brand" is being retained. As drama has been pretty much stripped from BBC4, it could be renamed something like BBC Factual.

Wendolene

Hootanany wrote: »

Will BBC4 become BBC3 then?

If you mean in terms of naming convention, then no - BBC3 is to become an online-only channel. If you mean in terms of content, then <shudder> I hope not.

seligehgit

Really hope both BBC 3 and BBC 4 are retained,two excellent channels catering to diverse tastes.

flazio

What will happen to CBBC I wonder? Will it be allowed to continue broadcasting past 7pm?

Mr Pseudonym

Here's a question: if you were BBC Four controller, and you had unlimited resources, what types of programming would you commission?!

mike65

flazio wrote: »

What will happen to CBBC I wonder? Will it be allowed to continue broadcasting past 7pm?

It'll be BBC1+1 from 7 pm almost certainly.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

mike65

Mr Pseudonym wrote: »

Here's a question: if you were BBC Four controller, and you had unlimited resources, what types of programming would you commission?!

20 part series on OO gauge railways, the complete history of Widget production, the story of soundwave synthesis. That sort of thing

TheIrishGrover

Shame. But if it's a choice of BBC3 or 4 to go then it's gotta be BBC3 if only for the fantastic music docs on BBC4 at the weekends.

Wendolene

mike65 wrote: »

20 part series on OO gauge railways, the complete history of Widget production, the story of soundwave synthesis. That sort of thing

Do you work for BBC4, by any chance? If you don't you should

seligehgit

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

Shame. But if it's a choice of BBC3 or 4 to go then it's gotta be BBC3 if only for the fantastic music docs on BBC4 at the weekends.

Totally agreed,Friday nights on BBC4 are a wonderful music fest!
What about the wonderful foreign crime/political dramas on Saturday nights too?Forbrydelsen,Broen,Wallander,Spiral,Salamander and Borgen.

Mr Pseudonym

mike65 wrote: »

20 part series on OO gauge railways, the complete history of Widget production, the story of soundwave synthesis. That sort of thing

I knew you wouldn't let me down, Mike65! Without having really thought about it, I would have: much more Science programming; showings of foreign language and independent films; formal debates; and engagement with academic subjects - i.e. not just popular academics, but stuff that's not afraid to lose the viewer (broadcastings of uni lectures, for instance). As well as that, extended series on particular topics - "Exploring Ulysses", "European colonialism through the ages", etc.

fryup

fryup wrote: »

bbc3 = sky 1

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

but its true

its chewing gum for the eyes, personally speaking i won't miss it

evilivor

Panel discussion on Newsnight now on death of BBC Three.

mike65

Mr Pseudonym wrote: »

I knew you wouldn't let me down, Mike65! Without having really thought about it, I would have: much more Science programming; showings of foreign language and independent films; formal debates; and engagement with academic subjects - i.e. not just popular academics, but stuff that's not afraid to lose the viewer (broadcastings of uni lectures, for instance). As well as that, extended series on particular topics - "Exploring Ulysses", "European colonialism through the ages", etc.

Whoa! Sounds like Open University.

What BBC4 should be doing but really doesn't have the budget for is long form series like Shock of the New, Connections, A History of Ireland and so on of course they could a lot worse than repeat them and others from that golden era of then "new fangled" jet setting colour tv documentary series.

I'd have prof Jim Al-Khalili as the channels own director of science, with Mary Beard as the Arts director and a fella who's name escapes me (in his 60s now writes about fantasy and genre tv/cinema mainly) as popular media director and let them oversee the main strands of BBC4 output.

smurfs5

A lot of posts saying that if it's a choice between BBC Three and BBC Four, then 3 should go. I disagree.

Firstly, there were rumours that BBC Two and Four could merge which would have been plausible.

Secondly, people forget that BBC Three has long been the breeding ground for young, new comedians and original comedies such as Gavin & Stacey and Bad Education, both of which have become huge.

Also, as a 19 year old, BBC Three does serve up some fantastic content for a young audience. There are posts here about BBC Four serving up fantastic arts and cultural programmes and while I'm sure they're fantastic, that's just people's tastes and doesn't explain why BBC4 deserves the continuation of an on-air channel. People may think that some of BBC3's content is dross but it's what appeals to young people and there is some fantastic content on the channel. Channels such as ITV2 are youth skewed but they produce some absolute rubbish revolving around complete z-listers. BBC Three is a refreshing change and there are some fantastic programmes on there as well as uninterrupted coverage of the summer's festivals like Glastonbury, T in the Park, Reading & Leeds, Radio 1's Big Weekend etc.

#SaveBBC3 was trending No.1 worldwide today on Twitter and there is definitely a public demand for the channel. The BBC should be serving all demographics and keeping BBC 3 and merging BBC 2 and BBC4 would achieve this while saving money.

As someone said on Newsnight tonight, it's like a 60 year old man in a golf jumper walking into a nightclub and turning off the music.

KevinEldon

This is wonderful news.Too many ****e Seth MacFarlane imports, too many docs like "My Swollen Piles and Me", too many trendy 18 year olds from cities who anyone not in London or similar would feel any connection with.

Other than Our War and Summer Heights High it was all dire. Happy to see it go.

Whatever will all ''those Russell comedians'' as Stewart Lee calls them,do for work now though?

enda1

The audience of BBC3 is the internet generation so it makes sense that they would be less harmed by moving the channel online. the only thing I don't understand is the economics of it all. They're not talking about cutting programming I don't think, and they have the broadcasting infrastructure, so how much money can be really saved in the transmission technique?

ThisRegard

Where will we watch the Worlds Craziest Fools now, no one can comment on people hurting themselves like Mr T can.

eireannBEAR

Can i just say i did not see this coming,I thought there was more chance of BBC introducing a ''BBC Sport'' channel,Shows how much i know.

mike65

Breaking news:
BBC confirms plans to close BBC3 as a TV channel and replace it with extending CBBC by an hour and providing a BBC1 +1 service. More details soon …

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2014/bbc-three-tv-closure.html

Today the BBC has announced plans, subject to the approval of the BBC Trust, to close BBC Three as a broadcast TV channel in autumn 2015.

The plans would mean –
The BBC saving over £50 million a year
£30 million of that going into drama on BBC One
BBC Three being reinvented as a new and innovative online service
The freed-up spectrum being used to extend CBBC by an hour a night and to provide a BBC1 +1 service

It will be interesting to see if the Trust wave this through or put up objections around the loss of programme diversity.

SpaceTime

They need to concentrate on core activities like moving to Salford and administration.

What would they want to be eating into valuable resources with crazy activities like running a TV channel for?!

Dozen Wicked Words

mike65 wrote: »

....... BBC confirms plans to close BBC3 as a TV channel and replace it with extending CBBC by an hour and providing a BBC1 +1 service............

Extending CBBC by an hour is brilliant news, well my kids will be pleased anyway! Finishing at 7pm is just too early for children these days.

Skid X

From that Press Release

“We will also make sure that every piece of long-form BBC Three content finds a home on one of our linear television channels. We do not want our content for young audiences to be available only to those with a broadband connection – and we don’t want anyone to miss out on the great new programmes we will be producing.

So every long-form programme will be transmitted on either BBC One or BBC Two, with most playing at 10.35pm or a little later

So online BBC Three won't be producing very much output, but whatever it does make will be broadcast on one of the main channels.

phasers

I don't think the BBC will put any real investment into generating quality online content, so the way I see it basically is BBC Three is being shut down and any successful shows they have pre-shutdown will be moved to some post-midnight slot on BBC Two.

spank_inferno

If they hadn't set fire to £100 million plus on a failed IT project, the might not be in such a situation.

mike65

True, not to mention to move to Salford, some crazy talent deals in the "boom" era, the crazy amount paid to show The Voice on BBC1 and so on.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I know BBC 3 churns out a lot of dross and unfortunately that seems to be what most associate with the channel but it has actually produced some really great TV over the years.

Him and Her, Gavin and Stacey, The Fades, The Crash, Being Human, Bad Education, In The Flesh... all top quality shows produced by BBC 3 that would never have got a look in on one of the main BBC channels.

I would have thought what was needed at BBC 3 was a serious rethink in what they're commissioning. They don't seem to know what audience it is they're aiming at. All these "teens get drunk and have sex" shows are aimed at who exactly? The shows I named above cater for a wide age group, from 15/16 years up to late 20's or early 30's, at least. BBC 4 has a pretty well defined target audience and the BBC 1 and 2 are very "traditional" in their output. If you look at the comedy made for 1 and 2...... it's ****e, to put it nicely. BBC 3 takes risks on things and a lot of them ended up making their way to the main channels eventually.

I think it's a mistake on BBC's part. If they could genuinely incorporate the experimental and risk taking nature of BBC 3's quality productions into their other channels I'd say fine, fire away, but I can't see it happening.