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BBC Trust Approves BBC Three Online Move

BBC News
BBC Three online move approved by BBC Trust

Plans to close BBC Three and move it online in January 2016 have been approved by the BBC Trust.

The trust set several conditions, including a commitment from BBC One and Two to broadcast more BBC Three programmes aimed at 16-34 year olds.

It rejected proposals for a new BBC One+1 channel, which it said would be at the expense of commercial rivals.

The trust also agreed to CBBC's running time being extended by two hours, running until 21:00.

This follows a decline in viewers on CBBC in the last four years.

The trust said it was clear "the long-term future of broadcasting is online" and that younger viewers - especially those under 25 - were already more likely to be watching TV that way.

However it acknowledged that not all young people have access to good enough broadband connections to be able to watch entire programmes online, and that for many 16-34 year olds broadcast television was still important.

It has approved proposals to revamp the iPlayer, evolving from what is primarily a catch-up service to one offering online-first content.

BBC Three's reality show Don't Tell The Bride has recently been shown on BBC One for the first time.

It said the new-look BBC Three would be "more distinctive" than the current broadcast channel, which has seen audiences drop.

BBC Three will spend 80% of its new Β£30m budget on documentaries such as Life and Death Row and long-form comedy shows like Bad Education and Cuckoo, instead of lighter formats such as Snog, Marry, Avoid.

The other 20% of the budget will be spent on short-form content that will be housed online.

Don't Tell the Bride has already been moved to BBC One and the channel has lost its most popular programmes Family Guy and American Dad to ITV2.

The trust said the online move would initially lose the BBC viewers - a decline of 3% in 16-34 year olds - as while 90% of this age group have home broadband access, this varies in quality.

Protests

BBC Three is currently watched by 11.2 million people every week and reaches 25% of 16-24 year olds. However it is also currently the only BBC channel watched by 925,000 people in that age group - 80% of which are expected to be lost to the BBC with the closure.

BBC Trust chairman Rona Fairhead said: "We know young audiences are already moving towards the online future, but we do recognise that in the short term some of them will feel the immediate impact of the BBC Three proposals.

"We are therefore asking the BBC for commitments to ensure it uses the full range of its television services to better serve young people and others who make up BBC Three's audience.

"Following protests from many of the channel's stars and some viewers, Ms Fairhead acknowledged that the BBC Three audience was "passionate" about its programmes.

But she said the decision was "finely balanced as a timing issue and a budget issue" and had taken "cost pressures into account".

"The licence fee was frozen in 2010 and that cost pressure is starting to bite," she added.The trust's report said BBC Three was currently primarily a "flicking channel", which viewers stumbled upon by accident.

As well as airing BBC Three programmes on BBC One and Two, the trust has also asked the executive to ensure that there is more space for "risk-taking" formats and nurturing new channel on traditional broadcast channels.

It has also asked that the move is a "gradual and well-managed transition", to ensure there is awareness of the change and accessibility, with broadcast promotion.

The trust has asked the BBC Executive to report back on its three conditions by 28 July - so that final decisions will be taken and published in the autumn.The yearly savings of Β£30m a year are expected to be ploughed into original BBC Drama, but the trust said it would "encourage" commissioners to focus on drama that would appeal to a younger audience.

Repeats of programmes

Extending CBBC's broadcasting hours, the trust's report found that TV reach peaks for 6-12 year olds between the hours of 19:00 and 21:00 when CBBC currently closes.

It would fill this gap - made available by the closure of BBC Three - with repeats of programmes like Wolfblood and The Dumping Ground, rather than new programmes.

The BBC Three budget for 2017/18 is expected to be Β£30m, half of its current budget.The Trust published its provisional conclusions after carrying out a Public Value Assessment and considering Ofcom's Market Impact Assessment (MIA).

A BBC spokesperson said: "We welcome the Trust's provisional conclusion, which is the next step in delivering our vision for a new BBC Three.

"With a frozen licence fee and the BBC's income cut by 26% we have had to make some very difficult choices, however our plans will allow us to innovate with new ideas and new forms of content for younger audiences.

"We'll now consider the areas the trust have asked us to address and respond in due course."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-33328907


I thought that this might be of particular interest to TSR users as the BBC Trust asked us for the TSR popular opinion of BBC Three and the plans.

What do you think? Is your internet good enough for an online channel? Will you switch to other channels, such as E4?
i barely watch live tv but now bbc threes going might just stop watching live tv altogether. BBC three is their only young orientated channel so what have they go on tv for us to want to pay our licenses anymore really.
The thing with online is that slowly all this content is being dispersed over so many different services and avenues.

When I get home and just want to see what's on and watch something, I don't want to load up each site/app for every broadcaster just to see what they got going on.

I still think BBC Three is very important and shouldn't have been axed.

Vivas already gone too, so what's left for teens/early adults on freeview after this, 4music and e4?
What will happen to Family Guy as they currently dont show it online if you watch it from there?
I'm not surprised its being taken off the air. It's lost Russell Howard to BBC Two and its lost Family Guy to iTV. BBC Three is in an awkward spot where it currently doesn't have the content and the viewership to justify the expense of keeping it as a live channel but then from the other standpoint, taking them off the air would permanently damage its viewer exposure in the marketplace which may harm the creation of new shows by younger creators.
No more broadcastings of Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents? I'm heartbroken.

Its output is largely the crap that is not good enough for BBC1/2, so I'm not sure it is a major loss.
Original post by A level sufferer
What will happen to Family Guy as they currently dont show it online if you watch it from there?


They've lost the syndication rights in the UK to ITV so they'll no longer be airing it
Original post by A level sufferer
What will happen to Family Guy as they currently dont show it online if you watch it from there?

ITV 2 are going to show it I think
Original post by marco14196
They've lost the syndication rights in the UK to ITV so they'll no longer be airing it


Does the same apply for American Dad?
RIP BBC three. You were the entertainment for those really drunk nights back in :emo:
I have to admit that I find it a lot less relevant nowadays as I steam into my 20s than when I was 14/15 and needed something to watch in the evening.

That said, it provided some good content here and there - not consistently by any means.

Originally I was opposed to the idea, but I only watch what I feel like nowadays on iPlayer/Chromecast. The only TV show I watch right now is The Syndicate and that's on BBC One. :yy:
One down, three more to go.
Yet BBC 4 survives. Weird - especially when you consider BBC 2 and 4 cater to much the same demographic and could easily be merged.

From the beginning I said this was a bad decision from the BBC, and my view hasn't changed. They're only doing themselves a huge disservice by assuming most BBC 3 viewers will be happy to watch everything they're used to seeing on TV online instead. Shows like Don't Tell the Bride, which I actually like, don't suit BBC 1, so I don't think it's an all that great idea to try and spread shows across the other channels.

The fact they've sold away their rights to Family Guy and American Dad will also do them no favours.

Original post by Quantex
No more broadcastings of Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents? I'm heartbroken.

Its output is largely the crap that is not good enough for BBC1/2, so I'm not sure it is a major loss.


I don't agree with that. BBC 3's Life on Death Row documentary series was excellent and could easily have earned a spot on BBC 1 or 2. Even if its output is 'largely crap', so what if there's a demand for it? This is simply a case of the BBC assuming young people will be happy to go online to watch certain programmes whereas the BBC 2 and 4 demographics are far less likely to, given the middle-aged and older generations tend to have less interest in technology and are far less motivated to use it. Not to mention many of the BBC 3 viewers are young and probably don't pay for TV licenses, so the BBC deduce that their income will be hit less by axing BBC 3 as opposed to 2 or 4. They're probably right, but it's still a shame to make young people suffer when the more obvious solution, I would say, is to merge BBC 2 and 4.
nooo :frown:
Original post by Reluire
Yet BBC 4 survives. Weird - especially when you consider BBC 2 and 4 cater to much the same demographic and could easily be merged.



BBC2 once was the home of serious programming but over the years it has become the overspill channel for content needing a lot of broadcast hours with lifestyle programming and fly on the wall filling the gaps.

If you look at today's tele, it is wall to wall Wimbledon plus a flower show. There is Newsnight but only one documentary on Napoleon after Newsnight that could be said to overlap with BBC 4.
I have no idea why BBC 4 was not merged with BBC instead.... IIRC it had a much lower viewer than BBC 3.

Also while the BBC's logic of young people using online sources is correct they don't use the BBC services. Most young people use things like netflix or illegal online streaming, the BBC iplayer is not particularly popular with the age group.

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