Thursday, March 06, 2014

BBC3 To End In 2015

It's been speculated for a while but now it's been confirmed. BBC3 will close as a channel in Autumn 2015 by BBC  Director-General, Tony Hall.


The station's axing, according to the BBC would save them over 50 million, with 30 million being pushed into drama for BBC1.  The freed-up spectrum from the axing of BBC3 will be used for a timeshifted BBC One+1 and an extension of CBBC by one hour a night. Over the last few days, it's been interesting reading comments about this particular decision with some people feeling the decision is a foolish one while others seem unfazed that the content of the channel will become online content through iPlayer from Autumn 2015.


I have to admit that I am mixed about the decision as well. On one hand, this was a station that gave us some big and brilliant shows such as Little Britain, Gavin & Stacey, Torchwood and Being Human to name a few and some of the documentaries that BBC3 have been doing over the last few years have been great to watch. On the other hand, a lot of the more recent comedies (some of which are great) have felt a bit samey and not too adventurous and the more reality themed shows have been worth avoiding at times too and with the amount of repeats as well, it's tricky to wonder if maybe the switch to online isn't such a bad idea. Then again, it was also a popular channel with a younger target audience, which is something I get that hasn't been considered as well with this decision.

Press Release: http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-26464007

No comments: