BBC Three to be taken off air in autumn 2015

BBC Three will be taken off air in autumn 2015 as part of new cost-cutting plans.

Director-General Tony Hall confirmed the news today (March 6), adding that he hopes to reinvent the channel as a “new and innovative online service”.

The decision to axe BBC Three will allegedly save the corporation £50 million.

The channel will be replaced by a new BBC One +1 service, as well as an extra hour of CBBC programming, while £30 million of the money saved by the axing will be used to fund new BBC One drama.

BBC Three has produced shows like Little Britain, Gavin and Stacey and Being Human since its launch in 2003.

In an email to BBC Staff, Hall explained the decision: “Since I came back to the BBC I hope I’ve made two things clear.

“First that the BBC is living with a licence fee that for five years will have been flat – it will not have gone up at all. And, at the same time, we are absorbing extra costs that we were asked to take on – for the World Service, S4C and the roll-out of broadband.”

He added: “We should close BBC Three as a broadcast or linear channel and ask Danny [Cohen] and his team to reinvent it as a channel online and on the iPlayer.

“We propose making this change in the autumn of next year. I believe it’s the right thing to do: young audiences – the BBC Three audience – are the most mobile and ready to move to an online world. 25% of viewing by 16-24 year olds is to catch-up or other screens and over the next few years we expect that to reach 40%.

“We recognise that, for now, most of this audience still do their viewing on television, and that is why we plan to show BBC Three’s long-form content on either BBC One or BBC Two.”

What do you think of the decision to axe BBC Three? Let us know in the comments section below.

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