BBC confirms return of BBC Three as broadcast channel

The BBC has confirmed the return of BBC Three to TV screens. The move is part of the corporation’s drive to deliver more value to audiences.

BBC Three has been a real hit machine for the BBC, delivering some of our biggest performing shows, from ‘Killing Eve’ to ‘Fleabag’ and ‘Normal People’. Using both a broadcast channel and BBC iPlayer in tandem, will help to grow BBC’s offer and deliver more value to younger audiences.

While the BBC does well with large parts of the younger audience – on average, young adults in the UK spend more media time per week (seven and a half hours) with BBC’s services than any other brand; its research identified a significant group of younger viewers who maintain a strong linear TV habit but are currently light users of the BBC. We want to change that.

Charlotte Moore, Chief Content Officer says, “BBC Three is a BBC success story, backing creativity, new talent and brave ideas has resulted in hit after hit, from Fleabag and Man Like Mobeen, Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK and Jesy Nelson’s Odd One Out, to Normal People and This Country.

“The BBC needs to back success and make sure its programmes reach as many young people as possible wherever they live in the UK. So regardless of the debates about the past, we want to give BBC Three its own broadcast channel again. It has exciting, groundbreaking content that deserves the widest possible audience and using BBC iPlayer alongside a broadcast channel will deliver the most value.”

The BBC proposes to launch BBC Three in January 2022 and adapt CBBC’s operating hours to make the most value out of the increased content the BBC commissions. Ofcom has charged the BBC with doing more to reach young people. The channel will be targeted at audiences aged 16-34. The new channel will broadcast from 19:00 to 04:00 each day, the same as the hours of the channel when it closed in 2016.