It’s an end of an era, as the BBC’s youth channel, BBC3, is to close and will move onto iPlayer.
Following reports yesterday that the BBC would look to cut either BBC3 or BBC4, Broadcast magazine reports that their sources say the youth channel – aimed towards people aged 16-24 – will be made online-only in order to help save £100m.
This was definitely coming, as the BBC has been looking to make the budget cuts as part of a long term plan: ‘We are in the final stages of a budget process to find an extra £100m of savings,’ Lord Hall, big dog at the BBC, told the Oxford Media Convention last week: ‘I will announce the outcome of those decisions in the next month.’
The channel, which has become famed for out-there programmes such as Snog, Marry, Avoid, Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents, Don’t Tell The Bride, also pushed the envelope with investigative reporting, most recently with Billie JD Porter’s Secrets Of South America series.
It also provided the launchpad for many popular British comedy series, such as Gavin and Stacey and Little Britain and celebrities are rallying against the closure of the channel. Jack Whitehall, whose show Bad Education is featured on the channel, tweeted: ‘I really hope reports that the BBC may kill BBC3 are just rumours. Their support of new comedy in particular is vital.’
Sharon Horgan, who co-wrote and starred in Pulling, a BBC3 gem, tweeted ‘what the flipping fuck?’ when the news was announced.
And Nick Grimshaw, who presents panel show *Sweat The Small Stuff * chimed in: '#saveBBC3! Silly, funny, smart, young and essential......but enough me. Seriously though #saveBBC3'
However, let’s try not to panic. First of all, the BBC will only make its announcement later this month, and who knows how many people will e-petition against BBC3's closure. Secondly, if BBC3 is to move online-only, is that really such a bad thing? Young people use the internet much more than older people, the value of watching live TV in tandem with the rest of the country isn’t considered so important these days, and look at the success of Netflix! Plus, all the same shows could remain on the iPlayer version of the channel– well, as far as we know.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.