BBC Three went digital-only earlier in the year – yep, no more Snog, Marry, Avoid on a loop at 7pm each night – and it looks like its core audience isn’t bothering to watch the channel online as much as Beeb bigwigs hoped.
The channel’s viewing figures are down by eight per cent with 16-34 year olds compared to this time last year – probably because we’re busy sitting on the sofa switching between favourites like (delete as applicable)* EastEnders*, TOWIE and Made In Chelsea: South Of France.
To put it into perspective, ITV2’s viewing figures are up by 27 per cent – which was probably mostly people tuning in to drool over Alex Bowen on Love Island, but those are still hard figures.
Of course, BBC Three is available on demand on TV, too, if you’ve got one of those fancy boxes, or you can browse on your laptop in bed… but then wouldn’t you just be using Netflix if you were on your laptop?
It seems that where BBC Three is falling short is the culture of browsing – which we do all day and night whether we’re at the shops or on Facebook – and also do when we mindlessly stick the telly on after a long day at work.
There’s a lot to be said for having a glance through whats on telly and finding something random and amazing like a tacky Channel 5 made-for-TV film (or something steadfast and dependable – think the previously mentioned Snog, Marry, Avoid, or Dinner Date).
And while we may not be properly watching the 50,000,000 re-runs of Family Guy that BBC Three showed when it was an actual TV channel, it was often on in the background (and that amps up viewing figures, too).
Anyway, ITV2 have nicked Family Guy now anyway.
This is a shame because it means that amazing original British comedy like BBC Three’s People Just Do Nothing aren’t getting seen as much as they should – so must try harder, Beeb.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.