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BBC3 mulls return from online to broadcast TV

It turned its back on broadcast TV in 2016, but could BBC3 be headed back to the box?

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UK youth channel BBC3 which was famously shifted from linear broadcast to online in 2016 is now considering a return.

The move, announced in 2014, sparked a vocal campaign to save the channel, but BBC proceeded with the move -which was later hailed a success.

Since then, the BBC has lost 16-34-year-old viewers to Netflix and YouTube, and has been warned by media regulator Ofcom that it may not survive unless it regains its young audience.

BBC3 shows Fleabag and Normal People have since been runaway hits.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We’d be wrong not to back a service that is doing better than anyone could have ever conceived and reaching a wide audience.

“Our research suggests there is a big available audience on linear television, so we will consider the case for restoring BBC3 as a linear channel as well as an online destination, though no decisions have been taken and this will need to take into account how viewing habits develop during the COVID-19 crisis.”

Source: Deadline

One Response

  1. “Since then the BBC has lost 16-34-year-old viewers to Netflix and YouTube.”

    Trouble is they then have to have content on the BBC that the Age groups move to as they grow up and the Kids and Youth stuff becomes for another generation to watch, while not upsetting the current BBC viewers too much. The ABC here is the same, from ABC Kids to ABC Me to maybe Comedy and then they want them to move to ABC however the content needs to be there in a broader sense, which is where the Steaming ones win out now because it is there all the time.

    Yes it is a good strategy getting kids to think of the BBC/ABC as their TV Brand because they grow-up with it, however to keep them from moving on has to be a long term plan and one that keeps up with trends … not so easy

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