BBC Three could RETURN to TV screens four years after going off air to save costs as corporation launches new drive for young viewers
- BBC Three to help increase the broadcasting corporation’s young audience
- Digital platform, which is home to hit shows like Fleabag, taken off air in 2016
- However following strong showing during lockdown channel may return to TV
BBC Three could make a return to television screens four years after it was taken off air and moved online in an effort to increase the broadcasting corporation’s young audience.
The digital platform, which is home to the international hits Fleabag and Killing Eve, will see its budget doubled in an effort to bring it back to the TV screen.
The plans follow the success of shows including Normal People, which helped the corporation reach the crucial target of younger viewers.
The youth-focused channel was taken off air in 2016 in a move that saved the broadcaster a reported £30 million.
However following a strong showing for BBC Three during lockdown, the corporation expects to double the amount it spends on commissions for the channel over the next two years and is ‘considering the case’ for restoring it as a linear TV channel.
The BBC is considering moving BBC Three back to the television screen four years after it was taken off air. (Stock image)
A BBC source said: ‘Clearly no organisation from the smallest shop to the largest multinational won’t be changed by this pandemic.
‘It will have financial implications for the BBC, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make choices. BBC Three has become the home to some of our biggest shows.
‘We need to back that success, so within an environment where we are making difficult cuts, this is one of a limited number of areas, where we will seek to invest.
‘Who wouldn’t want more Fleabags, Killing Eves, This Country or Normal People?’
Normal People, which is an adaptation of Sally Rooney’s acclaimed novel, arrived on iPlayer in April and has so far had 38 million requests to view it, according to the BBC.
Ahead of publishing its annual plan on Wednesday, it is understood the BBC believes it has recaptured a young audience in ‘dramatic fashion’ during lockdown.
Amid cost-cutting measures of about £125 million enforced by the coronavirus pandemic, a source said the corporation will have to trim budgets in some areas to invest in others, and BBC Three ‘would be a key beneficiary of that’.
However, following reports BBC Four was in danger of closing, a source insisted the move is ‘not about playing off’ the two channels, saying the corporation has ‘no plans’ to diminish its arts portfolio.
The source said no final decisions have been taken and options will be considered as viewing habits develop during the Covid-19 crisis.
The youth-focused channel was taken off air in 2016 and helped save he broadcaster a reported £30 million. (Stock image)
The digital platform, which will see its budget doubled, is home to the international hits Fleabag (left) and Killing Eve (right)
The possible move comes just weeks after the corporation agreed on a historic new trade deal which will see shows made by independent TV producers available on iPlayer for a least a year.
The new deal, which was struck between the BBC and the trade association Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (Pact), will allow the broadcasting company to transform the content it provides its viewers and expand on its service.
The announcement came after the media watchdog Ofcom gave the BBC the green light to expand its iPlayer service, and host its content online for longer periods, after initial disputes over the value to the public and competitors.
Previously, independently produced shows would be available for up to 30 days on the streaming service.
However the deal, which came into effect for entirely new commissions this, gives the BBC a guaranteed 12-month window on all content it commissions within its initial payment.