BBC Three may return ‘to attract younger audiences’
BBC THREE could return as a linear channel as part of the broadcaster’s efforts to focus on younger audiences, with BBC Four airing more repeats.
Its annual plan also said flagship channel BBC One will invest in “more British programmes targeted at younger audiences”.
The corporation has denied it plans to axe BBC Four but suggested the high-brow channel could air less original content.
“BBC Four will increase focus on bringing together collections of the most distinctive content from the BBC’s rich archive,” it said. “Arts will continue to be a centrepiece of Four.”
BBC Four intends to broadcast at least 60 hours of factual originated programmes, a target it has previously surpassed.
The BBC faces an estimated £125m of lost income this year due to the coronavirus crisis.
It has been hit by the decision to delay introducing the over-75s licence fee reform and damage to commercial operations due to the fall in the advertising market and halting of productions, it says.
The end of the licence fee has been mooted by the Government, with a threat to turn the BBC into a subscription service.
BBC bosses will be hoping that its reach during the pandemic and efforts made to provide educational programming for school children will have turned the tide in the Government.
BBC director general Lord Hall and chairman Sir David Clementi said that they had been “touched and humbled by the way people have put their trust in the BBC in huge numbers”.
They said: “As this value has become more self-evident in the last few weeks, it is more important than ever to have a proper conversation with the British public about the BBC’s next 100 years as it approaches its centenary.
“The British public own the BBC, they use it more than any other provider, and they pay for it. It is they who should have the primary voice in the debate about its future.”
The proposal to bring back BBC Three as a linear TV channel comes four years after it went digital-only.
Since then, the digital channel has become known for hits such as Fleabag, Killing Eve, This Country and Normal People.