BBC Four to become archive channel (p15)

Exactly the same as they do with the BBC3 programmes after the news then, just an unusually early slot for a "BBC3" show. IIRC the DOG though only appears on either SD or HD, not on both.

It's only on HD, yeah

Nothing new, they've been using Threetime for over a year now.

NEW: Director General of the BBC, Tony Hall, as spoken about the possibility of #BBCThree returning as a TV channel.

Speaking on #Marr: “I think we’ve learnt... that if you’ve got your linear channels working alongside an on-demand service, that works really powerfully..." pic.twitter.com/le9GHCinuf

— TV Zone (@tvukzone) May 24, 2020

Tony Hall has recently went on Marr to discuss the future of the BBC, and judging from the language of his thoughts, it does seem heavily likely that BBC Three will return. It's just a matter of when and how. He did mention how older viewers are already catered for, but he never said anything about BBC Four's future.

My money’s on autumn for when bbc three returns

Remember that Ofcom has to respond to the BBC's Annual Plan, so we'll see if there will be any consultations triggered before any change can occur.

I wonder whether BBC Four could change to starting at 9pm, which better suits its genres, leaving space for BBC Three to have the 7pm start?

That would make some sense - though the issue BBC Three had when it was a linear channel previously was that it commissioned comparatively little pre-watershed friendly content, which made the 1900-2100 bit of the schedule quite tricky.

Most of the recent BBC Three 'hits' have been post-watershed shows, and if they are on a reduced budget still, commissioning stuff that's less 'Three' to fill a schedule may not be sensible?

In comparison, BBC Four has far more pre-watershed content - so it may make sense for BBC Three to run in the CBBC capacity 2100-onwards, and BBC Four to stay sharing with CBeebies and start at 1900?

Is there any reason why a linear BBC Three has to be broadcast in a conventional way? The connected TV streams on Freeview would probably do the job, capacity on other platforms is less of an issue.

As a totally non-reactive channel with pre recorded continuity it could probably wouldn't need a dedicated payout suite and team.

I'd imagine it would be that not everyone has the ability to connect their TV (or external freeview box) to the internet, and even if they can their broadband speed may not be sufficient. I believe the BBC aim for platform neutrality with the availability of their channels, which is in part due to being funded by the licence fee.


Whilst I think most could understand if a pop-up channel (e.g. BBC Glastonbury) was only available via connected TV, there would be a lot of complaints if a permanent channel was only accessible on Freeview if you had a reasonable internet speed. As a side-note could catch-up services such as iPlayer and Sounds be theoretically made available on Freeview via connected TV?

For most channels, absolutely. For a channel that has only existed on iPlayer for the last 4 years, are those issues really barriers?

Yes - I think they are. One of the barriers to BBC Three has that it's effectively been behind an IP paywall on top of the licence fee. Not everyone has unlimited data or connected TVs. A chunk of the audience they've lost may well have mobile phones and a basic telly, but no broadband or OTT option.

As for it being unreactive - I think there will be an expectation that it can react to a lesser or greater extent as much as BBC Four - particularly during major obit situations (you can imagine the headlines otherwise...).

I also would expect BBC Three to become a home for Glastonbury output again were it to reappear as a linear channel - I wouldn't expect it to be a jukebox.