BBC Three channel to return in January 2022

Yep, it went to W.

Would be interesting to trial it anyway, maybe later though, 11pm or something. EE needs all the help it can get.

I wonder what EPG slot on Freeview it will get ? LCN 7 was given to local TV, and 8 is used for C4 in Wales, and Alba in Scotland ?

They do have comedies that are more recent which can be repeated like This Country, Man like Mobeen, People Just Do Nothing etc

Good point. We'll probably see everything else bumped down a number again for them to claim 23 - after all that UKTV went through to get hold of it themselves.


Yes, suspect the archive built up over the last 5 years will form a good chunk of it's schedule.


Also leaves the question about what happens to BBC1 post-10.45pm again as it's BBC3 content which dominated at least a couple of nights a week, and whether BBC2's comedy output will be negatively impacted by it

Even so, they'll get tired quickly.

I'd guess 9 (24 in Scotland) so the numbers stay in order - BBC4 then shifting to 24.

Or if they wanted to have it on the same number throughout the country; BBC Scotland could move to 24 or even replace 'ThatsTV Scotland' on Channel 7.

It was a massive flop and the saddest part is that (imo) this has hurt the channel.

I don't think BBC Three will be as popular when it returns as a television channel as it once was when it was a television channel.

Terrible decision in my view. The limited money they have to capture the young audience will now be spread thinly over a daily 11 hour time slot. People in this thread are already asking what they're going to fill / bulk out the schedule with.

Their rationale for bringing it back is that they have had huge hits online including Fleabag and Killing Eve. Don't they see the irony there?

I actually would have understood it more if they had unintentionally shut BBC Three down at the same point in 2020. (February, before the first UK lockdown)

I'm not saying everybody expected a pandemic, but theoretically, if the Beeb had made that decision four years later, Three would have been a lot more better off than what it is now.

ISTR that this announcement is also linked to a significant budget increase for programmes for this part of the audience, who have been significantly underserved by the BBC compared to ITV (ITV2 is a major draw)

I'm probably in the minority here, but I disagree with the decision, and in fact I think BBC4 should've gone too. I think the BBC should've focused on providing fewer, higher quality programming on the two channels (BBC1 and BBC2) it has had for half a century or so. Less is more.

I do see the potential in viewing new talent on BBC3, but I agree with an earlier post about getting the youth demographic to watch linear TV again seeming to be a backwards step.

Well, indeed. When they announced they'd be showing schools programmes there were people everywhere suggesting they show Words and Pictures and Look and Read, and now this has been announced everyone's talking about Family Guy and Snog Marry Avoid. As you say, the new BBC3 will be about new programmes, especially as the old linear BBC3 is probably ancient history to much of its target audience.