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BBC Three Rebrand

(December 2007)

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BB
BBC LDN
p_c_u_k posted:
This sounds like absolute ****e, quite frankly. Some middle-aged businessman's idea of what 'the kids' are after.

BBC3 was doing a perfectly good job as it was, but because of some criticism from the opinion-formers and those within the BBC who think young people are some sub-human species that only talk in textspeak and only watch YouTube because it's grainy quality (as opposed to because they can genuinely pick what they want to see), it looks like it's going to become lowest-common denominator crap.

I hope to be proved wrong, but I doubt it. The best that can happen out of this revamp is that it is superficially the same channel - the worst, that it becomes some dumbed down tweenies version of BBC3. Either way, it ain't gonna improve.

And it's about time the BBC recognised some of the successes of BBC3. Little Britain and Torchwood came from the channel, The Mighty Boosh would never have worked on a mainstream BBC channel without some sort of introduction, Family Guy has a consistent running time there without being shunted to post-snooker 2am showings. And it's also managed to be a testing ground for various other programmes, some of which were successful, some others were (thankfully) prevented from appearing on terrestrial television because of it.

But hey, instant results are all we want nowadays, aren't they... Rolling Eyes

Rant over.


Erm... BBC Three really wasn't "doing a perfectly good job as it was" - I actually can't think of a more stale, stuck-in-the-mud channel than BBC Three.

While there have been great successes such as Torchwood and The Mighty Boosh, the typical evening on Three involves at least two repeated-ad-nauseam episodes of Two Pints, some terribly dull documentary with a provocative or attention-seeking name ("F*ck Off, I'm A Hairy Woman", "Sex With Mum & Dad" etc), another documentary without an interesting name and the EastEnders repeat.

Gems like Torchwood and The Mighty Boosh are rare in terms of first broadcasts, and even these are usually repeated to buggery. It's certainly been nice to see Family Guy added in a regular slot, but with two episodes a night, they're ensuring that everyone gets bored of it as quickly as possible.

Let us also not forget that BBC Three hasn't had a new look since it launched almost exactly five years ago.

Almost everything about the channel is boring and lacklustre - a major revamp is desperately needed. I've liked what I've seen so far; although it's not all to my personal tastes, I am very pleased to see BBC Three at least attempting to change, and indeed trying something different with viewer-submitted in-vision continuity.

Why on earth must it be assumed that engaging viewers by asking for their contributions to the continuity will result in the channel becoming "some dumbed down tweenies version" of itself? What an ignorant and illogical opinion.

"Dumbing down" is driven by content, not by presentation, and it will be the choices made regarding the channel's content, not the use of viewers' videos for continuity, that will determine its long-term success.

As pointed out above, I think there is a great deal of room for improvement as far as content goes - one should rightly expect more of the BBC than "Can Fat Teens Hunt?" - and it will be interesting to see if this revamp incorporates substantive changes to the content. I, for one, very much hope so.

But don't for a moment allow your ignorance to get the better of you in thinking that using Lily Allen and inviting viewers to contribute to the feel of the channel automatically means that they are "dumbing down".

Finally, I'm not quite sure where you get the impression that the BBC in some way fails to acknowledge the successes of BBC Three - they have reaffirmed their commitment to the channel repeatedly in recent months, despite calls to bin it in favour of saving jobs, and every time I hear a BBC figure commenting on the channel, it's to heap praise on it.

Could you perhaps offer some insight as to why you think the BBC should "recognise some of the successes" of BBC Three? As far as that assertion is concerned - and indeed your whole post - it appears to me that you have turned around, bent over, pointed your buttocks in the Forum's direction, and started talking out of your chocolate starfish.
RW
Robert Williams Founding member
BBC LDN posted:
Almost everything about the channel is boring and lacklustre

This might have a lot to do with the stringent conditions that were laid down when the DCMS approved the channel. They turned down the original plans, which were more focused around entertainment, and the BBC had to rework the plans to make it more "distinctive" - and one of the things they did to achieve that was to increase the amount of factual programming.

I think that's why BBC Three has turned out to be rather more boring than it could have been, and the demise of Liquid News and its spin-offs didn't help. The one thing I miss about BBC Choice is that its original commissions were often quirky and unusual, but that wasn't carried across to the blander BBC Three.
DB
dbl
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/6312/cap00002lf8.png

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/9490/cap00003bd0.png

Video: http://www.watelevision.com/site/upfiles/BBC3_IVC_Promo.avi
Be a Presenter promo...
RD
rdobbie
p_c_u_k posted:
And it's about time the BBC recognised some of the successes of BBC3. Little Britain and Torchwood came from the channel


I hazard a guess that Little Britain and Torchwood would have been made anyway, with or without BBC3. Likewise if BBC3 had been around 10 years earlier it would have been home to the likes of The Fast Show.

The BBC like to pretend that shows like Little Britain started out life as "alternative" comedies with cult followings on BBC3 before gaining mainstream popularity, but the truth is that the BBC knew those shows were going to have mainstream popularity from the moment they were commissioned, and they put them on BBC3 just to justify the channel's existence.

Hence I don't think those shows owe anything to BBC3. However I agree with your later points about The Mighty Boosh and Family Guy.
BB
BBC LDN
Robert Williams posted:
BBC LDN posted:
Almost everything about the channel is boring and lacklustre

This might have a lot to do with the stringent conditions that were laid down when the DCMS approved the channel. They turned down the original plans, which were more focused around entertainment, and the BBC had to rework the plans to make it more "distinctive" - and one of the things they did to achieve that was to increase the amount of factual programming.

I think that's why BBC Three has turned out to be rather more boring than it could have been, and the demise of Liquid News and its spin-offs didn't help. The one thing I miss about BBC Choice is that its original commissions were often quirky and unusual, but that wasn't carried across to the blander BBC Three.


You're quite right in that - the original BBC Three proposal sounded like a much more exciting and entertaining channel than the one we have ended up with. However, while we can all concede that they have their hands tied to some extent, I don't think anyone could reasonably suggest that the BBC has done its 'best' with the current iteration of Three. I understand that it's difficult when you have so many commitments to current affairs, factual etc - subjects that typically alienate the target demographic - but with the exception of the few 'gems' on the channel, such as those mentioned in my previous post, it seems to me that there hasn't been a great deal of innovation or real development on the channel since its launch.

There have been various 'seasons' of programming, and a couple of interesting cross-platform features, but by and large, it's just been another channel with some pretty boring programmes.

I think that Three has also suffered through its lack of 'appointment to view' programming - no-one knows what's on, or when; the only real constant in the schedules over the years has been EastEnders (as well as Liquid News and the 7 bulletin, until their respective demises).

There's a hell of a lot of room for improvement with the channel overhaul; I just hope that they have the balls to do something really substantial to give the channel a proper refresh - one that might actually encourage viewers to stick around.
GR
gregmc
There's a group over on facebook 'BBC Three was the future of news' and the title says it all. Bring back The News Show/7 O Clock News in some format, maybe rebranded to match Radio 1's Newsbeat output?

Bring back some of the originality that BBC Choice/Three had and the channel will be back on track!
NI
Nini
Bring back The RDA!

I'd like to see Liquid News back on our screens once more but the fun fell out of that once Chris Price died. What I'd like to see is some more of the innovative, cultist stuff that made BBC Choice watchable and whilst not exactly "appointment to view", you knew that you'd be able to switch over and find something interesting which isn't something I can say about BBC Three right now.
MA
Manxy
gregmc posted:
There's a group over on facebook 'BBC Three was the future of news' and the title says it all. Bring back The News Show/7 O Clock News in some format, maybe rebranded to match Radio 1's Newsbeat output?

Bring back some of the originality that BBC Choice/Three had and the channel will be back on track!

I remember reading somewhere that Newsbeat would get a programme on BBC Three, but I can't remember where.
BE
benjy
Well...not surprisingly, nothing's happened tonight! Though it's a bit strange that the original Upstaged promo said 21.01.08, but now it just says "coming soon". Did something not go to plan?
PC
Paul Clark
benjy posted:
it's a bit strange that the original Upstaged promo said 21.01.08, but now it just says "coming soon".

It is very odd, but very true...This was from a recording made three days ago...

http://www.duke1401.myby.co.uk/BBCTHREE-TRAILEND-UPSTAGED-V1-08.jpg
PA
paul_hadley
I don't think this has been on BBC Three yet - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1141597/ - looks promising.
G4
G4
I say just bring back BBC Choice - the Beeb has a lot of money to burn, so I don't see why Choice and Three couldn't run concurrently.

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