New BBC One ident for Life story

It did, but that was only a temporary measure because BBC THREE hadn't been approved. If they were getting rid of the channel altogether then maybe they'd rename BBC FOUR but BBC THREE will still exist online. And you're right BBC FOUR is a strong brand - it has a lot of diehard viewers who would kick up a massive fuss if it was ever threatened. Unlike BBC THREE.

Though it must be said many have campaigned against the closure of BBC Three.

I personally don't see the BBC Four name remaining for much longer, something tells me the wheels are in motion for a free to view competitor to Sky Arts...though of course I could be wrong.

If we were thinking radical changes, the BBC could get rid of both BBCs Three and Four, put all the decent stuff that Four nicked from BBC Two back on BBC Two and reinvent (and re-purpose) BBC Two in the process. The BBC Three content could live happily online for as long as there is a demand for it (which I think there actually will be).

Many have said, on this forum and elsewhere, that BBC Two has lost its way in recent years (I agree) with popular programmes being poached by BBC One and all the specialist programmes ending up on BBC Four. Audience Appreciation values for a lot of BBC Four programmes are extremely high, so transferring the best to BBC Two, where they may also get a larger audience, can only be a good thing surely?

Awaits backlash...

I would get rid of BBC Two, move Newsnight to BBC news,

I don't think they'll change BBC Four, except for name. BBC Arts is a good name, but they have documentaries as well. However maybe they should stick to arts programmes and become BBC Arts. The documentaries can go to BBC 1 and 2.

For example, the Tutankhamen documentary on Sunday night on BBC 1 I thought would have been on BBC 4, so it looks like the BBC are ready to change BBC Four into something else......

I predict that if it goes online only the BBC Three brand will quietly and slowly disappear in a few years. The content will be very different to what is on the current linear channel now due to the lower budgets and the shortage of talent it'll attract. They'll have to make some pretty enticing content to get people to watchg, and they'll lose a lot of their non-core audience who now stumble across it while channel hopping.


I don't really get this idea that BBC 4 took away BBC 2's content. BBC 4 has its own niche and style and (apart from those BBC 2 programmes it repeats) most of its schedule would never have been on 2 in the first place.

The budget is a lot, most of its programmes would never have been commissioned had it not had the need for cheap programmes for a low budget digital channel. Some 4 shows look totally out of place on 2,that 'Some People With Jokes' programme being a great example. That's not to say that cheap necessarily means bad telly of course


BBC2's big problem isn't the evenings, it's daytimes - the educational programmes became obsolete and BBC1 took the afternoons