BBC3 Moves Online: The Tip of the Iceberg

Perhaps the most unexpected news of this week came from the BBC. The corporation announced today that they are going to remove their youth aimed channel BBC3 from the TV schedules in Autumn 2015 and it will move online.

The channel has been staple of British TV for the last 11 years and has produced classic shows such as Little Britain, Gavin & Stacey and Being Human. While many TV critics label the channel as ‘crass’ and 'lowbrow,’ it has nevertheless remained popular amongst the youth market.

It’s fair to say that the announcement has caused more than a stir. Twitter is currently looting with hashtag protests to #SAVEBBC3 and online campaigns raking in thousands of signatures and growing. Whether these protests will reach the ears of executives is yet to be seen, but sadly this a trend that began in recent years, and will continue to grow. 

The rise in on-demand sites such as Netflix and Amazon Prime-time has changed our viewing patterns. No longer do we have an agonising one week wait to see if our favourite characters survive whatever troubles they find themselves. We now live in a world of instant access. I’ll confess, I have yet to be drawn to these sites. Though the shows they produce such as House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and the revival of one of my favourite sitcoms Arrested Development, have sent my interest shivers raging, it is not a trend I have yet succumbed to.

But like every other trend, we will all eventually give in, not necessarily because we want to, but because we will have no choice. This is, whether we like it or not, the future. 

Then again, how many well-known entertainment formats have changed or should I say ‘digitalised’ in recent years. No longer do we take ex number of CD’s into our car; we can now plays thousands of songs on a miniature device. No longer do we read an intriguing novel on a heavy, hand filling book; we now read from a screen and simply swipe to the next page.

And sadly TV is going down the same route. Within ten years we may not even have a television in our living rooms. We will view our favourite shows whenever or wherever we like, a trend that is already popular.

Nevertheless, while the format is evolving, the purpose of episodic television will never change. The Director General Tony Hall has promised to continue to show the same shows and has called out to new talent and screenwriters to continue to produce quality TV. 

My only objection to all these changes would be in case aspiring talent were told to have a career rethink. But that is, thankfully, not the case. Whether on TV or online, we will still have new and exciting shows on the scale of quality and popularity as Sherlock and Call the Midwife to continue our variety of viewing and entertainment. 

So let us rejoice in new and exciting stories, and the repeats of Family Guy.