The switchover process for making BBC Three an online-only channel will begin on 16th February 2016.
The BBC Trust approved the move at the end of November 2015 and imposed a series of conditions to mitigate the loss of the broadcast channel.
A new logo has been commissioned by the BBC to commemorate the channel's demise. Critics have poked fun at the design, comparing it to something dreamt up in an episode of BBC-centric comedy W1A.
BBC Three's Head of Marketing, Nikki Carr, defended the channel's new look: "Some people are resistant to change and we wanted to be bold and create something that looks forward and will be around for years to come".
We have to admire her optimism that BBC Three will be around for "years to come".
She then gave a fascinating insight into the design, explaining that the three vertical bars represent everything the channel stands for.
"The first is 'make me think'... The second is 'make me laugh'... The third, the exclamation mark, is 'give me a voice', which is what we will do for young people," she said.
The current broadcast version of BBC Three will quietly disappear from the airwaves within a month or two.
Once it's vanished from the conventional airwaves, will anyone require a TV licence to enjoy their favourite BBC Three programmes? It's a quandary that we're still trying to get our heads around.
We can't help but think the BBC is manufacturing a news story where none is due. At the moment you can watch BBC Three "live" on the iPlayer; come 16th February 2016 you'll still be able to do that. How exactly is that newsworthy?
Still, it's something to write about!
3 comments:
Just the bbc playing the long game as always.
Move slowly but surely online and ensure they eventually get everyone with a broadband or otherwise connection covered by the fee. They always seek 100% compliance for their lifestyle and sheer waste.
Will a TV licence be required to watch BBC 3 ? A good point.
TV Licensing’s site is contradictory in this respect. On one hand it says:
“You need to be covered by a TV Licence if you watch or record programmes as they're being shown on TV or live on an online TV service”
But then it also says:
“You need to be covered by a licence if you watch TV online at the same time as it's being broadcast on conventional TV …”
So it’s as clear as mud. TV Licensing making up the rules on the fly I guess.
However, in the longer term it’s just another nail in the TV Licence coffin.
I noticed when the BBC was introducing the download service our broadband, which could handle anything else just fine, couldn't play any BBC programmes normally in i-player, so we had to download. I wonder if they were sabotaging their own online services to get people hooked on the download service, with a mind to covering this by the fee at a later date?
Post a Comment