It鈥檚 been a few months since we proposed to move 主播大秀 Three online and in that time there鈥檚 been a lot of speculation about what this means for fans of 主播大秀 Three and for the 主播大秀 in general.
We promised to come back to you by the end of the year with our thoughts and with this blog post I hope to allay some of the fears, explain our reasoning, give you an idea what new 主播大秀 Three could be and hopefully get you as excited as we are.
First off, 主播大秀 Three would not close. I repeat, 主播大秀 Three would not close. 主播大秀 Three would still make ground breaking documentaries like Our War, thought provoking documentary-drama like Murdered By My Boyfriend and laugh out loud comedy like Cuckoo. End of story.
A selection of clips from popular and critically acclaimed 主播大秀 Three programmes.
So why reinvent 主播大秀 Three?
主播大秀 Three launched in 2003. That鈥檚 before the iPhone, Facebook, SBTV, Netflix, Snapchat, driverless cars and a man jumping from space.聽 The world鈥檚 changed and what millennials and Generation Z want and expect from the 主播大秀 has changed. To meet their needs as licence fee payers we must offer them a service and content they want.
Our proposal is to re-invent 主播大秀 Three for the digital age and to take risks with ideas, talent and technology. We want to take what鈥檚 great about 主播大秀 Three and what鈥檚 great about digital and merge the two, to give audiences something of the digital world, not just in it. This isn鈥檛 moving a TV channel and putting it online. This is new. We are the first broadcaster in the world to propose something like this.
Why 主播大秀 Three?
Scheduled TV will remain strong for the foreseeable but young audiences consume more on-demand content and watch less linear TV than they did four years ago. Put simply, people that watch 主播大秀 Three are more likely to be online and want new content and new forms of content, online.
And we haven鈥檛 just made this up. We鈥檝e spent months asking thousands of people from all walks of life how they consume media and what they want. We鈥檝e looked at research from both industry and academics. Our conclusion is that this is the direction of travel. It鈥檚 earlier than we might have liked, but it is what we would have done in the long term to give young audiences what they tell us they want.
And let鈥檚 be frank, it鈥檚 also down to money. The 主播大秀 will have in the future.
To maintain quality on 主播大秀 One and 主播大秀 Two 鈥� which are watched by young audiences in the millions - we needed a radical AND innovative approach. We simply can鈥檛 make the same amount of quality content with less money unless we start salami slicing programme budgets, and we know that鈥檚 not good for audiences. New 主播大秀 Three would allow us to do fewer shows but bigger, better and in greater depth.
What would be on new 主播大秀 Three?
This is where I think we can be truly innovative and meet the needs of young audiences. New 主播大秀 Three would be built around two pillars which our audiences have told us they value, Make Me Think and Make Me Laugh.
Make Me Think would be a mix of documentary, current affairs, news and drama that would cover topics that offer new perspectives and open people鈥檚 minds to new subjects or issues. Make Me Laugh would be centred around scripted comedy, like Uncle or Gavin & Stacey, plus personality-led entertainment that would be both provocative and edgy. Both pillars would cover topics audiences are passionate about. This is what audiences have told us they want from a public service, service like new 主播大秀 Three.
The other area we can innovate with is digital content. 80% of聽new 主播大秀 Three鈥檚 budget would be spent on long form聽shows聽like Murdered by聽My Boyfriend and Bad Education.
The other 20% would be devoted to new form digital content. This would include a range of content which we know young audiences consume and we want to innovate in - short form聽video, image led storytelling, votes on reactive topics or blog posts from contributors that will make people laugh and think and deliver a richer experience around our content. Imagine the Revolution guys being able to react to the 4p porridge story and getting something out on the day, or publishing an animated interview with the mother of a victim of a domestic abuse straight after Murdered By My Boyfriend.
Murdered By My Boyfriend on new 主播大秀 Three
This commitment to new forms and formats, of different durations, with interactive content is an opportunity to give more value to young audiences 鈥� to give them the content they have told us they want, when they want it, delivered to them how they want it. We could be innovative and responsive, reacting to events and producing content much more quickly than is possible at the moment, freed from the restraints of the linear schedule.
Our audience would also have a much bigger role to play in new 主播大秀 Three - shaping the editorial offer, reacting to it, being advocates for it, even creating it. By fostering a more open relationship through new platforms and social media our audience would become members of new 主播大秀 Three, not passive consumers. New 主播大秀 Three would give audiences a voice and give us the tools to showcase their opinions.
And collaboration wouldn鈥檛 end with audiences. New 主播大秀 Three could open up areas of collaboration across the 主播大秀; with Radio 1 and Newsbeat as well as other areas like sport. You can see 主播大秀 Three working hand in hand with Radio 1 on subjects that matter to young audiences, on campaigns about disability, or crime or bullying.
Where could new 主播大秀 Three be?
It will be where young audiences are. At the centre would be a dedicated home online - available on multiple devices - that pulls all our long form and digital content together. Short form and digital content would be on social platforms like Tumblr, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and sites like Buzzfeed. A daily update from new 主播大秀 Three would offer a fresh immediate package of content that would make people think and laugh and would be shareable with peers. Long form would be on 主播大秀 One, 主播大秀 Two and 主播大秀 iPlayer and, subject to negotiations, via on-demand services on Sky, YouView, Freesat and Virgin platforms. We acknowledge some people don鈥檛 have broadband - which is why new long form content will be available on these platforms. It鈥檚 an interconnected world where each platform would be used to in a way that befits its nature.
Who will make stuff for new 主播大秀 Three?
And finally, another exciting element for me personally is who could make content for new 主播大秀 Three. New British talent will be the key - both on and off-screen but we know the 主播大秀 would need to develop our skill base to cultivate a better understanding of digital content and be resourced to deliver content like this on a daily basis. That means finding and nurturing a new generation of content makers who are of the digital world.
I believe new 主播大秀 Three could be the arrowhead for the whole industry - shaping and extending the 鈥淭V鈥� market beyond linear and building demand for new forms of content. It could be a place that gives creative industries an avenue to test how audiences react to new forms of content at scale, content that builds new relationships with younger audiences. It could redefine public service broadcasting in the digital age. New 主播大秀 Three could do for digital content what 主播大秀 News Online did for take up of the internet, what 主播大秀 iPlayer did for the VOD market and what 主播大秀 Three did for digital TV a decade ago.
Moving 主播大秀 Three online is a response to a financially challenging climate, but that's not all it is. We think our proposal meets the requirements of our charter to innovate online, and along with the proposal to extend C主播大秀 and launch a 主播大秀 One +1 channel, new 主播大秀 Three could be a pathfinder for the digital age and for the future of the 主播大秀.
I'm excited by what we have proposed and I look forward to hearing what you have to say over the coming months and when the 主播大秀 Trust begin their consultation in January. This is the start. We don't have all the details yet and I'm sure things will come up along the way that we want to look at.As tells me, necessity is the mother of invention and I'm the mother鈥�
Damian Kavanagh is Project Lead, 主播大秀 Three
- Read a press release about this proposals on the website.
- The 主播大秀 Trust issued a press release on 5 December detailing their intention to conduct a Public Value Test in response to these and other change of service proposals. Read the full statement on the .