BBC Three - Programming

Programming

The remit of BBC Three is to bring younger audiences to high quality public service broadcasting through a mixed-genre schedule of innovative UK content featuring new UK talent. The channel should use the full range of digital platforms to deliver its content and to build an interactive relationship with its audience. The channel’s target audience is 16-34 year olds.

— BBC Three Remit

Targeting an audience of 16 to 34-year-olds, BBC Three's programme has to compete heavily with rivals, including ITV2 and E4, for an audience that the BBC has traditionally had difficulty in attracting. In 2008 it reached 26.3% of 16–34-year-olds in digital homes—the channel's highest ever such reach and above that of E4, ITV2, Dave and Sky1. On average, nine million people watch BBC Three every week, and it has a 2.6% share of he 15–34-year-old audience and 1.7% of the whole population, according to BARB. These ratings by BARB, the official ratings agency, average out BBC Three's viewing figures over a 24-hour period even though the channel only broadcasts in the evening, giving a distorted sense of the channel's viewership. Despite several official complaints from the BBC, BARB continues to publish figures which the BBC argues are unrepresentative.

BBC Three's programming consists of comedy, drama, spin-off series and repeated episodes of series from BBC One and Two, and other programmes that attempt to alert others of their actions through a series of programmes challenging common beliefs.

The following is a list of the ten most watched broadcasts on BBC Three, from BARB data up to 25 September 2012.

An example of BBC Three's comedy output includes the award-winning comedy Little Britain, which in October 2004 broke its previous viewing record when 1.8 million viewers tuned in for a new series. Little Britain was later broadcast on the BBC's terrestrial analogue channels BBC One and BBC Two. The channels longest-running comedy programme is Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. Some current programmes feature stand-up comedians performing their own take on a subject, usually the news, examples of which include Russell Howard's Good News and Lee Nelson's Well Good Show.

The channel airs various dramas; one of its most popular is Gavin & Stacey, which first aired in May 2007 and was written by and starring Ruth Jones and James Corden alongside Mathew Horne, Joanna Page, Alison Steadman and Rob Brydon. The drama was an instant hit, with subsequent series being moved to other BBC channels and the show being granted a Christmas special. Another example is Being Human, a drama in which a ghost, a vampire and a werewolf share a flat, which has become a success and heralded several new series. American programming also features, with American Dad! and Family Guy being the notable examples.

Numerous popular series are either repeated on the channel or have spin-offs created from them. In early 2003, viewers could watch episodes of popular BBC soap opera EastEnders on BBC Three before they were broadcast on BBC One. This programming decision coincided with the relaunch of the channel and helped it break the one million viewers milestone for the first time. An episode of EastEnders Revealed, which was commissioned for BBC Three and looking behind the scenes of the programme, attracted 611,000 viewers. In 2005, BBC Three commissioned the documentary series Doctor Who Confidential, which was shown immediately after episodes of the new series of Doctor Who had been screened on BBC One. This was followed up in July 2005, when it began to screen repeats of both programmes. In October 2005, it was announced that BBC Three had commissioned a spin-off drama series from Doctor Who, Torchwood, designed as a post-watershed science fiction drama for a more adult audience. Torchwood launched with 2.4 million viewers in October 2006. Torchwood is the first science fiction programme ever to have been commissioned by the channel, and its popularity led to it being broadcast on BBC Two for the second series, and on BBC One for subsequent series. In 2006, BBC Three aired the first run of a back-up show for BBC Two's The Apprentice. You're Fired! ran until sport and high ratings moved it to BBC Two. In 2010, BBC Three began airing episodes of the fifth series of BBC drama series Waterloo Road after they had aired on BBC One as part of its 'catch-up' programming.

BBC Three also airs documentaries aimed at challenging beliefs of young people. These include pan-psychology based programmes which bring topics such as addictions and childcare into an entertainment and educational context; notable programmes include Freaky Eaters, Spendaholics, The House of Tiny Tearaways and Sex...with Mum & Dad. The channel has also taken on the beauty market through programmes aimed at challenging beliefs into what beauty is: this is most vocalised through one of the channel's top shows, Snog Marry Avoid?.

The channel features hourly news updates called 60 Seconds, presented by Sam Naz during the week, which include the top news, sport and entertainment stories. They are presented in a relaxed style in keeping with the rest of the channel. As part of the BBC's discussions with the government regarding the founding of the channel, a longer news programme had been promised to provide a daily section of news and current affairs. The News Show, as it came to be called upon launch, was later rebranded The 7 O'Clock News. However, the BBC discontinued the bulletin in 2005, claiming that the programme's audience was minuscule and the output was provided elsewhere on the BBC.

The channel also shows some sport, primarily Match of the Day Live, broadcasting international football matches featuring Wales, often when an England match is being shown on BBC One. The channel also shows some matches of England's Women's team. The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations was shown on the channel from 20 January to 10 February 2008.