BBC Three

BBC Three: Adrift on the digital ocean

Cuckoo

Anyone who tuned in for BBC Three’s final broadcast in the early hours of 16 February might have noticed the youth channel go out with a whimper, not a bang.

Not for BBC Three, any self-congratulatory run-down of the best commissions in its 13-year history. Instead, a repeat of Gavin & Stacey was followed by a trailer for new, online drama Thirteen and it all ended with a test card announcing that the channel had moved.

Perhaps the lack of fanfare was part of the brand’s emphatic declaration that it wasn’t closing, but moving.

Mr Entertainment shifts into top gear

Mark Linsey, BBC, BBC Television,

Mark Linsey’s career in television has progressed from producing An Audience with Freddie Starr to the heady heights of running BBC Television. As Acting Director of Television – following the abrupt departure of Danny Cohen – Linsey finds himself playing a critical part as Charter renewal gathers pace.

Ask how an executive with 30 years in entertainment shows might play such a crucial role, and this safe pair of hands reaches for the word “distinctive”.

BBC Three online strategy revealed

Cuckoo

A host of new long- and short-form programmes will be released on the BBC Three website, iPlayer and across social media following the switchover on 16 February.

The online service will build on BBC Three’s reputation for original British comedy and though-provoking documentaries. It will also be a home for contemporary British drama, innovative entertainment and current affairs programming.

BBC Three's move online: what the public thinks

BBC Three, BBC Trust, public, online, television,

"BBC Three is not closing, we are reinventing online," promised Damian Kavanagh, controller of BBC Three, after it was announced the youth-channel would be migrating from televisions to tablets and computers in the new year.

The decision, which has been mooted for several months, was met with a mixed reaction.