BBC Three to close – Autumn 2015

BBC Three will close in the autumn of 2015 with more than half the £50m-plus savings ploughed into drama on BBC One, the corporation confirmed today.
Announcing the first ever TV channel closure in the BBC’s history to staff on Thursday, director general Tony Hall said he “can’t rule out it being the last change to our programmes or services”.
Every long-form programme currently broadcast on BBC Three will switch to either BBC One or BBC Two, said Hall, playing out in a late night slot at 10.35pm or later.
The digital terrestrial television bandwidth previously occupied by BBC Three will be used for a time shifted channel, BBC One +1, and an extra hour of children’s channel CBBC a night.

The plan to close BBC Three still has to be approved by the BBC Trust, which rejected Mark Thompson’s proposals to axe BBC Radio 6 Music four years ago and later a similar move to close its sister station, the Asian Network.
The trust’s response is likely to take several months and will include a four-stage public value test, including an assessment of its value to the public and a market impact assessment carried out by Ofcom. Its provisional findings will then be published before a further consultation on the proposed change.
In a statement, the trust said: “The trust’s priority will be to listen to the views of audiences as we consider proposed changes to BBC Three and other services.

“Any major changes to existing BBC services require approval from the trust. In this case, we expect to conduct a public value test, including a public consultation, so licence fee payers will have the opportunity to have their say in the process.”