BBC Three (BBC Three)

Member Name: carlmcq

Product:	BBC Three
Date:	02/11/09 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: New programming...

Disadvantages: ...Not on until 7pm each day

There was a time when the great institution of the British Broadcasting Corporation was designed purely to inform and entertain with high-browed programming and plenty of news. And then came along the 21st century and the desire for multi-channel satellite set-ups...so along came BBC Three and out went good old Aunty and in came the young new cousin...

Available on Sky channel 115 and Freeview channel 7, BBC Three broadcasts from 7pm each night of the week until into the early hours of the morning with a variety of programmes designed for their 'younger' target audience. By this I mean the 18 to 30 range, with perhaps a little bit of leeway either side of these numbers, but rather a lot younger than a lot of traditional BBC programming is naturally aimed at.

The programming does differ considerably though. From showing shows broadcast on BBC One and Two such as Eastenders, it does broadcast shows produced solely intended for BBC Three. Often produced by independent production companies rather than the BBC in-house production set-up, the schedule is made up of comedies and often personality-led documentaries. These include ones with 'shocking' titles such as 'the boy who ate his face' or 'the girl who smelt of suet' (these titles may be fictional for the purposes of this review!), but in all seriousness they do contain a factual and informative point. Other documentaries are these personality-led ones which include some type of young gonzo journalist, which can hopefully relate to the audience, going on a fact-finding mission on the programmes subject or helping solve something. Some can be entertaining, some can just be self-indulgent rubbish.

Then there's the copious numbers of comedies that BBC Three shows. Famous ones such as Gavin and Stacey have spawned from the channel and found prime-time slots in the BBC's main schedules. And others have failed miserably, never to be heard of again. And then there's Two Pints of Lager...which just keeps on going and going and going for no apparent reason as I know of no one who will happily sit and watch a few episodes of it in one sitting.

Also included in the schedule are animated American shows such as Family Guy and American Dad, which are perfect for the intended age range. They also occasionally show sports, such as European games involved British clubs, and with the African Cup of Nations on the horizon at the start of 2010; expect to see BBC Three broadcast some of the matches. This might also mean the broadcasting hours stretch to earlier than 7pm, as this is my main qualm over the channel. Being the BBC and being publically funded, the Beeb may not think it's necessary to broadcast any earlier than that as it's intended audience should all be at work or watching it's regular daytime schedule...but even a few repeats or re-runs will help pull a few punters away from Dave...

Their website is obviously full of content - yet again to suit their audience - often including additional videos of their shows and various 'blogs' which us 18 to 30 year olds supposedly love. Of course we do...

So there you have it. BBC Three. Elderly people aren't allowed to go there...you can resort to BBC Four instead......

Summary: One of the BBC's growing band of channels