BBC3 is to become online-only to save money. Is this unfair to young viewers and programme-makers?Boyd Hilton, TV and reviews editor of Heat magazineSo the BBC is getting rid of its one channel aimed at young people, its one channel that has continually fostered new comedy talent, the channel with the most diverse audience, the channel with the most diverse programmes, the channel where – gasp – even working-class people are seen and heard on a regular basis. BBC3 is the place where new young writers could create bold comedy (Him & Her, Bad Education, Uncle) and drama (Being Human, The Fades, In the Flesh). And where young soldiers in Afghanistan got to show us the reality of their daily lives in the Bafta-winning Our War. Contrary to the clichés about BBC3, its output isn't only made up of shows with titles like My Man Boobs and Me (though that programme did, I'm sure, help many viewers). My hunch is that the old, badly informed duffers at the top of the BBC who took this perverse decision have yet to actually sit through Sun, Sex & Suspicious Parents. Or many other of the channel's shows, which, let's face it, aren't for them. They can now happily carry on watching BBC4 into their dotage.The only conclusion to make from the appalling downgrading of BBC3 is that the BBC's myriad offerings for the middle-aged middle classes are safe from director-general Tony Hall's axe, and its message to younger consumers is: "Piss off to the internet where you belong, if you... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2014-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]