BBC3 online, mobile platforms revealed as linear switch-off looms

The BBC announced two new platforms and a raft of new content for its youth network BBC Three, ahead of its move to online-only on February 16.

At an event in London yesterday to preview the reinvented BBC Three, the broadcaster announced a new online home for the channel, The Best Of, and a new mobile-first offering called The Daily Drop.

The Best Of will launch next month and will bring together original long-form programmes and a range of new content, including short form films, to give audiences a “deeper, richer experience than ever before,” according to BBC Three controller Damian Kavanagh.

The Daily Drop will launch in beta this week, offering “snackable” mobile-focused content. “The plan is to over time publish compelling, sharable content thoughout the day,” said Kavanagh.

Among the new BBC Three commissions announced yesterday were: a series of short films from new writers from BBC Drama and actor Idris Elba’s production company, Green Door Pictures; a standalone serial of 8×8-minute films called Life And Death Row: Love Triangle; a new drama from writer Jess Brittain set at Edinburgh university, called Clique; and a new documentary called Black Power that will investigate the Ku Klux Klan and Black Panther movements.

“We’re reinventing our offer for young people, but I want to be clear that this is just the start. We will iterate, refine, adapt and I ask that you guys come on this adventure with us. Some things won’t work, but we have the capability to change tack very, very quickly; this is what’s most exciting about the new BBC3,” said Kavanagh.

He added that though BBC Three’s linear TV channel will go dark from next month, BBC Three is still committed to “funding, finding and nurturing” new talent and ideas.

“We have a brilliant track record on BBC3 for making purposeful content that resonates with people, and we will build on this,” he said.

In a brief speech at the BBC Three relaunch yesterday evening, BBC director general, Tony Hall praised the youth-focused network and said that its move online broke new ground.

“We’re the first broadcasters in the world to work out what it’s going to be like in an on-demand world,” said Hall. “No TV channel has ever done this before. This is new and let’s be clear, it’s also risky, but risky in a way that it should be risky – if we don’t take risks, who is going to?”