The BBC Three and Scotland TV channels are to be axed from next Spring, with their content then available only through streaming. At the same time Radio 4 Extra will cease to broadcast and its content will become only available through BBC Sounds.
BBC Three debuted in 2003 when it replaced BBC Choice, the broadcaster’s first digital channel which was launched to help encourage audiences to adopt digital TV. It closed in 2016 and became a brand within iPlayer, but was revived as a broadcast channel in 2022.
But, while the original channel benefited from high profile original commissions such as Torchwood plus showing the following week’s episode of hit BBC 1 shows such as Spooks, the revived version offers a schedule packed with repeats and, unsurprisingly, suffers from persistently low viewing figures.
From Spring 2027 its content will be available only on demand through iPlayer and 3rd party platforms such as YouTube.
BBC Scotland launched in 2019 as part of the BBC’s efforts to better serve Scottish audiences but the broadcaster’s own annual report says it’s watched live by just 12% of the population. This contrasts badly with the 42% who watch BBC Scotland content online.
A linear version of the channel will remain available through iPlayer but will vanish from broadcast platforms such as Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media. Additionally, BBC Two in Scotland will air more dedicated Scottish content.
Moving the channels online is part of the BBC’s efforts to cut £500m in spending over the coming years, a reduction it says is necessary due to falling Licence Fee income.
In a memo to staff setting out the changes, BBC Director-General Matt Brittin – whose £565,000 salary is equivalent to more than 3,130 TV Licences – said: “We need to make every pound work harder for audiences as we respond to the immediate cost pressures and reinvent the BBC for a changing world. We all know that means tough choices.”
Speaking of the axed channels, he added: “Much of the great content they currently carry will still be found where audiences already enjoy it on iPlayer and Sounds. While this follows media speculation, I recognise the confirmation of this news will be hard for audiences and colleagues.”
Recent years have seen a sharp decline in the number of households willing to pay the £180 annual charge which is increasingly being used to provide schedules packed with cheaper reality and lifestyle shows, celebrity quizzes and local versions of bought-in formats such as Traitors and Gladiators.
The BBC is also spending almost £90m per year buying in boxsets from Hollywood and beyond despite the fact that it endlessly seeks to portray the Licence Fee as an investment in British creativity.
While there’s no definitive survey of why viewers cancel their TV Licences, the undistinctive content is likely to play a part in many households’ decision.
BBC management have recently announced job losses in the news, corporate, technology and sports teams and the axing of several TV and radio shows.
The cuts come against the backdrop of the BBC Charter Review in which ministers are looking at the broadcaster’s remit, governance and funding arrangements.
Some in and around the BBC have been pushing for the Licence Fee, which is currently payable by households who watch any BBC or live content, to be replaced with an inescapable levy paid by all households as part of their broadband or council tax bills.
Such a move would hike up living costs for households at a time when many are already struggling.
Background to the BBC’s funding woes
The past few years have seen an accelerating trend in households ditching the BBC Licence Fee, with last year seeing more than 539,000 stop paying the charge.
Payable by all households which watch any BBC content on TV or iPlayer or any live TV on other apps and channels, the fee now stands at £180.
Even as it becomes increasingly unaffordable to many in the midst of the cost of living crisis, BBC bosses continue to demand annual increases and publicly complain about the previous government’s decision to freeze the charge which they present as a “cut” to its funding.
The BBC is undoubtably being squeezed by its falling income and the inflationary forces affecting the whole TV industry as formats, shows and onscreen talent are in constant demand from a growing number of outlets a major factors.
Massive losses though poorly managed projects
However, and unacknowledged by current BBC leaders, many of its own decisions over the past two decades have helped create and worsen the current financial woes.
The 2008 extension of Broadcasting House cost £100m more than originally envisaged, while the construction of a broadcasting centre in in Glasgow went over budget by £62m.
A 2015 report by the National Audit Office later revealed the BBC was spending £89m per year just running the expanded building – a figure which was both higher than comparable buildings and represented a third of the BBC’s entire property running costs despite the building housing just a fifth of its staff.
In 2013 it emerged that senior figures who left the BBC received millions of pounds in non-contractual payments.
That same year the BBC finally ditched its failed Digital Media Initiative – meant to modernise its production and archiving methods – which had cost more than £100m while failing to produce any useable product.
A report by the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee later described the project as a “complete failure”.
A further £27m was wasted when the building of a new EastEnders set went over budget, prompting the PAC to accuse the BBC of “apparent complacency” in its handling of the project.