To be replaced by BBC1+1
BBC3: plans submitted for channel’s closure in 2015BBC management has finally submitted plans to the corporation’s governing body setting out formal proposals for axing a TV channel, BBC3, for the first time in the broadcaster’s history.
The plans, which were first announced in March and originally due to go before the BBC Trust in October, detail the rationale for making BBC3 online-only.
“The BBC Trust has now received the detail of proposals from the BBC executive to close BBC3 as a broadcast channel and re-invent it as an online-only proposition,” said the BBC Trust in a statement on Friday. “The [Trust Services Committee] have confirmed that these proposals represent a significant change to the UK public services.”
A public consultation on the proposals will begin in January, with the trust intending to publish “as much relevant information on the proposal as possible, including the application from the [BBC] executive”.
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The BBC Trust will also conduct a public-value test, while media regulator Ofcom will conduct a market-impact assessment.
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The plans, which will be discussed at the BBC Trust’s final meeting of the year on 17 December, also include proposals to use the bandwidth freed up by axing the BBC3 TV channel to launch a BBC+1 service and extend the hours for children’s channel CBBC. They also include proposals for enhancing BBC iPlayer.
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http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/dec/05/bbc3-closure-trust