“I want BBC Three to be what people told us they wanted and what we do better than anyone else; original British comedy, provocative documentaries, edgy current affairs and contemporary British drama that makes people think and laugh.”
CREDIT: Damian Kavanagh in BBC Three’s brand new London studio
“This is an incredibly exciting time for BBC Three as we transform the BBC’s offer for young people by making new types of content, delivered on the platforms they choose, at a time they want. We will make available innovative, distinctive TV shows, featuring the best new talent, when it suits the audience not the schedule. We will innovate with new types of content young people want and deliver it in a way that fits their lives, wherever they are, through The Daily Drop. ”
“The Daily Drop is for when you have a few moments and want to know what’s going on, want to be entertained and to discover more. We want people to get into the habit of coming back every day.”
“The Best Of is for when you have more time and brings our programmes and new content together for a richer experience. It’s where alongside out 60 minute documentaries we will make available our fourth Life and Death Row film Love Triangle, which isn’t a traditional film, will be made available. It’s an 8×8 minute series of films that each end on a point that encourages you to discover more before we publish the next one alongside real life police recordings and crime scene photographs and the standalone documentary The Man Who Witnessed 219 executions. Unsolved: The Boy Who Disappeared about a real life disappearance in the UK will use a similar approach. It’s liberating for the filmmakers we’re working with to be given the creative freedom to use different formats to tell the story best. We aren’t constrained by duration or form anymore so the shackles are off when it comes to creativity.”
“The Daily Drop will feature content made by the BBC but also suppliers including people who haven’t made TV before. It’s exciting to open up the BBC to new suppliers who don’t make traditional TV and help foster this relatively new market. Some will relate to our long form, some will be standalone and reactive to events like Stacey Dooley’s quick turnaround film about the sex attacks in Cologne, and some will be very different.”
“Last year we covered League of Legends and learnt a lot and are looking to have similar partnerships in the future. We are covering Eddie Izzard’s 27 marathons in 27 days challenge with Sport Relief in new ways on our platforms. BBC Three is an amazing brand which cuts through with a diverse young audience so I am being approached all the time with interesting ideas about partnerships which we will embrace if they have appeal and relevance to our audience.”
“We will make most of our Daily Drop content embeddable so it can be viewed anywhere. If the Mail Online, Buzzfeed, Kotaku or Digital Spy want to embed The Dark Side of Gaming they can. It should really be from BBC Three now rather than on BBC Three because you will see some of our content in lots of places. Our much loved logo will be a badge of quality and a signifier of content that will stimulate emotions and provoke reactions wherever you see it.”
“I want BBC Three to be a British focussed and grow the creative and digital industries in the UK, working in partnership with our existing suppliers and new suppliers.”
“We have the freedom to make our content available when we want and create moments and build suspense. We can be both Serial and Making a Murderer depending on what works best. We’re blazing a trail for the BBC and the world is watching. Last week we had Scandinavian and Japanese broadcasters in the building because they are considering doing something similar. BBC Three is the first channel in the world to switch online and being a pioneer means we know we won’t get everything right immediately, but being online means we can now adapt and iterate quickly. We will be open about what we do and share what we learn. Over the next few days we’ll publish blog posts from our planning, audience research, digital, social and content teams explaining what we’ve done, what we are doing, why, and show how we will measure success. BBC Three’s success will not be defined by simple bums on seats video views because if that was the point we could post cat gifs and Miley Cyrus videos all day and go home. It’s about relevancy and impact with our audience. I’d rather have a short film about being transgender that helps save someone’s life or make a show the British Army want to include in their training than a karaoke video as well as funny, provocative entertaining videos.”
“All the way through reinventing BBC Three we were singularly focused on what young people told us they wanted from a modern BBC Three. Content they could dip into during the day that kept them informed and entertained, and comedy, drama and documentaries they watch at their convenience. That’s the idea behind The Daily Drop and The Best Of. We will refine what we do as we grow and launch new features and products that will make the BBC Three experience even richer. We’re learning from the digital world and iterating over time rather than some old fashioned big bang TV launch with someone like the Spice Girls which would feel very 1990s. That’s not what we want.”
“By focussing on what young people told us they wanted we refined our editorial strategy. We’re not making comedy panel shows, light entertainment or formatted shows like Snog Marry Avoid. We will have far fewer acquisitions. Family Guy and American Dad have been a big part of BBC Three but ITV bought the rights to them and E4’s Cleveland show from Fox and comedy panel shows and US shows.”
“The savings created from refocusing our content spend means we have more to invest in original British comedy, drama, documentaries and current affairs and more to invest in new British talent.”
“There have been critics but with more to show and more to say about what we are doing we are winning them round. The rapid change in technology and viewing habits is becoming clearer. No one wins if we have to constantly defend ourselves against people trying to undermine what we are doing. We will have enough critics about what we make because it will be challenging, provocative and edgy.”
“We will give young people a voice. Through our social accounts we can include our audience in decision making and ask questions and stimulate debate like we’ve never been able to do before. We can gain traction right there in the moment and create live moments around events. In time we will invite our fans to make content with us and for us. The barriers to create impactful quality content are diminishing daily.”
“But most importantly what BBC Three is, will be and should be isn’t new at all. It’s what we’ve always done. BBC Three will be where the next Aidan Turner, James Corden, Stacey Dooley, Sharon Horgan, Reggie Yates, Russell Tovey, Georgina Campbell or Sheridan Smith come from. It will be where the next generation of directors and script writers and directors and filmmakers come from. And it’s where we we’ll give the “digital” generation, who might not want to make traditional TV, opportunities to develop and reach wider and different audiences.”
“This is just the start for BBC Three and us reinventing the BBC’s offer for young people. I’m incredibly lucky to have the best job around right now because I’m not limited by platform, schedule or content form and we’re building an amazing team here all will amazing skills. These are exciting, pioneering times.”
