BBC Three
Launched	9 February 2003
Owned by	BBC
Picture format	16:9, 576i (SDTV)
Audience share	1.3% (September 2007, [1])
Country	United Kingdom
Replaced	BBC Choice
Sister channel(s)	BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Four
Website	www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview	Channel 7
Satellite
Sky Digital	Channel 115
Cable
Virgin Media	Channel 106
UPC Ireland	Channel 116
WightCable	Channel 106/10

BBC Three, the successor to the similar BBC Choice, is a British television channel from the BBC broadcasting only on digital cable, terrestrial and satellite. BBC Radio 3 is a radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (900x660, 22 KB) Summary BBC Three logo http://www. ... is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... The 16:9 aspect ratio (also known as widescreen) is an aspect ratio that is 16/9 or 1. ... 576i is the shorthand name for a video mode. ... ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... BBC Choice was a TV station from the BBC which launched on September 23, 1998. ... For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 1. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 4. ... This article is about the United Kingdom digital terrestrial television service. ... Sky Digital is the brand name for British Sky Broadcastings digital satellite television service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28. ... Virgin Media Inc. ... UPC Ireland N.V. is Liberty Global Europes operation in Ireland. ... WightCable is a provider of commercial and residential cable television, telephone and broadband internet services in the United Kingdom. ... BBC Choice was a TV station from the BBC which launched on September 23, 1998. ... For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ... Digital television (DTV) is a telecommunication system for broadcasting and receiving moving pictures and sound by means of digital signals, in contrast to analog signals used by analog (traditional) TV. DTV uses digital modulation data, which is digitally compressed and requires decoding by a specially designed television set, or a... Coaxial cable is often used to transmit cable television into the house. ... This article is about the United Kingdom digital terrestrial television service. ... Satellite television is television delivered by way of communications satellites, as compared to conventional terrestrial television and cable television. ...

The channel was launched on 9 February 2003, eleven months after the originally planned launch date (and the launch of BBC Four). The delay was due to debate over its proposed format - some felt it wouldn't be sufficiently different to existing commercial channels catering to young people. is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 4. ...

The channel is described by the BBC as an outlet for 'New drama, New talent, British comedy, top films and accessible news'. The channel is on-air from 19:00 to 04:00 each night, in order to share terrestrial digital bandwidth with the CBBC channel. This article is about the United Kingdom digital terrestrial television service. ... Bandwidth is the difference between the upper and lower cutoff frequencies of, for example, a filter, a communication channel, or a signal spectrum, and is typically measured in hertz. ... Current CBBC Logo CBBC - short for Childrens BBC - is the brand-name for the BBCs childrens television programmes aimed at children aged between 6 and 12 years old. ...

Unlike its commercial rivals, 90% of BBC Three's output is from the United Kingdom and other European Union countries. 80% is original, covering all genres, from current affairs, to drama, to comedy to animation. BBC Three has a unique '60 second news' format. This was adopted so that operation of the channel could be completely automated, without the complication of dealing with variable length live news broadcasts.

The station was launched by Stuart Murphy, who previously ran BBC Choice, and before that UK Play, the now-discontinued UKTV music and comedy channel on which ran Rock Profile, by Matt Lucas and David Walliams (who went on to star in Little Britain). At 33, Murphy was the youngest channel controller in the country, a title he held since launching UK Play at the age of 26, although on October 20, 2005 it was announced that Murphy was soon to leave the channel to work for RDF Media. His stay there was very brief and after 3 weeks, he had quit and moved to another independent, Twofour. On December 5, 2005, the BBC announced E4 controller Julian Bellamy as his replacement. The scheduler is Damian Kavanagh, who used to schedule BBC One. BBC Choice was a TV station from the BBC which launched on September 23, 1998. ... Play UK, formerly known as UK Play, was part of the UKTV Network. ... This article is about the UKTV network of channels in the UK and Ireland. ... Rock Profile is a British television show written by and starring comedy partnership Matt Lucas and David Walliams. ... Matthew Richard Lucas (born March 5, 1974) is an English comedy actor. ... David Walliams (born David Williams, August 20, 1971) is an English comedy actor, best known for his partnership with Matt Lucas in the sketch show Little Britain. ... This article is about the British TV show Little Britain. ... is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Twofour is a UK independent broadcast production company and corporate communications agency. ... is the 339th day of the year (340th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... E4 is a British digital television channel launched as a pay-tv companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. ... For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 1. ...

Identity

Main article: History of BBC television idents

One of the BBC Three "Blobs"

The channel's idents were conceived by Stefan Marjoram at Aardman Animations and have been used since the channel was first launched. According to reports, Stuart Murphy was touring Aardman Animations looking for new programming ideas for BBC Three when he spotted the cone shaped creatures, he then took the idea back to the Lambie-Nairn agency, responsible for the BBC Three identity package. A feature of this identity is also the music "Three Is The Magic Number", based (only the lyrics are copied) upon Schoolhouse Rock!. The history of BBC television idents starts in the early 1950s, when idents were first used by the BBC to differentiate each of their channels and create separate identites for them. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 116 KB) Summary From [1] Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 116 KB) Summary From [1] Licensing File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A television ident visually identifies the network or station presenting a television programme. ... Aardman Animations, Ltd. ... ... Schoolhouse Rock! is a series of fifty-two educational short films featuring songs about schoolhouse topics, including grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and politics. ...

bbc.co.uk provides a number of downloads and activities based on the channels identity, these include "BlobMate", screensavers, wallpapers and also games such as BlobLander and BlobBert. The domain name bbc. ...

The idea used by both Lambie-Nairn, who had developed the branding for CBeebies and CBBC, and Aardman, was to create the BBC Three blobs as a relation to the green and yellow blobs of the children's channels. CBeebies is a British television channel produced by the BBC and aimed at children six years and under. ... Current CBBC Logo CBBC - short for Childrens BBC - is the brand-name for the BBCs childrens television programmes aimed at children aged between 6 and 12 years old. ... For other uses, see Green (disambiguation). ... A yellow Tulip. ...

The channel has two continuity announcers, Kieron Elliott, the guy with the Scottish accent who also presents the breakfast show on 96.3 Rock Radio, the UK's first fm classic rock station and a female, Lola Buckley who has a Yorkshire accent. Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

During the last few months the BBC has been completing market research to see how their key audiences react to new logos. All the shown logos so far incorporate White, Black and sometimes a pink. Earlier logos showed the logo spread across two lines with "thr" and "ee" on two diffenent lines against a black logo with the BBC corporate logo underneath, however on the revised versions the BBC logo has been moved to its traditional top and the "three" is on one line against a pink background which will possibly have motion in it (seen on the image as a darker area, but may be downgraded quality).

Programmes

Main article: List of programmes broadcast by the BBC

In early 2003, viewers could watch episodes of popular BBC soap opera EastEnders on BBC Three before they were broadcast on BBC One. This was to coincide with the relaunch of the channel and helped it break the one million viewers milestone for the first time with 1,030,000^{[citation needed]} who watched to see the departure of character Mark Fowler. The episode was not originally commissioned for the channel. An episode of EastEnders Revealed, which was commissioned for BBC Three, attracted 611,000 viewers.^{[citation needed]} An incomplete list of popular BBC produced shows and shows originally produced for BBC TV: Contents: Top - 0–9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 0-9 2point4 children 8... EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC1 on 19 February 1985[4] and continuing to date. ... For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 1. ... Mark Fowler was a fictional character in the popular British BBC soap opera EastEnders. ...

In October 2004, BBC Three broke its previous records at the time, when 1.8 million viewers tuned in for a new series of the award-winning comedy, Little Britain.^[1] Little Britain was later broadcast on the BBC's terrestrial analogue channels BBC One and BBC Two. In the same year newly commissioned Chris Crudelli hit Mind, Body & Kick Ass Moves was rolled out to over 100 countries. This article is about the British TV show Little Britain. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Chris Crudelli (born August 1972)[1] is a martial artist and television presenter. ... Mind, Body & Kick Ass Moves is a television programme broadcast on BBC 3. ...

In 2005, BBC Three showed the documentary series Doctor Who Confidential immediately after episodes of the new series of Doctor Who had been screened on BBC One. This was followed up in July 2005, when it began to screen it repeats of both programmes. Coincidentally, the 1971 Doctor Who story The Dæmons featured a broadcast on a then-fictional BBC Three. In October 2005, it was announced that BBC Three had commissioned a spin-off drama series from Doctor Who, Torchwood, designed as a post-watershed science fiction drama for a more adult audience. Torchwood is the first science fiction programme ever to have been commissioned by the channel, although it had previously shown repeats of Doctor Who and imported programmes such as Farscape. The Doctor Who Confidential logo Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... For other uses, see Doctor Who (disambiguation). ... The Dæmons is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in five weekly parts from May 22 to June 19, 1971. ... For plants known as torchwood, see Burseraceae. ... Watershed is a term used in the United Kingdom (as well as Canada) to describe a time in television schedules beyond which it is permissible to show television programmes which have adult content. It is known in the US as Safe Harbor. Adult content can be generally defined as having... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Farscape (1999–2003) is a science fiction television series, featuring a present-day astronaut who accidentally travels through a wormhole to a distant part of the galaxy. ...

Torchwood launched with an impressive 2.4 million viewers in October 2006, not only breaking BBC Three's previous record of 1.8 million,^{[citation needed]} but it is also believed to be the biggest ever multichannel audience for a UK-originated, non-sports programme, thought to be third to an episode of Friends, broadcast on Sky One in 2000, which attracted 2.8 million viewers and in 2006 with Sky One's Terry Pratchett's Hogfather which attracted 2.6 million viewers.^{[citation needed]} The second episode attracted an equally impressive 2.3 million viewers, and boosted BBC Three to a 3.5% share of multichannel viewing that evening, compared to the network's three month Sunday average of 0.9%.^{[citation needed]} For plants known as torchwood, see Burseraceae. ... Friends is a situation comedy about a group of six friends living in New York City. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... Terry Pratchetts Hogfather is a two-part television adaptation of the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett, produced by The Mob, and broadcast on Sky One, and in High Definition on Sky One HD, over Christmas 2006. ...

Successful new programmes have included Funland, described as being a 'disturbingly funny new thriller', which first aired on Sunday 23 October 2006 at 22:00. It has since been repeated on prime-time BBC One. Other new programmes which crossed channels have been Tittybangbang, a comedy sketch show starring Lucy Montgomery and Debbie Chazen, and Man Stroke Woman, another sketch show, starring Nick Frost and Nick Burns, mostly dealing with relationships of 20- and 30-somethings, which first aired on November 21, 2005. Based on the programme's success, it began to be repeated on BBC Two. BBC Three was also the home to Monkey Dust, a twisted adult animation which graphically depicted many stereotypes such as paedophilia, racism and youth 'hoodie' violence. Funland is a comedy / drama serial, produced by the BBC and due for screening on their BBC Three channel in autumn 2005. ... is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the BBC radio station, see BBC Radio 1. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Lucy Montgomery could be: Lucy Montgomery, an actor for the comedy television programme The Friday Night Project and comedienne from the BBC Three series, Tittybangbang. ... Debbie Chazen is a British actress. ... Man Stroke Woman is a comedy sketch show produced by Ash Atalla and starring Amanda Abbington, Ben Crompton, Daisy Haggard, Meredith MacNeill, Nicholas Burns and Nick Frost. ... Nicholas John Frost (born March 28, 1972 in Romford, London) is an English actor and comedian famous for his work with Simon Pegg. ... Nicholas Burns is a comic actor best known for playing Nathan Barley in the show of the same name, as well as playing Nick Mayer in television series Absolute Power. ... is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Monkey Dust is a British animated TV series that satirises the darker side of life in the United Kingdom. ... Pedophilia (American English), pædophilia/paedophilia (Commonwealth English), or pedosexuality is the paraphilia of being sexually attracted primarily or exclusively to prepubescent children. ... This box:      Racism has many definitions, the most common and widely accepted is that members of one race are intrinsically superior or inferior to members of other races. ... Man wearing a hoodie A hoodie (also hoody, bunnyhug), at one time hooded sweatshirt, is a heavy upper-body garment with a hood. ...

The channel features hourly news updates called 60 Seconds, which includes the top news, sport and entertainment stories. It is presented in a cheeky, relaxed style in keeping with the rest of the channel. As part of the BBC's discussions with the government in whether the channel could launch originally, a longer news programme had been promised to provide a daily section of news and current affairs. The News Show, as it came to be called upon launch was later rebranded the 7 O' Clock News. However, the BBC discontinued the bulletin in 2005, claiming that in fact, the programme's audiences were minuscule and the output was provided elsewhere on the BBC. The 60 Seconds ident, note the timer in the top right corner 60 Seconds is a short news programme run between shows and during films on BBC Three. ... The 7 OClock News ident The 7 OClock News was the main news programme, broadcast each weekday at 19. ...

In 2006, BBC Three aired the first run of a back-up show for BBC Two's The Apprentice, You're Fired! until sport and high ratings moved it to BBC Two. The Apprentice is a British reality television series in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to become an apprentice to British business magnate Sir Alan Sugar, with the winner given a £100,000-a-year job working for his electronics manufacturing company Amstrad. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps is the channel's longest running comedy and is one of the most watched.^{[citation needed]} Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (commonly shortened to Two Pints) is a BBC sitcom written by Susan Nickson. ...

In May 2007 the channel aired the new sitcom Gavin and Stacey written by and staring Ruth Jones and James Corden alongside Mathew Horne, Joanna Page, Alison Steadman and Rob Brydon. Gavin and Stacey is a brand new comedy series, written by and starring Ruth Jones (Nighty Night, Little Britain) and James Corden (Fat Friends, The History Boys). ... // Ruth Jones (born in 1966 at Bridgend, Wales) is a bilingual character actress perhaps best known for her performances in British comedy series and films. ... James Corden is an English actor who has performed on stage, film, television and radio. ... Mathew Horne (b. ... Joanna Page (born in 1977 in Mumbles, Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales) is a Welsh actress. ... Alison Steadman OBE (born on July 26, 1945) is an award-winning English stage, television and film actress. ... Rob Brydon (born Robert Brydon Jones, May 3, 1965, Baglan, Port Talbot) is a Welsh actor, comedian and impressionist most famous for his role as Keith Barret in the BBC comedy Marion and Geoff and The Keith Barret Show. ...

BBC Three sometimes airs football matches in Match of the Day Live. These are often matches deemed less popular.^{[citation needed]} For example, BBC Three has shown internationals featuring Wales if an England match is being shown on BBC One. BBC Three also shows some matches of England's Women's team. A player (wearing the red kit) has penetrated the defence (in the white kit) and is taking a shot at goal. ... For the Doctor Who novel, see Match of the Day (Doctor Who). ... First international  Scotland 4 - 0 Wales (Glasgow, Scotland; 26 March 1876) Biggest win Wales 11 - 0 Ireland  (Wrexham, Wales; 3 March 1888) Biggest defeat  Scotland 9 - 0 Wales (Glasgow, Scotland; 23 March 1878) World Cup Appearances 1 (First in 1958) Best result Quarter-finals, 1958 The Wales national football team... First international  Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Biggest win  Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) Biggest defeat  Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First in... First International Scotland 2-3 England (Greenock, Scotland; November 19, 1972) Largest win Hungary 0-13 England (Tapolca, Hungary; October 27, 2005) Worst defeat Norway 8-0 England (Moss, Norway; June 4, 2000) World Cup Appearances 1 (First in 1995) Best result Quarter-finals, 1995 Olympic Games Appearances None; not...

BBC Three is also home to many pan-psychology based programmes which bring topics such as addictions and childcare into an entertainment and educational context. Such programmes include Freaky Eaters, Spendaholics, House of Tiny Tearways, Sex..with Mum & Dad, Little Angels and Teen Angels. The popular animated series Family Guy is also shown

Viewership

The channel is aimed at 25-34 year olds, and is second in digital channel ratings behind ITV2, but above Sky One, double the ratings of E4, Living and Paramount Comedy 1.^{[citation needed]} ITV2 is a free-to-air entertainment television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... E4 is a British digital television channel launched as a pay-tv companion to Channel 4 on 18 January 2001. ... Living is a British television channel owned by Virgin Media Television. ... It has been suggested that Paramount Comedy 2 be merged into this article or section. ...

Its share of the audience during its transmission hours is 2.6% among 25-34 year olds, and 1.7% among all individuals. BARB, the official ratings agency, averages out BBC Three's viewing figures over 24 hours even though the channel only broadcasts in the evening, giving a distorted sense of the channel's viewership. Despite several official complaints from the BBC, BARB continues to publish figures which the BBC argues are unrepresentative. Nine million people watch BBC Three every week.^[1] The word barb can have many meanings: Look up barb in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Awards

The channel has had critical and popular successes, winning more awards in its four year history than its commercial rivals (Sky One, Living, E4, ITV2, Five and Paramount Comedy Channel) have won in their combined 25-year history. In total BBC Three has won 6 BAFTA awards, 5 British Comedy Awards, 15 Royal Television Society Awards and 5 Rose d'Or Awards since the channel was launched in February 2003. Most recently, it won Broadcast Magazine's Digital Channel of the Year Award for Best General Entertainment Channel, and MGEITF Non Terrestrial Channel of the Year. Five, launched in 1997, is the fifth and final national terrestrial analogue television channel to launch in the United Kingdom. ... BAFTA Award The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ... The British Comedy Awards is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. ... The Royal Television Society is a British-based society for the discussion, analysis and preservation of television in all its forms, past, present and future. ... The Rose dOr (or Golden Rose) is a highly prestigious television award, given annually since 1961 at the Festival Rose dOr in spring each year. ...

All three of BBC Three's dramas produced in 2004 (Outlaws, Bodies and Conviction) received BAFTA nominations, as did classical music show Flashmob The Opera. For the usual meaning of this term, see body. ...

References

For information on Wikipedia press releases, see Wikipedia:Press releases. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

BBC Portal

• BBC Three listings at bbc.co.uk
• BBC Three at bbc.co.uk