BBC3 Launch Attracts An Average Audience Of 154,000
The BBC’s long awaited new digital channel for young adults, BBC3, was watched by an average of 154,000 viewers on its launch night.
The digital audience peaked at 270,000 at 9pm on Sunday, as viewers tuned in to see Steve Coogan’s Paul And Pauline Calf’s Cheese And Ham Sandwich comedy show. However, just 19,000 viewers tuned in at 11.45pm for the new comedy programme, 3 Non-Blondes.
The simultaneous broadcast of the first two hours of the new channel on BBC2, drew an an average of 1.5 million viewers between 7pm and 9pm.
Stuart Murphy, Controller of BBC3 commented: “We’re really pleased with the launch night of BBC3, it had a mix of genres, including news, animation, science, live entertainment, live music, new British drama and comedy. It is great that so many BBC2 viewers had the chance to sample it and I feel this is a good base from which BBC3 can grow.”
BBC3’s launch follows months of controversy and uncertainty after Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, turned down the BBC’s original proposal for the channel on the grounds that it was insufficiently distinct from the rest of the market (Government Says No To BBC3).
Commercial broadcasters have criticised the BBC for aiming a channel at the lucrative and already well catered for 24 to 35 year old audience, arguing that channels such as E4 and Sky One already serve the market adequately (see Commercial Broadcasters Unite To Halt BBC3). The BBC’s commercial rivals also told the Government that they could lose up to £25m a year in revenue if BBC3 received the go-ahead (see BBC3 Could Cost Commercial Broadcasters £25m)</>
However, despite this controversy, the new channel was given the green-light in September, with a set of conditions designed to ensure that it remained distinct from its commercial rivals (see Government Finally Gives BBC3 The Go Ahead).
The channel’s first schedule includes a mix of new comedy, drama and current affairs programming (see BBC3 Moves To Silence Critics With Schedule Launch). However, it is also drawing on old favourite, EastEnders, to attract viewers and will be screening episodes of the popular soap the day before they appear on BBC1 (see BBC3 Launch To Be Supported By Main Terrestrial Channels).
Meanwhile, the BBC’s Saturday morning show, The Saturday Show, beat ITV1’s SM:TV in the ratings last Saturday, drawing an audience of 1.1 million compared to SM:TV’s 1 million. This is the first time the BBC has beaten ITV in the overall viewing figures on a Saturday morning since November 1999, when Live and Kicking was on the air.
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