BBC Three Reports Positive Results Following Revamp

The BBC has said that the revamp of its digital station, BBC Three, has lured more young viewers to the channel after only a month.

The corporation said share amongst 16-34s over the past month was 3.9% – a 44% rise from the same time last year. This is the highest share for 16-34s amongst all digital channels, according to the BBC.

Weekly reach to 16-34s is up to 4.5 million, a 33% increase year on year (based on three-minute reach), whilst the week of the revamp recorded the highest weekly reach for the channel with 4.8 million or 37.1%.

BBC Three is now younger, with 41% of the audience now aged 16-34, up by 14% year on year.

The broadcaster also reports that one-fifth of all the top 50 BBC iPlayer titles are BBC Three originations, with Dawn Gets Naked, Lily Allen and Friends and Being Human in the top 20.

On the day after its first episode, Being Human was the most requested programme on BBC iPlayer and Lily Allen and Friends was the second most requested on BBC iPlayer, the day after its first episode.

The popstar’s talk format is apparently now averaging 30,000 unique weekly users to its website, despite criticism of the show.

Amongst all individuals, BBC Three is reaching 14.1 million viewers, just under one in three people, according to the BBC. This is the highest of all digital channels and is up by 27% year on year.

Danny Cohen, controller of BBC Three, said: “I’m delighted that young audiences have responded so positively to the changes we’ve made to BBC Three. We are going to continue to work hard to introduce new programmes and new talent to our target audience.”

In January, Cohen unveiled plans to make the channel “Britain’s most ambitious multi-platform network – combining television and the web into a single, integrated offering” (see BBC Three Gets Multi-Platform Revamp).

However, some of the programming on offer, such as Lily Allen’s show and Phoo Action, have been widely slated by TV critics.

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk