Stars campaign to save under threat BBC Three

 
BBC
Rachel Blundy10 March 2014

BBC Three could be set close as part of a £100million savings plan for the broadcasting corporation, it has been reported.

The television channel, which first aired the successful British sitcom Gavin & Stacey, is likely to move solely online to the BBC iPlayer as part of proposals from Director General Tony Hall.

The news has sparked a celebrity-backed campaign to save the channel.

Some stars took to Twitter to voice their disappointment and call on bosses to reverse the decision.

Actor Russell Tovey, who starred in the channel's supernatural drama series Being Human, wrote: "Dear @BBC3 I have your back #BBC3 #SaveBBC3".

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">I really hope reports that the BBC may kill BBC3 are just rumours. There support of new comedy in particular is vital! <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23saveBBC3&amp;src=hash" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-294231-https://twitter.com/search?q=%23saveBBC3&amp;src=hash" data-vars-event-id="c23">#saveBBC3</a>; Jack Whitehall (@jackwhitehall) <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/jackwhitehall/statuses/440910111411040259" class="body-link" data-vars-item-name="BL-294231-https://twitter.com/jackwhitehall/statuses/440910111411040259" data-vars-event-id="c23">March 4, 2014</a>

Comedian Jack Whitehall posted: "I really hope reports that the BBC may kill BBC3 are just rumours. There support of new comedy in particular is vital! #saveBBC3".

BBC Radio 1 DJ Greg James tweeted: "Such a load of balls if the rumours about BBC3 being axed are true. Genuinely brilliant new comedy + live music needs that platform #SaveBBC3."

One online petition claims the move to scrap the channel would be a "big mistake".

It says: "We believe that the BBC does not do enough to cater for young adults, and scrapping BBC Three from cable, satellite, and terrestrial television would be a big mistake.

"An online move would mean less money for quality programming, would restrict access for those in many rural areas, as well as those without an active broadband connection."

In 2010, campaigners successfully fought to save BBC Radio 6 Music from closure.

Read More

The station went on to see its audience treble, with just 600,000 listening before the closure report, but 1.96 million tuning in according to latest figures.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in