BBC Three goes online-only with new platforms

The channel is launching two new online platforms based around long-form content and short-form daily updates.

By Angus Montgomery February 16, 2016 11:43 am February 16, 2016 11:43 am

The Best Of – BBC Three’s new long-form site

BBC Three is going online-only and will now be available on two new digital platforms, as well as on the BBC’s iPlayer service.

The BBC is launching two new homes for its youth-oriented channel. The Best Of is the channel’s long-form platform, while The Daily Drop will present a range of daily content for mobile.

The Best Of will host all BBC Three’s long-form programmes, as well as box-sets of previous shows such as Little Britain and Gavin & Stacey.

The new website organises content around topics, which can be filtered by the viewer. Trending topics will also be displayed on the site.

The Daily Drop – BBC Three’s mobile-first site

BBC Three says the second part of its new offering is a daily stream of content including short films, animation, blogs and news and sport updates delivered through its new platform The Daily Drop, as well as social media accounts.

The channel says that the new Daily Drop platform will curate original content from its team, as well as links to third-party content.

Damian Kavanagh, Controller of BBC Three, says: “When we were developing BBC Three, we kept everything focused on what our audience told us they wanted.

“Different types of content they could dip into during the day that kept them informed and entertained, and comedy and documentaries they could binge watch at their convenience. That’s basically the idea behind The Daily Drop and The Best Of.”

He adds: “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.”

“I want BBC Three to be British-focused and grow the creative and digital industries in the UK, working in partnership with our existing suppliers and new suppliers.”

The new BBC Three identity, by Red Bee Media

The BBC Three relaunch comes after the channel rolled out a new identity, designed by Red Bee Media.

The new identity, which launched in January, saw the word “three” replaced with a symbol.

The entire BBC brand was repositioned with a new logo, idents and animations all underpinned by three principals – “make me think”, “make me laugh” and “give me a voice”.

In a move seemingly aimed at heading off any potential criticism of the new logo, BBC Three released a spoof video showing the logo’s development, which references satirical BBC TV series W1A.