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BBC Three Linear channel re-opens

The linear channel version of BBC Three returns to Freeview, Freesat and Sky tonight. Freeview has had a small channel number shuffle so you might need to retune to find it.

BBC Three logo  Photograph: BBC
BBC Three logo Photograph: BBC
published on UK Free TV

BBC Three, which has always been aviliable to watch in the UK 24-hours a day at https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree is returning to the slot it vacated a while ago on Freeview.

So, in addition to the BBC iPlayer view of the channel  you will be able to see the channel on Freeview, Freesat and Sky.

The channel numbers are Freeview SD 37, Freeview HD 109, Freesat HD  117 and Sky HD 107.  

See https://ukfree.tv/channels/all/Freeview  for the full list of changed channel numbers on Freeview/Youview.  

Details about why this has been done can be found here...  

 

Basically, the whole reason for getting rid of BBC Three was to replace it with BBC One+1 which got blocked, so the BBC has had this broadcast capactity sitting unused (in the daytime it's used for a BBC Children's channel). 



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Comments
Wednesday, 26 January 2022
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:52 AM

BBC Three SD will be channel 23 on Freeview, not 37.

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
Friday, 4 February 2022
Felim Doyle
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

12:18 PM

I re-tuned my mother-in-law's Sony KDL-32S2030 following the relaunch of BBC Three and the replacement of BBC SD channels with their HD counterparts. AFIK, the KDL-32S2030 can only decode MPEG-4 but BBC HD channels are broadcast in MPEG-4. After the re-tune, the TV was only seeing 51 services as against the usual 72 or so and I wondered if any other changes were made which would account for the missing services / channels. What is the best advice on how to restore her missing channels?

My mother-in-law lives in Silverstone, Northamptonshire and receives BBC East (West) / Cambridge from Sandy Heath.

Thanks.

P.S. She does have a Goodmans FreeSat box too but that has been having pixelation issues for a while which I am still investigating.

Flim

link to this comment
Felim Doyle's 21 posts GB flag
Felim Doyle
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

12:20 PM

I re-tuned my mother-in-law's Sony KDL-32S2030 following the relaunch of BBC Three and the replacement of BBC SD channels with their HD counterparts. AFIK, the KDL-32S2030 can only decode MPEG-4 but BBC HD channels are broadcast in MPEG-4. After the re-tune, the TV was only seeing 51 services as against the usual 72 or so and I wondered if any other changes were made which would account for the missing services / channels. What is the best advice on how to restore her missing channels?

My mother-in-law lives in Silverstone, Northamptonshire and receives BBC East (West) / Cambridge from Sandy Heath.

Thanks.

Flim

P.S. She does have a Goodmans FreeSat box too but that has been having pixelation issues for a while which I am still investigating.

link to this comment
Felim Doyle's 21 posts GB flag
Saturday, 5 February 2022
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:16 AM

Felim Doyle:

Reception can be quite variable around the Silverstone area, we really need her full postcode (or one of a very nearby shop or pub, etc) to look at predicted reception. But in general, one might even expect more than 72 channels unless she's in a particularly difficult spot.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Monday, 18 April 2022
W
Willie Bone
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

6:15 AM

I reckon, the relaunch of BBC Three on linear television, along with the relaunch of the BBC World Service on shortwave radio to Ukraine are both a publicity stunt by BBC management! The corporation has a strong desire to retain the television licence fee after the current BBC Royal Charter ends!

How many youngsters in an average family gather round a linear tv to watch BBC Three or any other tv channel in 2022?
DXers excepted, how many European households include a shortwave radio in 2022?

Technically, going back to the future for a programme delivery improvement, does not necessarily transpire into mproving audience reach, especially if the targetted audience has moved on to smart phones, tablets or even smart tellys!

I firmly believe, the licence fee should end and we pay for BBC services through income tax, just like we do for other publicly supported organisations.

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Willie Bone's 58 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:36 AM

Willie Bone: The relaunch of BBC Three was more about increasing the channel's content budget. It costs a lot of money to make the actual programmes and relatively little to broadcast them, particularly when the satellite and terrestrial capacity was otherwise mostly left unused. The majority of BBC Three viewers will probably continue to mainly watch via iPlayer but there is now far more content and a more prominent home for some of the live sports coverage which was previously relegated to the red button.

The shortwave services for Ukraine are funded by a grant from the government rather than the licence fee and were a response to the threat of Ukraine's domestic broadcasters being forced off air by the Russian invasion.

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 19 April 2022
W
Willie Bone
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

1:56 PM

StevensOnln1: Being an auld fart nudging the age of 69, I am now watching a lot less live tv and radio, opting for recordings/downloads of the former and using BBC Sounds listen again services for the latter. The only notable exceptions is viewing live versions of BBC One's Ten O'clock News and BBC 2's Newsnight.
Me and the missus are well into our 60s and left wondering about the viewing habits of the two generations before us, beyond our family circle including grand children? I suspect, the BBC Three linear tv channel's youngish audience is a lot smaller than it would have been five years ago, before smart tv ownership became mainstream! That stated, I respect your rationale on growth of the BBC Three programme budget while BBC Three has linear channel output!
I already realised that the government released additional funding for BBC World Service for external broadcasts to Ukraine. Even though, shortwave receiver ownership in most parts of Euriope is now tiny!
Back to my original point, the aforementioned BBC public relations exercises may never have seen the light of day if a decision on future BBC funding was not to be determined by the next elected UK government!

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Willie Bone's 58 posts GB flag
Monday, 23 May 2022
R
Robert
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

2:44 AM

Who would want to watch BBC Three?
'Dining with my Ex' or whatever it's called and drag shows aren't appealing to the masses.


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Robert's 76 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:32 PM

Robert: BBC Three is targeted at younger adults (i.e. teens to mid-30s) among whom the programmes you mention seem to be quite popular. I'm guessing that you're not in that age group.

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
J
JOHN MARTIN
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

2:29 PM

BBC is trying to cater for the younger audience who don,t watch tv especially BBC. But it is their parents or even grandparents who pay for the licence fee. One one of the programs I use to watch but has been changed for the worse. is question of sport. It has been on 40 or 50 years and has always been 2 teams of sports people of now and times gone by. But this series we have started having panelists who know nothing about sport and hosts who don,t either. Waste of licence fee money now. Finish it before it dies

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JOHN MARTIN's 103 posts GB flag
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