Cohen unveils plans to combine BBC3’s TV and internet output

Published Tuesday 22 January 2008 at 17:00 by Matthew Hemley

BBC3 controller Danny Cohen has unveiled plans to turn the channel into a “multi-platform experience”, where TV and the internet combine to create a single, integrated offering.

Cohen said BBC3 will next month become the first of the Corporation’s non-news channels to show all its programmes online at the same time as they are being screened on television.

He also said there will be new online content that is made with the “passion and production values normally associated with television”, and cited the forthcoming talent search show Upstaged as an example of this.

The eight-part series will see members of the public audition for a chance to perform in one of two stages located in glass boxes that will be on display in Bristol’s Millennium Square.

From those selected to perform in the boxes, the online community will be able to vote for the act who entertains them the most, with the least popular act replaced at the end of each day.

For the first five weeks, the series will be shown exclusively online, with only its final three weeks being screened on television.

Also as part of BBC3’s new look, Cohen said user-generated content will be put at the “heart of the peak time schedule” and viewers will be able to record their own introductions to programmes, that will then be broadcast on BBC3.

“BBC3 should be known for pioneering risk. It should be obsessed with everything new - new talent, new programmes and new relationships with TV and the web,” he said.

In terms of drama, Cohen said BBC3 was “committed to creating a consistent supply of imaginative drama” and added he had lined up six original pilots that will be shown from next month.

These include Phoo Action, a drama about a Buddhist kung fu policeman that has been co-written by Jessica Hynes, and The Things I Haven’t Told You, written by Lisa McGee.

At least one of the six pilots will be turned into a full series next year.

Comedy for this year on BBC3 includes sketch shows The Wrong Door and Scallywagga, starring Sally Lindsay.

BBC3 will also screen Coming of Age, a brand new sitcom written by 19-year-old Tim Dawson, and new series of Gavin and Stacey and Pulling.

As well as Upstaged, entertainment on BBC3 includes The Wall, a series Cohen says will “create a space for new comic talent to develop their skills and hone their craft”.