BBC Choice was a British digital television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
TV channel to broadcast exclusively in
digital format, as well as the BBC's second non-analogue-terrestrial channel launch (following on from the
BBC News channel
BBC News (also known as the BBC News Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television news channel for BBC News. It was launched as BBC News 24 on 9 November 1997 at 5:30 pm as part of the BBC's foray into digital domestic telev ...
in 1997).
At launch, BBC Choice mainly existed to supplement existing programming on BBC One and Two, with some low-profile original programming of its own.
However, faced with low ratings for both Choice and
BBC Knowledge
BBC Knowledge was a British television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 1 June 1999, broadcasting documentary, cultural and educational programmes. It was shut down on 2 March 2002, and was replaced by BBC Four.
History
L ...
, in 2000 the BBC's digital strategy changed. Under new controller
Stuart Murphy
Stuart Neil Luke Murphy (born 6 November 1971 in Leeds), is the Chief Executive of the English National Opera. He was educated at St Mary's School, Menston and Clare College, Cambridge.
From 2012 - 2015, he was Director, Entertainment Channels a ...
, the channel began to aim specifically at a young adult audience. The BBC ultimately planned to replace the channel with the higher-profile
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...
, which, after some delay, began broadcasting in February 2003.
History
Launch
When BBC Choice launched, no digital TV receivers were available to the general public as
Sky Digital and
ONdigital
ITV Digital was a British digital terrestrial television Broadcasting, broadcaster which launched a pay-TV service on the world's first digital terrestrial television network. Its main shareholders were Carlton Communications plc and Granada ...
had not yet launched. Instead, the launch programme was broadcast over the internet, with the first day's schedule including a ''
Tomorrow's World
''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...
'' guide to digital television and repeats of the very first episodes of ''
EastEnders'' and ''
Monty Python's Flying Circus''.
The main format of the channel was a mix of BBC One and Two programming as well as original programming such as ''Backstage'', broadcast live each weeknight, which took viewers behind the scenes of different parts of the BBC. The channel also provided exclusive coverage of music festivals such as
Glastonbury
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbur ...
and extended live coverage of sport, for when either BBC One or Two have to end their coverage early or their schedules are unable to provide live sport action.
BBC Choice also introduced an innovative programme format known as 'Hotlink', which expanded on popular shows. Examples included ''
Watchdog Extra'', where viewers could contact the show by phone or e-mail with either questions or feedback on the issues discussed. ''
Crimewatch Extra'' provided follow-up detail on the cases involved in the main programme, and ''Row Z'' was a football discussion forum that aired after ''
Match of the Day
''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...
'' finished on BBC One. The 'Hotlink' format has since been adopted by many other channels, particularly both
ITV2 and
E4.
BBC Choice initially broadcast from 5pm daily; this later switched to 7pm. The 7pm start carried over into its successor BBC Three.
Children's programming
BBC Choice also aired
children's programmes; this duty transferred to
CBBC Channel
CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7– ...
and
CBeebies
CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...
when they launched on the 11th of February 2002.
For the first year of BBC Choice, children's programming would air on weekend afternoons as CBBC Choice, and included strands like 'Dog & Dinosaur', 'The Crew Room', 'L&K Replay' and 'Re:Peter'. From 29 November 1999, this was supplanted with a daily CBBC on Choice strand, running from 6am to 7pm every day, for programmes aimed at pre-school children, with presentation links pre-recorded by a CBBC presenter. It included repeats of archive shows rarely seen on the main channels, such as ''
Mr Benn
Mr Benn is a character created by David McKee who originally appeared in several children's books. The first, ''Mr Benn Red Knight'', was published in 1967, followed by three more; these became the basis for an animated television series of the ...
'', ''
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...
'', ''
Simon and the Witch
''Simon and the Witch'' is a children's book by Margaret Stuart Barry, published by Collins, illustrated by Linda Birch. It also refers to the name of the series, which follows on. Simon is a very sensible young schoolboy, who has a friend wh ...
'', ''
Ivor the Engine
''Ivor the Engine'' is a British cutout animation television series created by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms company. It follows the adventures of a small green steam locomotive who lives in the "top left-hand corner of Wales" ...
'', ''
Jonny Briggs
''Jonny Briggs'' is a Children's BBC kitchen sink realism television programme first broadcast in 1985. It revolves around the exploits of a young boy, the eponymous hero (played by Richard Holian), his pet dog, Razzle, and his eccentric fami ...
'', ''
Pigeon Street
''Pigeon Street'' is a cutout animated children's television series, written by Michael Cole, originally shown on the BBC in 1981 as part of its 'See-Saw' strand for preschoolers. There were two series with eight and five episodes respective ...
'', and ''
Bitsa
''Bitsa'' was a British television programme broadcast from 1991 to 1996 on the Children's BBC strand on BBC1. It involved creative arts and "makes" very much like later show ''SMart''. It was repeated for a time on the now defunct digital chan ...
''. This continued until February 2002, when the
CBBC
CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
and
CBeebies
CBeebies is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 years and under. Its sister channel CBBC is aimed at older childr ...
channels launched, with the
CBBC Channel
CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 7– ...
taking up BBC Choice's daytime broadcast bandwidth, but occupying a separate
EPG
Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for ...
position.
Post-2000 refresh
In June 2000, the BBC radically changed its digital channel formats. The initial format had seen BBC Choice target a similar mixed audience to BBC One and Two with a general entertainment skew, with BBC Knowledge focusing on educational and informative programming. From 2000 both Knowledge and Choice became targeted to more specific audiences, with Knowledge moving to a broader documentary and culture mix and Choice focusing on developing a stronger relationship with the young adult audience, which historically the BBC had difficulty reaching. BBC Choice abandoned many of its original programmes such as ''Backstage'', and aimed at younger people, with most of the early part of the schedules being made up of fifteen-minute programmes under the banner of "Refreshing TV" or "Micro TV". Entertainment news magazine ''
Liquid News
''Liquid News'' was a daily round up of entertainment news for BBC Three (and before that BBC Choice) running from 30 May 2000 to 1 April 2004. The show was also broadcast weekly on BBC One and internationally on BBC Prime and BBC America.
The p ...
'', presented by
Christopher Price, evolved out of News 24's ''Zero 30'' and became the channel's flagship show.
Announcement of the end of BBC Choice
In August 2000, the BBC announced that it would replace BBC Choice as soon as possible with
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...
, which would be a continuation of the "youth" aspect of the new BBC Choice. But the government delayed approving the relaunch, which formed part of wider plans to reshape the BBC's digital provision, plans which also included the proposed
BBC Four, two children's channels and five digital radio stations. Whilst BBC Three was delayed, the other proposals gained the approval of Parliament and the new channels went on air in 2002, meaning BBC Four launched prior to BBC Three. From October 2001, BBC Choice began screening a significant amount of new, young-skewing programming, the kind of content that had been earmarked for BBC Three.
The BBC submitted a revised proposal for the new channel raised the target age range to 25–34 and increased the amount of factual and arts programming, with a nightly 15-minute news programme – it was hoped these changes would better illustrate how BBC Three would differ from rivals such as
E4,
ITV2 and
Sky One. This new proposal for BBC Three was given the go-ahead in September 2002, with a set of public-service conditions laid down and a launch date of February 2003 set. The final night of BBC Choice was given over entirely to previews of the new channel.
Programming
Initially, the main attractions of BBC Choice were multi-broadcast TV shows, with the option to choose which programme you viewed. The first broadcast by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
option. In addition, BBC Choice also aired new episodes of some series, such as ''
'', before their first broadcast on the terrestrial BBC channels.
Its single-show programming was mainly concerned with celebrities, including documentary profiles and the nightly entertainment magazine ''
''. ''
'' was the only show from the original 1998 channel lineup to survive and outlive the entire life of the channel itself, transferring to its successor, BBC Three.
which were broadcast in place of the network BBC Choice service in their respective areas from 10:30pm (following the ''
'' replay) to circa midnight nightly. At the time the BBC's digital offering included the national variants of BBC One (England, Scotland, Wales, NI) and a single nationwide BBC Two.
The regional variations of Choice were discontinued in 2001 in favour of introducing regional opt-outs on
in Wales, analogue and digital versions of BBC Two were separately scheduled, but by 2010 all differences between the analogue and digital variants of BBC Two had ceased, and there is now one version of the channel in each area, broadcasting on analogue (until switchoff) and digital platforms. The English regional variants of
were made available digitally from 2003.
Since the cessation of the BBC Choice splits, all BBC digital TV channels (including Choice's successor
) have operated as UK-wide services with no regional opt-out functionality.