BBC Three Sends Scripted Comedy to BBC iPlayer

LONDON: BBC Three plans to debut all of its scripted comedy programming on BBC iPlayer starting at the end of next month.

The launch will allow viewers to watch BBC Three scripted comedy series on the service a week before they air on television. It will start off with the second season of Bad Education, written by and starring Jack Whitehall. BBC iPlayer is currently offered on more than 650 devices and platforms.

Zai Bennett, controller of BBC Three, stated: "BBC Three audiences are digitally savvy, and view our programs in a number of different ways online and on the go. We’ve already been experimenting with online content, starting with the hugely popular Comedy Feeds, now in their second season and with a third in the pipeline. Premiering our scripted comedies on BBC iPlayer is an obvious and exciting step forward for BBC Three, and yet another innovative way to give our viewers more choice in the ways they can enjoy our programs."

Victoria Jaye, the head of BBC TV content online and IPTV, added: "We want to use BBC iPlayer to maximize audiences’ discovery of BBC programs and increase the time they spend with the BBC. Forty-two percent of viewers who to come to BBC iPlayer today do so without anything specific in mind to watch, and over a third are happy to try new and different content. This presents a fantastic opportunity to use BBC iPlayer as a complementary platform to schedule broadcast programs in new ways, and innovate with content that showcases fresh U.K. talent. We’re incredibly excited to see how audiences respond to premiering BBC Three scripted comedies on BBC iPlayer, and to our separate trial to premiere a small number of programs from other BBC channels."