Please don’t go.

This could be the beginning of a very long and messy break up for the channel, which should now be setting its general life status to “it’s complicated”, courtesy of the BBC Director General.

Generally, we’re not a political website, we don’t comment or hold views on any really important national stuff, but this really does seem like a bad idea.

I mean, who else captures the youth audience in the same way? ITV2 does, but that’s proper shit really, isn’t it.

BBC Three always manages to get really terrible television sandwiched right next to some beautiful and insightful documentaries or serious dramas. Take, for instance, the stark contrast between Snog Marry Avoid, and Criminal Britain Season (I know the last clip is just an ident introducing it, but just listen to the kind of stuff they can do when they really put their minds to it, the series was lauded by critics, just look at the review for “My Murder”).

I’m not going to get into the debate of how much money it will save, the corporation is squeezed money-wise at the moment, but it does seem a little harsh to just completely put one channel online.

Arguably, it’s the one channel that can go fully online, BBC One and Two are too big to put online, and BBC Four is watched only by people like my parents who have difficulty finding the on button on the TiVo remote. CBeebies and CBBC are watched by audiences for which they are too young (mostly) to be relying on online content.

And, and, let’s not forget that since October, BBC Three has just gone through a rebrand which saw the station go from this (which was all crap):

To this. LOOK AT IT, IT IS TRENDY AND NEW AND “WIV DA KIDS”:

I just love the new ident packages. The fourth one is crap, but the others are so cool, just listen to those sick basslines on the third and fifth ones. You also get to hear the beautiful Reggie Yates yelling “THREE” every time a new programme is about to start.

It’s not entirely clear how the new format might even work either, does it just mean at 7pm every night all the evening’s “shows” for BBC Three will be available on iPlayer? Or will it still broadcast as a station but only available on iPlayer as a “live channel” and as catch up. These are details which all need to be clarified.

I just feel like it is a step in the wrong direction. Maybe we the rest of the UK has really really good broadband, then it’s a foreseeable option, but not at the moment.

The petition is available for your perusal on change.org.