BBC - Commissioning Briefs - Features, Formats & Factual on BBC Three

What We Want

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Features, Formats & Factual on BBC Three

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Commissioning Editor: Charlotte Moore

Overview

At BBC Three, we always look for bold ideas with a clear proposition and the confidence to engage and hold the attention of a demanding audience.

We want to connect with all of our audience: from informing and keeping relevant to the lives of younger viewers (16-34 years), whilst at the same time reaching out to older viewers who enjoy challenging, original content. We want to force people to re-engage with the world and think about things differently - if, on occasion, we are making our audience feel uncomfortable, then we are doing something right. Our factual output is unique and stretches in all directions - provocative and funny, entertaining and challenging - whilst always remaining confident and original.

What's been working well gallery

Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents appealed to both younger viewers and their parents, providing a shared way in to its subject matter and attracting an average audience of 1.1million viewers to the channel.

Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents

Our War made use of remarkable access to the frontline of the war in Afghanistan enabling those involved to tell their own stories in their own words and offering new perspectives on the human experience of war. The title attracted 1.2 million viewers; making it the highest-performing Factual title on BBC Three in 2011.

Our War

Bizarre ER takes an entertaining approach to traditionally more serious subject-matter attracting a respectible audience of 0.62million.

Bizarre ER

Features, Formats & Factual - BBC Three - Brave and experimental programmes for 2230

We are open to a variety of shapes. Be brave and experimental. This is the moment to capture the audience with accessible content and rich specialist factual information. Our most successful shows in this slot are in areas that were unexplored until we went there with compelling formats, so look for ways to surprise.

What are the next eye-catching formats to demand attention? Additionally, what subjects close to the lives of young adults are ripe for exploration from a more provocative angle or with dark humour?

Think big: this slot could be a platform for campaign or event-led thinking with the right subject for the audience.

Success stories include: How Drugs Work, Our War and Bizarre E.R.

Subject areas:

Globalisation and consumer ethics

Connecting the experiences of our young audience with the lives of people in developing countries. What is the impact in the third world of their everyday decisions and choices?

Disability and body image

Interrogating issues and pressures around body image which are faced by young people, including taking disabled people from the margins and representing them at the heart of our schedule. How can we explore this area from a range of perspectives from pure entertainment to more serious expositions? We are planning a season around body image in the Autumn which asks whether changing your body really brings happiness.

Family dynamics from a young person's perspective

For young people growing up today traditional family life and close community ties are less clear and increasingly rare. How do families organise themselves to raise children and build support networks in this modern context? This area can also include rites of passage - following young people joining the world of work, discovering alcohol, sex - as we record the lives of young people in Britain.

We are specifically looking for formats and series ideas for both our Bringing-Up Britain Season which will tell stories from the frontline of parenting and The Modern Family season which asks ‘is there such as thing as the average family in the UK anymore?'

Quirky Takes on Contemporary Life

This primarily involves our features output and entertaining formats that take a light hearted approach to areas such as makeovers, consumer rights, relationships, personal habits and health. What is the next innovative, distinctive or subverted approach to exploring these subjects that will break through and capture attention?

Contemporary history

For the younger audience near history from the past decade that sheds light on contemporary issues can be the most engaging. What are the stories that have great relevance to life today, but might which only have begun when the audience were children?

Features, Formats & Factual - BBC Three - Impactful programmes at 2100

We continue to look for returnable formats as a priority, but we are open to a variety of shapes.

Crucially, programmes here are all about making an impact, so they must have a clear sense of purpose - what is the question you are asking of a subject or of young people?

Think of provocative experiences and social experiments that take the audience on a journey and challenge them to think about their lives differently - immersing them in new places, clashing them with new people or surrounding them with new ideas and perspectives.

Explore hidden worlds, take an investigative attitude - crucially, think about what will make an audience keep coming back to a programme again and again. This is a space to be innovative; use fresh new approaches or create events to bring the audience to more difficult subjects.

Success stories include: Small Teen Bigger World, Our War and Kids Behind Bars.

Features, Formats & Factual - BBC Three - Striking pre-watershed programmes

Returnable formats are a priority, but we are open to a variety of shapes. High entertainment values are key here to capturing a broad, young adult audience. To break through the noise on the digital EPG at this competitive time of evening ideas must be striking and significantly distinctive or showcase talent.

Be provocative and cheeky in terms of subject matter and tone - pre-watershed never means bland. Recent successes in this slot have won a loyal following with a playful "guilty pleasures" approach.

Take us people-watching: think about how to show human nature laid bare (particularly, though not exclusively, relationships and body image), with comedic or serious impact.

Success stories include: Misbehaving Mums To Be, Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents and Don't Tell the Bride.

Where are the opportunities available?

Opportunities in 2012/13 in the WoCC. Please note that a number of hours have a Nations and/or a Regional quota attached.

How should I submit my ideas and who should I pitch to?

All proposals should be submitted via the e-commissioning system to the relevant genre controller or commissioner. Take a look at the Who's Who for the latest BBC Three Features, Formats & Factual commissioning team contacts

Want to know more about the broader BBC Three service strategy?

If you would like to know more about Zai Bennett's BBC Three channel strategy, please visit the BBC Three page.

BBC - Commissioning - Features, Formats & Factual on BBC Three