BBC Three brings younger audiences to high-quality public service broadcasting through a mixed-genre schedule of innovative UK content featuring new UK talent. The channel uses the full range of digital platforms to deliver its content and to build an interactive relationship with its audience.

The BBC Three schedule covers a broad range of genres, from news and current affairs to drama and the arts. Entertainment - in particular comedy - is key to the channel, and is where we are most likely to want to experiment and innovate, taking creative risks and showcasing new talent and new ideas. Our programmes across all genres will consistently engage younger audiences.

Key priorities for this year are:

Priority	Rationale
Build a robust, consistent offer in early evening peak time.	As viewer choice continues to grow, BBC Three has to increase the impact of content to maintain reach.
Grow appeal and reach of the channel among 16-34s through a multi-genre offer that engages and reflects the diversity of its target audience, such as The Mighty Boosh in comedy, Panic Room in factual, and live music events.	BBC Three is committed to providing high-quality content that entertains, informs and engages younger audiences across a range of subjects in genres.
Continue to invest in new and emerging UK comedy content and performers - such as Karen Taylor from Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor - and give them room to experiment and take risks.	In an environment where US comedy is increasingly the norm, BBC Three is committed to developing home-grown comedy talent as a distinctive offer that appeals to younger viewers.
Continue to support high-impact events, e.g. music, that reflect the diversity of our audience and their experience, pioneering the use of new digital platforms to widen access to our content.	High-impact content and the use of digital platforms will drive both the visibility and the reputation of BBC Three among its target audience.

Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
BBC Three is committed to supporting creative innovation, the development of new talent and risk-taking. We support new British content across the range of genres. Specifically this year we will invest in a number of home-grown comedies, such as Gavin and Stacey, a series set in Wales and Essex; Adam and Shelley, a new comedy sketch show; and a second series of the hit comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous. Each of these series will have dedicated websites.

BBC Three is a test-bed for new and emerging talent - look out this year for emerging comedy actors Adam and Shelley Longworth in Adam and Shelley.

This year we will:

• Provide at least 50 hours of new music and arts programming, including live music from Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds, and T in the Park.
• Ensure that at least 20% of output is supported interactively each year.

Promoting education and learning
BBC Three aims to secure a reputation for knowledge-building programmes by tackling both old and new subject areas in ways that feel different, innovative and interesting to younger audiences. We will feature original formats and approaches to specialist factual areas such as science, business, parenting, belief and race; promote informal learning; and extend individual horizons. This year we will bring environmental issues to a younger audience through the series Outrageous Wasters.

This year we will:

• Broadcast at least 50 hours of new factual, knowledge-building programmes, including The Liverpool Nativity, which will tell the story of the first Christmas through the music of Liverpool.

Sustaining citizenship and civil society
BBC Three is committed to showing news, current affairs and documentaries in an innovative, distinctive way to engage younger audiences. News is presented in short, headline bulletins throughout the evening on weekdays, while documentaries focus on reflecting life in the UK without shying away from debate or potential controversy. Subjects we hope to cover this year include transport policy, civil liberties and political correctness.

For 2007/2008 we will:

• Broadcast at least 15 hours of new current affairs programmes, including the return of the award-winning documentary series Mischief, which aims to tackle serious current affairs issues to inform and engage younger viewers.
• Ensure that around 15% of hours broadcast will be news, current affairs, education, music and the arts, including a second Body Image season that will tackle the concerns and obsessions of young people in the UK through a series of distinctive documentaries.

Representing the UK's nations, regions and communities
BBC Three aims to produce content that reflects the lives and concerns of younger audiences in a distinctive, innovative way. In particular, the channel aims to reflect the diversity and multiculturalism of UK society in our output (on-screen portrayal and subject matter) and in the origin of our programming.

Much of our content this year will reflect the different nations, regions and communities of the UK. For example, Drop Dead Gorgeous and The Liverpool Nativity will be filmed around the north-west of England; and Gavin and Stacey will be based in Wales and Essex.

In addition, we will have unrivalled coverage of live music festivals from across the UK.

Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK
BBC Three is fundamentally a British channel dedicated to UK talent and content. But we recognise that we do not exist in a vacuum and so provide news and current affairs output that covers global issues and other output that takes a wider world view. Although such content is not core to the channel's offer, we still take the opportunity to make it engaging and innovative, such as with Last Man Standing, which will depict six Western adventurers as they live and try to integrate with autochthonous tribes around the world.

Emerging communications
BBC Three is at the heart of the BBC's efforts to build digital Britain. Multiple-media platforms will be used to ensure that we remain at the forefront of technology - where our audiences expect us to be - and allow them to access and interact with our content. At least 20% of output will be supported interactively, including for the first time this year a full premiering service of all comedy and drama titles via the channel site, and cross-platform experiences for all music festivals and some Radio 1 concerts, including red button, internet catch-up and user-generated content.

Reach: BBC Three should contribute towards the maintenance of combined BBC weekly reach for all BBC services at over 90% by aiming to increase its own weekly reach, particularly among younger adult viewers.

Quality: Audience approval of BBC Three and perceptions of it as high quality and innovative. Also, the proportion of originated programmes across all hours including repeats.

Impact: Licence fee payer awareness of BBC Three and audience perceptions of BBC Three as engaging and challenging.

Value for money: BBC Three's cost per viewer hour.

The following targets are agreed with Ofcom each calendar year:

• 80% of hours, and 70% of hours in peak, to be originations (original productions include all BBC-commissioned programming, excluding repeats of programming first shown on another BBC public service channel). (1)
• To ensure that a minimum of 25% of qualifying hours are provided by independent producers.

The following commitment has been made to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport:

• At least 90% of programme hours will be of EU/EEA origin.

And in conjunction with other BBC network television services:

• To spend at least 30% of relevant programme production budgets, representing 25% of hours of productions by volume, outside the M25.

To maintain the current broad range of programmes produced outside the M25, and broad range of different production centres used across the UK.