BBC Choice
history
BBC Choice was a TV station from the BBC, which launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in digital format. BBC Choice showed children's TV shows from 6am-5pm under the name 'CBBC Choice' (later 'CBBC on Choice') which initially had its own presentation following the BBC Choice presentation of the time which featured three objects related to each other (e.g. heart of stone, heart of fire, light heart). This started from October 1998, a month after the launch of BBC Choice. It was launched to fill the gap of broadcasting space not used when BBC Choice was off air (before 5pm). Therefore the main BBC Choice programming and branding started from 5pm-midnight and then 7pm-midnight starting from the launch of the CBBC Channel.
History
Launch
When BBC Choice launched no digital TV receivers were available to the general public as Sky Digital and ONdigital had not launched yet. The BBC said this was to allow them to make sure there were no problems in the first few days of broadcasting. Instead, the launch was broadcast online over the internet. The main format of the channel was a mix of BBC One and Two programming as well as original programming such as "Backstage" which took viewers on a tour of the BBC every episode. It was seen that BBC Choice was the new third choice and alternative the normal BBC One and Two schedules. This was reflected in the channels original on-screen presentation which featured groups of threes. The ident "Heart" featured three hearts; a heart of stone, a heart of fire, and a light heart. Other idents included "Mouse" (computer mouse, real mouse, clockwork mouse), "Fan" (football fan, desk fan, paper fan), "Punch" (the Punch puppet from Punch and Judy, a boxing glove, and a bowl of punch) and then later on "Trumpets" (elephant's trumpet, daffodil "trumpet" and a trumpet instrument).
This on-screen presentation told a lot about the channel; the BBC were to have three general entertainment channels, BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Choice. BBC News 24, already launched, was not seen as a general entertainment channel even though it included programmes such as Zero30 (an entertainment round up shown at half past midnight). In May 1999, BBC Knowledge launched. Choice’s “family of three” strategy was beginning to look increasingly out of place as the BBC wanted to market a family of five or six. Greg Dyke’s arrival at the BBC also radically changed John Birt’s digital vision.
June 2000 relaunch
In June 2000, the BBC radically changed its digital channel formats. Initially Knowledge, Choice and even News 24 had all been varied networks, each showing a variety of programming, but now all that was to change. From 3 April 2000 both Knowledge and Choice became more focussed and direct about the audience they were serving. Knowledge’s children’s programming was largely dropped and each day was themed around a particular style of programming. But the more long-term implications were on BBC Choice, which abandoned many of its original programmes such as Backstage, and moved towards opening every night at 7pm. This was to follow thirteen hours of children’s programming, in the newly-renamed CBBC on Choice. The new BBC Choice was 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”. Whilst many of these – on a variety of subjects from cocktails to past-it TV stars – had merit, they alienated some of the original BBC Choice audience, who had been used to new content most nights (if in an inexpensive form like Backstage). Now the same programmes seemed to be repeated every night. Soon though the saving grace of the new-style BBC Choice was to arrive at the end of May 2000. Liquid News evolved out of News 24’s Zero 30 and it restored live output to the Choice schedules. Presenter Christopher Price seemingly brought "a breath of fresh air" to what some people thought already thought a tired channel. Since the relaunch the only ident to be used from the original set was “Heart” version, and from July that was replaced by a remixed version. It summed up the new BBC Choice – a re-hash of the original. The three hearts were supposedly badly cut out of the original ident, superimposed over a fluorescent background and interchanged to "weak whooshy" noises.
Announcement of the end of BBC Choice
Even after all of this change, anyone who had actually kept watching the new format didn’t have long to. In August 2000 Greg Dyke announced that the BBC would seek to replace BBC Choice as soon as possible with BBC Three, which would be a continuation of the “youth” aspect of the new BBC Choice. This announcement effectively signed a "death warrant" on Choice, and it marked the beginning of over two years of the channel being on "death row", awaiting the government to approve BBC Three. Whilst, of course, Three would have the same staff as Choice, it was difficult for the BBC to enthuse about something that they had already confirmed they wanted to end. But the government refused to approve the BBC’s digital plans, which also advocated BBC4, two children’s channels and five digital radio stations, with any urgent haste. They were postponed again, again and again, not helped by the general election of June 2001 and a change of culture secretary. The government was also under enormous pressure from the likes of E4, Sky One and Nickelodeon not to approve the plans. The government’s decision eventually became apparent on 13 September that year, and whilst most of the new digital output was given the green light, BBC Three was refused, due to being “indistinctive” from the offerings already existing. This decision clearly shocked the BBC, and it became apparent that they had expected for the new channel to be on air soon after the announcement. In July that year 60 Seconds began – the new one-minute news bulletin that had been proposed for BBC Three, and three bouncing cubes replaced the idents from the year before. The new channel was ready for launch, but it was not allowed to launch until the BBC re-submitted its plans. From October 2001 BBC Choice took on a lot of programming that had clearly been earmarked for BBC Three – new productions such as Closure, and premiers of Shooting Stars, which they had clearly been hoping to launch the channel with. The new submission for the channel raised the target age range to 25-34 and increased the amount of factual and arts programming, with a nightly fifteen minute news programme. Once again, the government proved extremely slow in reaching a decision on the plans. During this time, BBC Choice and Three were dealt another blow.
BBC Choice and Three suffer another blow
Christopher Price, arguably the face of BBC Choice, died in April 2002. Liquid News had been a central part of the BBC Three proposal and his death threw the plans into chaos once again. The programme experimented with guest presenters before finally relaunching with Claudia Winkleman and Colin Paterson at the helm on in October that year. But by this time the BBC had finally achieved what it had wanted – BBC Three was given the go ahead in September, but with a set of public service conditions.
The end of Choice
With a launch date of 9 February announced, most of the autumn’s schedule was taken up by Fame Academy coverage, and following this from Christmas onwards the channel only broadcast repeats and trailers for BBC Three. Aside from Liquid News and 60 Seconds, the channel began to work its way through its back catalogue of comedy, music and drama such as 24. It was clear that effort was being piled into BBC Three during this time but it was an undignified end for a channel that many people thought had promised so much. From just before Christmas the “blocks” idents were replaced with “under construction” idents, which showed two workmen (initially) tearing down the old BBC Choice ident and beginning work on a giant construction (the big "Three" logo used in the background of the BBC Three blob idents). Over the weeks this gradually announced how many weeks there were to go, and then days. During Choice’s last week both Liquid News and 60 Seconds both went off air, and gradually the schedule became more and more filled with BBC Three preview films. As already detailed BBC Choice closed with an entire night of previews, and the final ident featuring the “BBC Choice” logo being knocked out of position by a builder’s cup of coffee – aired just after 1am, with the announcer promising to "flick the switch soon". BBC Three launched that night at 7pm.
Programming
Initially, the main attractions of the new station were multi-broadcast TV shows, with the option to choose which program you viewed. The first broadcast by the BBC with this option was two months after the launch of the channel, showing Stressed Eric, with Naked Video as the Digital Teletext option. Its single-show programming was mainly concerned with celebrities, including documentary profiles and the nightly entertainment magazine Liquid News. EastEnders Revealed was the only show from the original 1998 channel lineup to survive and outlive the entire life of the channel itself, as it still broadcasts regularly on BBC Three today.
Children's programming
Another important aspect of BBC Choice's programming was its children's output, initially branded CBBC Choice and then CBBC on Choice using the regular presenters from CBBC One & Two to present a wide range of programming for younger viewers. Starting a month after Choice's launch, this took up most of BBC Choice's daytime hours and included repeats of archive shows rarely seen on the main channels, such as Mr Benn, Paddington, Simon and the Witch, Ivor the Engine, '' Jonny Briggs , Pigeon Street, The Family Ness.'' and Bitsa. BBC Choice would regularly start at 5pm and so CBBC on Choice filled the time before that (6am-5pm). CBBC on Choice was split off in 2002 to become CBeebies, a separate channel to BBC Choice on TV channel lists but still sharing the same broadcasting slot as BBC Knowledge. As well as this the CBBC Channel launched which shared space with BBC Choice. Now with later schedule endings of 7pm, BBC Choice and Knowledge were pushed back from their starting times of 5pm for Choice and all day for Knowledge to 7pm. This led to switching failures on the first night when it was time for BBC Choice and Knowledge to start at their new later times of 7pm. Initially both channels continued broadcasting on the CBBC Channel (BBC Choice) and CBeebies (BBC Knowledge) slots but were later taken off air as it was deemed unsuitable to broadcast post-watershed (after 9pm) programmes on channels in the children's part of digital TV guides.
Regional variations
BBC Choice had several regional variations for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland which were broadcast instead of network BBC Choice in their respective countries. Even so, all of the programming and continuity was the same apart from 10pm onwards on Fridays. The regional variations were discontinued in 2001 in favour of regional opt-outs on BBC Two digital services, such as BBC 2W, presumably due to BBC Choice shifting away from its general entertainment focus to a young adult oriented focus.
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