James Corden believes moving BBC Three online is the right decision for the channel.
The 35-year-old actor became a household name playing Smithy in the hit comedy series ‘Gavin and Stacey’, which first two series were broadcast on the digital channel.
Corden accepts he is probably in a "public minority" but is convinced the corporation’s decision to take BBC Three off television in autumn 2015 – due to financial limitations caused by the license fee freeze – and make it online only is correct because it is safeguarding the channel’s future.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, he said: "If they were saying, ‘We’re closing BBC Three and this avenue is closed to new writers and creators’, then I would be as outraged as people are about it [not] being on TV.
"Provided there is still a commitment to it as a channel and there’s investment in young writers and young performers and young directors, and its programmes … are aimed at a new and fresh audience, then actually online is the best place for it to be."
Corden thinks the complaints by some of the channel’s stars such as Nick Grimshaw and Jack Whitehall are misguided and insists the future of entertainment is going to be heavily influenced by the web.
The funnyman is also unsure if his show ‘Gavin & Stacey’ – which was eventually broadcast on BBC One – would be commisioned by BBC Three if he and co-writer Ruth Jones pitched it now.
He added: "If I was sat here telling you I had just signed a huge deal with Netflix you’d be going, ‘Wow, that’s amazing.’ You can’t see it as, ‘Oh, it’s no longer a channel because it’s not on TV’ … I think it (BBC Three) should always be at the forefront of what is fresh and exciting, and therefore it should be the first channel to exist online … The truth is I don’t know if ‘Gavin & Stacey’ would be commissioned by BBC3 today. It has a much younger outlook now."
An online petition to stop BBC Three from being taken off digital TV has attracted over 225,000 signatures, while the station’s controller Zai Bennett has described the planned move as "perverse".
James Corden: BBC Three should move online
