[Roger Darthwell]

No surprise - it was always a case of them closing them because they felt they had to rather than wanted too, and if BBC4 is saved I imagine CBBC will be too as you might as well fill the daytime too - although the wording in that article suggests BBC3 might be closed again as it's return has been unsuccessful, which is unsurprising.  It hasn't worked for the same reason the initial move online didn't work - you're asking the audience to watch the content in a different manner to what they're used too.

Will CBBC be saved if BBC4 is, though? I wonder if there would be a case for bringing forward the latter's start time to, say, 4pm or 5pm? There is certainly no shortage of content to fill the extra time. It could easily be spun as 'BBC4 was so popular that we're not only not closing it - we're extending its airtime'. 

As for BBC3 - let's face it, pre-2016, what was the main reason people watched that channel? Family Guy. Which is now doing the exact same job for ITV2 that it did for BBC3 (and isn't it funny? ITV couldn't wait to get their hands on that show once BBC3's closure was confirmed). That was the main hook for BBC3 - the 'gateway drug', if you like - that encouraged viewers to try its other programmes. Now it has nothing. Except 20-year-old Two Pints repeats. (If only the Beeb still had the rights to The Simpsons...)

I know one or two people here will want to throw eggs at me... but get rid of BBC3. They've tried bringing it back and it hasn't worked. But at least it's been tried. It's just a shame its schedule has been so lacklustre. The only way I think it could work is if they massively upped its budget - which won't happen in a month of Sundays. Cut your losses, Beeb. Keep BBC4 instead.

BBC Three's budget was actually raised to £80 million , also the BBC can cut other services instead of BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC or CBeebies.....