Hundreds of celebrities including Daniel Radcliffe, Olivia Colman and Jack Whitehall have signed a letter calling for plans to move BBC Three online to be shelved.
The letter, which is due to be delivered to BBC bosses on Tuesday June 9, says the move will hinder the chances for new talent.
It features around 750 names, including writers, agents and off-screen talent.
The BBC is still awaiting final sign-off for the movement from the BBC Trust.
It says: “Disastrously, the closure and move online will remove at a stroke a vitally important outlet for new talent and innovative ideas, where some of the most successful and influential names currently working in British television were given their first chance.”
Aiden Turner, Russell Howard and Rob Brydon have also signed the letter.
It continues: “Either the BBC can continue to cater predominantly for an increasingly elderly audience or it can take the lead and safeguard its position as a beloved and relevant public broadcaster by investing in the talent and the audiences who are the building blocks of the future.”
Image caption Don’t Tell The Bride is moving to BBC One
Plans to move BBC Three from digital terrestrial TV to online were unveiled in December.
It’s part of the BBC’s cost-cutting plans and is set to make savings of around £50m.
In April, it was confirmed that the BBC Three online move had been pushed back to early 2016 because bosses didn’t want any changes to be rushed.
But the BBC Trust has yet to give the final go-ahead.
Image caption Family Guy is moving to BBC Two, but future series have been bought by ITV2
A petition signed by 270,000 people was delivered to the BBC in February.
A BBC spokesperson said at the time: “With the licence fee frozen, we’ve had to make some difficult choices in order to save £800m a year, including moving BBC Three online.
“There is no easy solution and we have chosen to make a bold move to reinvent the service rather than simply having to take money out of all our programmes across the board.”
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Source:: BBC Entertainment
