Will The UK Lose Family Guy & American Dad When BBC3 Closes? Probably…

British adult animation fans are going to feel the pinch next year when Family Guy and American Dad disappear along with the rest of BBC3. How does our British correspondent feel about the loss? Find out below.

The British Broadcasting corporation, otherwise known as the BBC, announced early this year its plans to close teen-centric, lightweight entertainment channel, BBC3. To many above the age of 30-including myself, the news comes as no great loss. The channel has become synonymous with teen exposés and shock-tactic shows such as “Sun, Sea, and Suspicious Parents”, which is as awful as the name suggests ( watch your 18 year-old daughter  have a Jaeger Bomb fueled gang-bang? Where do I sign up!?) but has also become home to some genuinely appealing, and sometimes groundbreaking home-grown comedy shows along with American imports such as massively popular adult animations, American Dad and Family Guy. BBC3 is so identifiable as the home of American Dad  it is there that new episodes are shown, ahead of the latest seasons on creator Seth McFarlane’s once parent channel, Fox.

 

Just last week  our own Gonzo Green, announced the start of Family Guy season 12, on, of course; BBC3 from July 20th. If the channel is renewing contracts for firm favourites such as the adventures at chez Griffin, what the merry hell is going on? Is BBC3 waving a slow, drawn out farewell or not? The main concern here is that the channel is not disappearing entirely, merely moving online as viewing trends in the 16-35 demographic become more centered on web-based watching. The BBC reportedly stands to save £100 million from the switch to internet TV: surely that means an inevitable loss in quality?

 

In the US, the big discussion among TV viewers is whether or not they should “cut the cable”, effectively cancelling all but the most basic of cable packages and catching all the best shows through streaming services such as Hulu and Netflix, and to a lesser extent, apps like HBO Plus. This is not particularly a relevant argument when discussing the loss of BBC 3 as the BBC is not a cable or satellite network, you don’t pay subscription fees, you pay for a licence to watch BBC channels, a scheme which has kept the broadcasting company advert free for nearly 80 years.  Since the move to digital, the BBC has struggled to keep ahead of viewing trends and the most pertinent discussion for the company is whether to abandon the TV licence altogether as it seems like  an anachronism left over from a bygone era. All BBC digital channels are available through your Freeview digi-box but the reliance on extra content, available through the red button or online, means that somehow you are going to need to be connected to a router and the established British TV channels are not a part of any corporation that offers a broadband and TV package. The main rival in this regard is Rupert Murdoch’s BskyB Broadcasting which offers TV, Broadband and telephone from as little as £52. To have to pay a license fee on top of that just hurts. As far as the BBC goes I only watch 3 and 4 and now we are waving bye-bye to 3, what’s the point in paying my licence?

 

The Spectator in March sarcastically analysed the demise of the channel  with statements like: “The idea that they’ll (teens) be bothered by not being able to watch Pramface and Snog Marry Avoid? on that steam-powered thing in the corner of the room called a … what was it again? … oh yes, a ‘television’ … is ridiculous.” and that the transition to the iPlayer was not only inevitable but necessary. I happen to think that is bullshit, and it is all because of programmes such as Family Guy and American Dad

 

BBC3 has been integral to the popularity of Family Guy, and by association, American Dad, in the UK. BBC 3 began life as BBC Choice in 2001 and after a swift rebranding, became the flagship channel for BBC’s digital endeavours: 4 was for art 3 was for comedy. The channel quickly produced classics such as Little Britain and Gavin & Stacey-shows for which the channel became famous, hell, they even won the channel some awards.

As far as animation goes, after Channel 4 lost broadcasting rights to Family Guy in the UK, BBC 3 seized its chance and began to run the show from the beginning. The Channel soon caught up with Family Guy’s owners, and other outlet in the UK, Fox, with new series being shown just a few weeks after their debut on Fox. The popularity of Family Guy soared thanks to BBC3 and a programme that was once mainly viewed through DVD boxsets gifted at Christmas was now giving The Simpsons a run for it’s money in the world of UK pop-culture.

Seizing upon the popularity of Seth McFarlane’s first hit, BBC 3 bought the rights to American Dad and scored another home run. The Smith family’s antics are now such an integral part of the channel’s line-up it actually get’s the new seasons a few weeks ahead of Fox, thus it has become American Dad, rather than Family Guy that is BBC3’s true flagship comedy.

So what will become of the fan favourites when BBC3 makes the move to the online only iPlayer in 2015? In March we were assured via mainstream media that all shows would make the transition and no there would be no loss of quality comedy. In the last four months however the situation has taken a turn for the worse and the Metro let slip this week that Fox would not be allowing its two most popular animated comedies to be available online. This makes sense; if you have BBC3 at least you are paying a license fee, if you are going to watch online you are viewing for nothing and that is not a business model we associate with Fox; just giving stuff away for free. Oh no siree.

I’m kinda with Fox on this one…bear  with me, I said kinda. If I do watch BBC channels it is at bedtime to see repeats of Family Guy and American Dad, even more exciting times to be had in the sack when it’s a new American Dad episode, wow, I’m fun! But, that’s it. I rarely catch anything on BBC and when I do it’s via the iPlayer, so naturally I’ll be gutted to miss out on my favourite animations on there. However, in among this loss is the bigger issue of whether or not to cut the cable.

I got my Sky package when I was solvent, now I couldn’t live without it, no matter how much, for the sake of my wallet, I should be streaming my favourite shows. I share my Sky Go password with friends and squeeze every gigabyte out of my unlimited bandwidth allowance. I don’t mind paying for the shows I love because I love them. If we all cut the cable where is the money going to come from to make the animation we can’t live without? However you feel about Fox, you cut that cable tomorrow and you think people are just going to work for free? Where is the money for these shows going to come from? What, Netflix is going to make it aalll? We don’t even have half the Netflix programmes you (the US) do on the UK version so really can’t see what y’all get so excited about. The loss of BBC3, and by extension, the great animation it airs, is the first victim of cut-backs made to appeal to a younger, web-based audience. Fox don’t like it  and guess what BBC? Neither do I. I’ll take your iPlayer and it’s very limited selection of programmes but politely decline in favour of my satellite package. Someone has to pay for top quality adult animation and you know what? God dammit: it might as well be me.