Last week the BBC Trust made their initial recommendation to propose closing BBC Three on TV. It flies in the face of the evidence they had in front of them, and the significant amount of viewer opinion they had received. The 24,000 consultation responses were “near unanimous” in wanting to keep the channel on TV. It supported what the industry has been saying, the 300,000 names on our petition, and even the BBC Trust’s own polling that highlighted 72% would prefer to watch BBC Three on TV. This week we want to turn the tables on the BBC Trust’s chair Rona Fairhead. If you don’t know her she’s the lady who said she would champion the viewer when she gave a speech earlier this year. She said her job was to stand up to bosses at the BBC. She chose last week to recommend closing BBC3. What gives, Rona? We’ve set it up so you can send a free postal letter from your computer to her on this issue - http://savebbc3.com/campaign-news/write-to-rona-fairhead-at-the-bbc-trust. The more we send the bigger the impact we’ll have. You can also send a pre-written email to her. She doesn’t think she’s ignored the views of the BBC Three audience – it’s time she realised what we think. The campaign isn’t over yet. The final decision isn’t due until September. Right now the BBC are having to go back to the drawing board over BBC1+1 as it was rejected. Once they report back we then will get another chance to respond to the BBC Trust. We know the BBC have less money, and today when George Osborne announces his budget it raises the issue of cuts for the corporation once more. But this is also about the choices the BBC makes. It’s choosing to axe from TV and half the budget of a channel that reaches young and diverse audiences better than any other BBC station, and then change the Licence Fee to hit iPlayer usage. It's about the Director General respending the savings on those already well-catered for by the BBC, at a time when the average audience age for BBC1, 2 and 4 is nearly 60. He wouldn't dare touch Radio 4 or BBC Four - he thinks we'll be a softer target. To rub salt further into the wounds now BBC1+1 has been rejected he now has to come up with a new proposal for a television channel to use the space which he no doubt won’t use for young people. Effectively it could mean he makes no savings whatsoever – he was only going to save £30m in the first place. If it angers you too let’s make some noise – let’s put the BBC Trust and its board members under the spotlight: http://savebbc3.com/campaign-news/write-to-rona-fairhead-at-the-bbc-trust/ I'll be back in touch soon. Jono Read #saveBBC3 jono@savebbc3.com www.savebbc3.com www.twitter.com/savebbcthree www.facebook.com/save3 PS. Did you see E4 mocking BBC Three last night? They already know they’ll be the only free TV channel targeting a 16-24 year old audience, and they’re clearly delighted. See the video here: https://twitter.com/SaveBBCThree/status/618512170691788800