BBC Three, which confirmed it would return to linear television in March 2021, is set to make its relaunch on February 1st.
The multi-genre channel will kick off at 7pm each night, and will host ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK Versus’ as one of the first shows to air on its launch night.
It will be accessible on Freeview, Sky, Virgin and Freesat, as well as watched live on the BBC Three channel on iPlayer, with live restart available.
On its launch week, the BBC has also confirmed that BBC Three will show live football, broadcasting both semi-finals and the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) live on TV, hosted by Jermaine Jenas.
Fiona Campbell, Controller, BBC Three, says: “We know how popular sport is with younger audiences and it’s going to have a big part to play on BBC Three.
“AFCON is set to be an incredibly exciting tournament with some of the best players in the World on show and its brilliant news that we will be showing the climax of the competition on free to air television.”
BBC Three was taken off the air in 2016 and, in November 2021, received approval by the regulator to come back to televisions, subject to criteria including at least 75% of its hours broadcast being original programming.
